I've come by a couple of cases in the gospels where the word for "Sabbath", σάββατο, is in the plural vs the singular. Those cases are Matthew 12:1 "Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἐπορεύθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοῖς σάββασιν διὰ τῶν σπορίμων" and John 20:1 "Τῇ δὲ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ἔρχεται πρωῒ σκοτίας ἔτι". I know that the word for "Sabbath" and "week" is the same in Koine Greek, and I've seen some commentary that Sabbath in the singular or plural in the Bible is interchangeable, same meaning. I've also seen some commentary though that plural "Sabbath" should be seen as "Sabbaths" i.e an allusion to the counting of weeks for the Feast of Weeks in Leviticus 23. I was wondering if anyone knew of precedent for Sabbath in the plural or singular having the same meaning or not. I'm inclined to think that the plural should be read in English as plural, for the Feast of Weeks.

I'm sure a hundred variations of this question have been asked already, but here we go. I've only recently begun learning Greek, working my way through Wenham's book and meeting weekly with the rector of my church (who is very kindly offering up his time to teach me).

Since I'm not at seminary or enrolled in a course of study, I'm not entirely sure how best to carry on studying once I'm through this book, or what other resources would supplement it well. What do folks recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Greetings,

I’ve been searching online for Greek texts that mention the Samaritan woman, who is traditionally named Φωτεινή (Photini).

Does anyone know the earliest known citation in Greek, if it exists?

Wow! So much to consider...

Anyway, what pronunciation should I learn when starting to learn Koine. People have advised that I adopt the modern Greek pronunciation - since it's impossible to replicate the true Koine pronunciation (according to what I've seen online). What do you think? Does it even matter which pronunciation I adopt? What are the options? And what's the best "phonetic" route?

P.S: My ultimate goal is to become a professor of Biblical languages

Hey guys! Getting ready for a Master's Degree in Biblical languages - and I'm really falling in love with Koine while reading the NT. Should I also be reading the Septuagint to expand my understanding of the language?

I am in a Koine Greek class right now at my university so I've been doing a lot of just raw textbook memorization but I was wondering if anyone here knows of any resources to practice actual sentence translation. I retain language information much better through translation practice like you'd see on duolingo or something so I was wondering if anything exists like that for Koine.

What are some book recommendations on the LXX?

I'm really after non-fiction historical/theology. No grammar or readers, I already have a few

Greetings,

How does one define the transition from intermediate to fluent?

I've researched what is needed for intermediate Greek, and I want to understand what a fluent Greek reader (and perhaps speaker) looks like. A few points come to mind:

• Acquire a vocabulary of around 9,000 words to facilitate learning words directly from context. I've read that one needs to recognise about 99% of a text to understand unknown words in context, with an estimated range of 8,000–9,000 words.
• Develop a strong grasp of complex Atticizing grammar, even within Koine and classical works.
• Read widely, including authors such as Xenophon, Plato, and Lucian.
• Achieve a reading speed close to that of native speakers.
• Practise spoken Koine Greek.
• Recognition of standard inflections, and a wide range of irregular inflections.

This will take me a few years to achieve, but I like to map out my learning plan based on the research available.

Greetings,

From the LXX

Isaiah 59:2 (LXX Parsed) ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀφʼ ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι.

"διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον"

"part each in the middle"?

This looks like an idiom to me, I don't have an exegetical guide to the LXX, I know what the English says, but can anyone explain this idiom?

Isaiah 59:2 (NIV) But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Hello!

I started looking into learning Koine Greek recently, I've made this app, mostly just for myself, to try to build my vocabulary, I though I'd share it, maybe it will be useful to someone else too.

Basically pressing 'space' or 'enter' gives you a random word, then pressing it again will show you the translation and all info about the word. That's about it...

It contains all words from the New Testament.

You can cycle through X number of words over and over again until you memorize them, pick words from certain book, chapter or verse; randomly or sorted by frequency...

It's based on biblehub.com's Greek table; I'm completely new to Greek, so I wouldn't know if there are innaccuracies or anything, hopefully not...

Check it out if you want to:

https://github.com/Monday-nr/GreekBibleVocabularyApp/releases/tag/v1.0

https://preview.redd.it/ylp1vpi1ixyd1.png?width=906&format=png&auto=webp&s=729950ba8a6d92e5b332b2df2bc04d48fd4a05f1

What's the best way to learn biblical Greek? This is not a low effort post. I've worked through parts of Bill Mounce's book and also Black's book.

I am a native English speaker, and I have learned fluent Mandarin Chinese (spoken / reading / writing). My challenge is the way Mounce teaches Greek is like memorization of a formula. This is not how natural languages should be taught, and my brain just doesn't work that way.

I'm looking for good resources that teach biblical Koine greek but through traditional methods of learning to speak the language. Perhaps creating simple sentences and building up grammar and vocabulary, instead of just presenting grammar rules as a formula.

Im a beginner in this but Is there anybody here who is very familiar and know koine Greek that can help me figure out if this verse is either in past present or future tense in revelation 17:18 ?

καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἣν εἶδες ἔστιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη ἡ ἔχουσα βασιλείαν ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς

I am probably missing something obvious in John 6.23, but if ploia (boats) is nominative plural then why is hlthen (aorist of erchomai) third singular?

Greetings,

I have a about 1900/5400 words of the Greek NT in circulation in my Anki, with around 1300 words learned solidly.

To read Κατὰ Μἃρκον, I am learning the 500 words outside my vocabulary to read with the full vocabulary of Mark. This will take me a few months.

I'm looking for something easy to read outside the New Testament while I learn the vocabulary. Any suggestions?

This verse generally gets translated to the effect that men are supposed to regard their wives as weaker than them. I do not know how to read or speak Koine but I do find looking at the breakdown of the greek translations on Biblehub to be pretty interesring. I was looking at this for this verse and the interpretive range of the words given made me wonder if this verse could reasonably be translated as "Husbands likewise dwell with your wives with knowledge as the weaker vessel [i.e. the husband is the weaker vessel] and esteem them as fellow heirs of the grace of life to the end that your prayers not be hindered." This seems more in line with the general theme of being sympathetic and compassionate from this section or, "esteeming others more highly than yourself" as the author of Philipians says in a similar vein. Can the text bare this translation without straining the grammar of Koine Greek?

Is there a transliterated Greek New Testament. I may need one to present to people that do not know Greek.

Hey,

I have some meta-questions. Not questions about Koine, but about learning Koine

I started learning modern Greek a few months ago. I'm from Poland and I'm not a Christian but I'm interested in history so I quickly decided to look into Koine-learning materials. It was quite a surprise to me to discover that people learn Koine mostly to read New Testament, and that most of you seem to be from United States.

Are there materials on the internet that discuss how it came to be that Koine is mostly learned for religious studies, who are the most prominent academics and teachers, what are the best handbooks and what methods of learning are used, and so on? YouTube videos and articles on blogs would be the best for me, but books or podcasts are good as well.

Also, could you tell me something about your motives for learning Koine? Like, is it only for reading NT and other early Christian literature, or are you interested in other literary works as well? And do you focus only on Koine or do you learn modern (or Classical) Greek as well?

Whats the best way to learn the vocabulary and read the language and progress?

We had a few issues last week with people attempting to join the group but failed. This week I shall be ready to admit people to the group! Apologies for this. I look forward to everyone's input. Feel free to leave your camera off if you like just to watch. Here is the info for Sunday 7pm GMT:

Meeting ID: 354 361 632 590

Passcode: moUg6w

Whether beginner or seasoned at Greek, what are the most indispensable books one has in one's personal library.

Feel free to include any NT Greek books.

Χαίρετε

ἐπιθυμίας is often translated as "lust", but it is an under translation of the word, because lust to English speakers means sex, but the word means a desire for something forbidden or inordinate, or just simply a strong desire for something (either good or bad).

Historically the word lust had closer to the same meaning in Greek, as a strong desire whether either good or bad, but the word changed to just mean sex, partly because the KJV only uses the word in a negative context's in its translation.

BDAG definitions
① a great desire for someth.
② a desire for someth. forbidden or simply inordinate

So this verse

1 Thessalonians 4:5 (SBLGNT)
^(5) μὴ ἐν πάθει ἐπιθυμίας καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν θεόν,

translated in the LEB as

1 Thessalonians 4:5 (LEB)
^(5) not in lustful passion, just as also the Gentiles who do not know God;

misses the nuance that it is a inordinate passionate desire for anything, given the context of the bible, it is a desire for anything that we put above God.

To me translations missing this meaning, is a shame.

How did the scholars decide that this word is just limited to lust in specific cases?

At some point, I want to switch to a paper bible with no aides.

What tools, books does one use to look up words for meanings and inflections? In particular irregular inflections or hard to recognise inflections?

I am daily building my vocabulary, but envisage that I will still need to look up words once I switch.

Hello r/koine!

For anyone interested in joining the reading group tonight at 7pm GMT, here is the Microsoft Teams ID and password:

Meeting ID: 354 361 632 590

Passcode: moUg6w