Joseph Dasenbrock

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dasenbrj
Posts: 1
Joined: November 8th, 2011, 8:59 am

Joseph Dasenbrock

Post by dasenbrj »

Hello,

I feel that I am being compelled to learn Biblical Greek. I fairly recently became a true Christian, and also started reading the Bible. There seems to be so many misconceptions and confusions (by humans, I have no doubt that every word is perfect, but people have a way of messing things up,) within the Bible, therefore I feel that I should 'cut through the fog' and really study some Greek, the original language the Bible was written it. I have been working through some of it already, through http://www.searchgodsword.org which shows the Greek along with the English translations. I am working on the Lord's Prayer right now, and really like it.

I do not even know the Greek alphabet!! What would be a good source for getting the basic basics of the language?

Thanks for any help, and God Bless.
jeffreyrequadt
Posts: 57
Joined: May 30th, 2011, 11:20 pm

Re: Joseph Dasenbrock

Post by jeffreyrequadt »

You can find any number of textbooks, both online and in print. I have not personally used Randall Buth's "Living Koine Greek" method, simply because by the time I found out about it I was not in Learning-Greek-Mode. But from the samples I have seen I would recommend it, as an educator and a language-learner.
Jeffrey T. Requadt
Tucson, AZ
Shirley Rollinson
Posts: 415
Joined: June 4th, 2011, 6:19 pm
Location: New Mexico
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Re: Joseph Dasenbrock

Post by Shirley Rollinson »

I have a textbook for Beginning New Testament Greek, free online, at
http://www.drshirley.org/greek/textbook/contents.html
Sorry - there are no audio files yet, but for pronunciation there are several videos on You Tube with various pronunciations.
The main thing is to start reading, and particularly to read a bit in the Greek New Testament each day. Try not to use an Interlinear - you'll go faster if you "take off the training wheels" :-)
welcome to the wonderful world of Greek
Shirley Rollinson
Mark Lightman
Posts: 300
Joined: May 6th, 2011, 6:30 pm

Re: Joseph Dasenbrock

Post by Mark Lightman »

Joseph asked
What would be a good source for getting the basic basics of the language?
Hi, Joseph,

Any source that you are motivated to use is a good source. Shirely's on-line text referenced above is wonderful. Here are my recommendations from the archives:
Here are my Top Ten Textbooks, in the order that I encountered them.

1. J. Gresham Machen, New Testament Greek for Beginners (the best of it's type, simple, systematic, 100% inductive)
2. Paula Safire, Ancient Greek Alive (wonderfully entertaining stories)
3. Athenaze (excellent free audio available, interesting and easy extended readings introduced early on)
4. Frank Beetham, Reading Greek with Plato (he's the only guy who admits how hard Greek is. He spoon feeds you, but Plato, like cheesecake, tastes good when eaten with a spoon. He has an answer key.)
5. Schoder/Horrigan, A Reading Course in Homeric Greek (more complete and systematic than Pharr or Betham. First half has good made up exercises, then you read real, heavily annotated Homer)
6. Christophe Rico, Polis (best Greek audio ever. He teaches you to speak Greek.)
7. JACT (excellent adapted readings. The audio c.d. is great and not too expensive for what you get.)
8. Gerda Seligson, Greek for Reading (the only book that uses linguistic/grammatical analysis not to pin down the precise meaning of the Greek but to alert you to what makes reading Greek so hard. Lots of good and easy sentences to read.)
9. Assimil, Ancien Grec sans peine (living language but also covers the entire Greek grammar. The audio is pleasant.)
10. C.A.E. Luschnig, An Introduction to Ancient Greek, A Literary Approach (many more exercises than are found in most texts. She also teaches you some conversational stuff. I think she is a she.)
Joseph wrote
I feel that I am being compelled to learn Biblical Greek.
Socrates' δαιμόνιον would only compel him NOT to do certain things, so this compulsion is coming from somewhere else. Go with it. But...

Joseph went on:
..but people have a way of messing things up,) within the Bible, therefore I feel that I should 'cut through the fog' and really study some Greek, the original language the Bible was written it.
I feel...I need to point out...how do I want to say this? If you think people can mess things up with the English interpretation of the Bible, be expected to see even worse once Greek is brought up. I don't want to discourage you, but learning Greek is likely to INCREASE the fog. The best way to cut through the fog of what is an extremely ambiguous Greek text is to read as many English translations as possible.
David Lim
Posts: 901
Joined: June 6th, 2011, 6:55 am

Re: Joseph Dasenbrock

Post by David Lim »

Mark Lightman wrote:Joseph went on:
..but people have a way of messing things up,) within the Bible, therefore I feel that I should 'cut through the fog' and really study some Greek, the original language the Bible was written it.
I feel...I need to point out...how do I want to say this? If you think people can mess things up with the English interpretation of the Bible, be expected to see even worse once Greek is brought up. I don't want to discourage you, but learning Greek is likely to INCREASE the fog. The best way to cut through the fog of what is an extremely ambiguous Greek text is to read as many English translations as possible.
And one more thing, remember that an author of any text simply wants to convey something across through the language. Our purpose of reading the text should simply be to understand what the author is getting at. What grammatical constructions and vocabulary an author uses has little effect on the intended meaning, as different people have different ways of saying exactly the same thing.
δαυιδ λιμ
Mike Noel
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Joined: October 31st, 2011, 6:30 pm
Location: Portland, OR USA
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Re: Joseph Dasenbrock

Post by Mike Noel »

I strongly recommend "From Alpha to Omega, An Introduction to Classical Greek, Rev Third Edition", Groton. This is an excellent book. The grammar elements are explained fully and clearly, the pacing is good, the exercises are instructive. The only thing I could complain about is that it comes in paperback only. I would much rather have a hard-cover edition.
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