New Testament Greek 1

Open an English Bible. Dip into a few different books. You will find that the style of the English is fairly homogenous. Although biblical books vary in genre and content, within any single English Bible they all sound rather alike in terms of their language, which is the translators' language.

Exploring the New Testament in Greek is an enthralling experience. One comes to realise that each NT book has its own distinctive style and character. The literature comes alive. One starts to gain insight into the fascinating complexities involved in interpreting NT texts, complexities which Bible translators have already "solved" by the time the English reader encounters the text. Translators are hereby doing nothing duplicitous; it is their job to produce a coherent text in English. But no English version will satisfy the curiosity of anyone interested in the complexities of interpretation and translation.

This course is designed for those with no prior experience. Starting with the alphabet,  we will spend two terms studying the grammar and language of NT Greek using Jeremy Duff's excellent book, The Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd revised edition; Cambridge University Press, 2005). We will use a range of classroom techniques to suit a range of learning styles, including chanting aloud (which is much more fun than one might think), written exercises and small translations. As we proceed we will delve into texts as they become accessible to us, discussing the fascinating complexities of interpretation and translation along way. The course will equip you to study the Greek New Testament with the aid of a lexicon and to follow technical discussions in exegetical commentaries on NT books.