GK101 Introduction to Biblical Greek
Overview
This course will introduce you to the vocabulary, grammar, and syntax of the Greek New Testament. First, you will learn the sounds and symbols of the Greek alphabet. Then you will be guided through all the parts of speech, as the course surveys the conjugations and declensions and demonstrates how all the parts work together in phrases, clauses, and sentences. Frequent vocabulary lists, grammar exercises, and practice readings from the Greek New Testament are included to help you develop your knowledge and skills.
Top Highlights
“Voice: In English we have two voices, active and passive. Greek has an additional voice called ‘middle.’” (source)
“We have three persons: first, second, third—m or o sounds for the first, s for the second, and t for the third.” (source)
“As a general tendency, Greek will attempt to avoid beginning a syllable with a vowel or placing two vowel sounds adjacent to each other without a consonant or a glide between them. So prepositions that end in a vowel will typically drop that final vowel if the following word also begins with a vowel. The dropped letter, or elision, is marked with an apostrophe. So, we find κατὰ γραφάς—notice γραφάς starts with a consonant, so [in] κατὰ, the final α can remain. Also I should note with prepositions, some prepositions are a single syllable, some are two, and if it does have two syllables, always accent the last syllable.” (source)
“The term ‘digraph’ comes from the Greek δυ- (‘two’) and γραφ- (‘write’). It refers to letters, written symbols, that are combined to represent various sounds.” (source)
“So that is the significant mark of the Byzantine system—that we have now six vowel types all having the same \ē\ sound.” (source)
- Title: GK101 Introduction to Biblical Greek
- Author: John Schwandt
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Greek language › Grammar; Education › Greek language--Grammar
- Resource ID: LLS:GK101SCHWANDT
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2020-10-28T15:57:14Z
Dr. John D. Schwandt is president of Redemption Seminary. Prior to this role, he served as the Executive Director of Mobile Education for Faithlife. Before coming to Faithlife, he was one of the original professors at New Saint Andrews College where he taught Greek and New Testament for 17 years. He has over a decade of experience teaching online and developing distance educational curricula.
He is the author of a comprehensive beginning Greek grammar, An introduction to Biblical Greek (Lehxam Press, 2020). He was the general editor of the English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament: English Standard Version (Crossway Books, 2006), and he recorded an audio version of the Greek New Testament for the German Bible Society. You have heard his voice if you have clicked on any Greek word to hear it pronounced in Logos Bible Software.
Schwandt earned his doctorate in Bible translation at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. He earned his master of arts from Westminster Theological Seminary in California, and he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Idaho.