It's Greek to me!

Shalom!

A little something for all interested in biblical history and language. :)


Extracted from "Greek for the rest of us", Chapter 1, William D. Mounce

The Greek Language

"The Greek language has a long and rich history stretching all the wayfrom the thirteenth century B.C. to the present. The earliest form of the language is called "Linear B" (13th century B.C.).

The form of Greek used by writers from Homer (8th century B.C.) through Plato (4th century B.C.) is called "Classical Greek." It was a marvelous form of the language, capable of exact epression and subtle nuances. Its alphabet was derived from the Phoenicians. Classical Greek existed in many dialects of which three were primary: Doric, Aeolic, and Ionic (of which Attic was a branch).

Athens was conquered in the fourth century B.C. by King Philip of Macedonia. Alexander the Great was Philip's son and was tutored by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He set out to conquer the world and spread Greek culture and language. Because Alexander spoke Attic Greek, it was this dialect that was spread. It was also the dialect spoken by the famous Athenian writers. This was the beginning of the Hellenistic Age.

As the Greek language spread across the world and met other languages, it was altered (which would happen to any language). The dialects also interacted with each other. Eventually this adaptation resulted in what we call Koine Greek. "Koine" means "common" and was the common, everyday form of the language, used by everyday people. It was not considered a polished literary form of the language, andin fact some writers of this era purposefully imitated the older style of Greek (which is like someone today writing in King James English). It is this common, Koine Greek that is used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the New Testament, and the writings of the Apostolic Fathers.

For a long time Koine Greek confused many scholars because it was significantly different from Classical Greek. Some hypothesized that it was a combination of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Others attempted to explain it as a "Holy Ghost language," meaning that God created a special language just for the Bible. But studies of Greek papyri found in Egypt over the last one hundred years have shown that Koine Greek was the language of the everydaypeople used int eh writings ofwills, letters, receipts, shopping lists, etc.

There are two lessons we can learn from this. As Paul says, "In the fullness of time God sent His Son" (Gal 4:4) and part of that fullness was a universal language. No matter where Paul traveled he could be understood.

But there is another lesson here that is perhaps a little closer to the pastor's heart. God used the common language to communicate the Gospel. The Gospel does not belong to the erudite alone; it belongs to all people. It now becomes our task to learn parts of this marvelous language to help us make the grace of God known to all people."