Koine Greek was one of the common languages throughout the Ancient Near East in Biblical times, and is the language that the New Testament was written in and the language that the Old Testament was translated into in the Septuagint. Scholars generally agree that the 27 books which comprise the New Testament were originally written in Koine Greek, although some maintain Matthew may have originally been written in Aramaic. It was also the liturgical language of Eastern Christianity.
Proto Greek[]
Main article: Proto Greek
Koine Greek[]
Koine (Κοινη) is the Greek word for "common". For some time the Greek language of the New Testament confused many scholars. It was sufficiently different from Classical Greek that some hypothesized that it was a combination of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Others attempted to explain it as a "Holy Ghost language", assuming that perhaps God created a special language just for the Bible. But studies of Greek papyri found in Egypt over the past 120 years have shown that the Greek of the New Testament manuscripts was the "common" (koine) language of the everyday people - the same as that used in the writing of wills, private letters, receipts, even shopping lists, etc.
Koine Greek alphabet[]
- If you do not see the following Greek characters properly, please view the image of this chart.
| Title | Lower | Upper | Transliteration | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| alpha | α | Α | a | father |
| beta | β | Β | b | beta |
| gamma | γ | Γ | g | gamma |
| delta | δ | Δ | d | delta |
| epsilon | ε | Ε | e | epsilon |
| zêta | ζ | Ζ | z | zêta |
| êta | η | Η | ê or ē | obey |
| thêta | θ | Θ | th | thêta |
| iota | ι | Ι | i | free |
| kappa | κ | Κ | k | kappa |
| lambda | λ | Λ | l | lambda |
| mu | μ | Μ | m | mu |
| nu | ν | Ν | n | nu |
| xi | ξ | Ξ | ks | axiom |
| omicron | ο | Ο | o | omicron |
| pi | π | Π | p | pi |
| rho | ρ | Ρ | r | rho |
| sigma | σ / ς | Σ | s | sigma |
| tau | τ | Τ | t | tau |
| upsilon | υ | Υ | u sometimes y | oops |
| phi | φ | Φ | ph | father |
| chi | χ | Χ | ch | chi |
| psi | ψ | Ψ | ps | oops |
| omega | ω | Ω | ô or ō | obey |
Resources[]
Scholars[]
- Eberhard Nestle, Kurt Aland, et al. Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece. 27th edition (NA27). American Bible Society, 2006. ISBN 159856174X
Students[]
- Kurt Aland, ed. The Greek New Testament: UBS 4th edition. American Bible Society, 1998. ISBN 3438051133
- Barclay M. Newman, ed. The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition. Hendrickson, 2007. ISBN 1598562851
- Albert L. Lukaszewski, ed. A Reader's Greek New Testament. 2nd edition. Zondervan, 2007. ISBN 0310273781
Other[]
- C. John Collins and John Schwandt, eds. The English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament: English Standard Version. Crossway, 2006. ISBN 158134628X
- Alfred Marshall, The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English. Zondervan, 1993. ISBN 0310401704
- Bruce Metzger, ed. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. United Bible Society, 2005. ISBN 1598561642
See also[]
- Koine Greek at WikiChristian
- Koinē Greek language (Wikipedia)
- Classical Hebrew
- Aramaic
- Latin
- Translation of the Bible
External links[]
- Which Greek Text?, by William D. Mounce
- Koiné Greek
- Learning New Testament Greek
- New Testament Greek Three graduate courses in New Testament Greek
- Maintaining Your Greek, by Dr. Matt Harmon