Phrasing a Greek Text

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Table of Contents

1. What is Phrasing a Greek text?
2. How to Phrase a Greek text
3. Automatically Phrased Texts

1. What is Phrasing a Greek text?

A long Greek sentence with even moderately complex structure can be daunting. Lining out a Greek text is a way to break it down into manageable phrases, in the original order, using whitespace to show relationships among the phrases of the text. Phrasing a text not only makes it easier to see the relationships among the words, it also makes the sentences much easier to read out loud—most people who try it find that reading the text repeatedly out loud is a particularly good way to get a feel for a text. Many students approach complex Greek texts by hunting for subjects and verbs, then trying to fit the other phrases and subordinate clauses into the framework of these subjects and verbs, a process that is often unwieldy and self-defeating. Phrasing texts is an intuitive process that teaches how to recognize the natural underlying structure of a text.

The goal of phrasing a text is to grasp the basic structure of the text, working in the original language, before turning to external aids such as lexicons or commentaries. You do not need to be an expert in the Greek language to phrase texts, but you do need to be able to read at least simple Greek texts with the help of a lexicon. In some ways, phrasing is like diagramming a sentence, but it is much simpler, can easily be done with any text editor that supports the Greek font in use, and preserves the original order of the words. If you know enough Greek to understand the relationship between independent and dependent verbs, and to identify the objects of a verb, you can phrase a Greek text.

Phrasing a text well is a manual process that requires attention to the meaning of the text, but some steps can be automated, and even an automatically phrased text is much easier to read. I have creeated an experimental automatically phrased Greek New Testament, which can be used as a starting point for phrasing passages of the New Testament. Most web browswers allow you to select a portion of the text and copy it; you can then paste it into your favorite Unicode-capable text editor or word processor. (Yes, I know this file is a bit big, I'll break it out into individual files in a future version.)

2. How to Phrase a Greek text

This section presents a series of steps you can use to phrase a Greek text. In general, I like to follow these steps roughly in order until there are no more than 7-8 words on a given line and it's relatively easy to grasp the structure of the text. For beginners, keeping the lines as short as is practical is often very helpful. Randall Buth, who uses a similar method for teaching Greek and Hebrew texts, prefers to think in terms of seconds needed to read the line out loud, and suggests typical line lengths of 3-6 seconds, or as short as 1 second. Once you reach this point, applying further steps is not particularly helpful. In this section we will show the steps, then apply them to a few texts.

Here are the steps we might apply. The first three steps are always applied; after that, the remaining steps may be applied depending on the complexity of the text and the taste of the interpreter. I tend to apply the first three steps all at once, then look at any lines that remain too long or too complex, applying the remaining steps as needed.

  1. Put each sentence on one line, ignoring verse boundaries.

    Example 1. 1 John 1:1-3, presented as one sentence

    1 ὃ ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς — 2 καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, καὶ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν — 3 ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν, ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν. καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ.


  2. Start a new line for each comma, question mark, dash, or period. (The punctuation was not part of the original Greek texts, but it does reflect the way very knowledgable people have come to understand the text. A critical text of the New Testament often offers more than one choice for punctuation.)

    Example 2. 1 John 1:1-3, Adding line breaks for punctuation


    1 ὃ ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, 
    ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν,
    ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, 
    ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, 
    περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς 
    —  2 καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, 
    καὶ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν 
    —  3 ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν,
    ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν. 
    καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ.
                    


  3. Place each independent verb on its own line, together with any verbs that are dependent on it.

    Example 3. 1 John 1:1-3, placing each independent verb on its own line


    1 ὃ ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, 
    ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν,
    ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, 
    ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα 
    καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, 
    περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς 
    —  2 καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἐφανερώθη, 
    καὶ ἑωράκαμεν 
    καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν 
    καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον 
    ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα 
    καὶ ἐφανερώθη ἡμῖν 
    —  3 ὃ ἑωράκαμεν 
    καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν 
    ἀπαγγέλλομεν καὶ ὑμῖν,
    ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς κοινωνίαν ἔχητε μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν. 
    καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ.    


  4. If a line remains complex, consider placing the objects of a verb on separate lines, if they occur after the verb. Keep the subject on the same line as the verb, and only do this if the result is easier to grasp. It often makes more sense to put direct objects or prepositional objects on a separate line than to put indirect objects on a separate line.

    Example 4. Placing objects of a verb on separate lines

    In 1 John 1:1-3, the only candidate for this change is in the following line:

    καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον

    To be obsessively clear, we might place both the direct object and the indirect object on separate lines, but this is often overkill:

    καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν 
       ὑμῖν 
       τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον

    Reading this aloud, we are not likely to pause on these line boundaries, which is a sign we've taken this too far. However, placing only the indirect object on a separate line corresponds more naturally to the pauses we would make in reading the text aloud:

    καὶ ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν 
       τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον

    Here is an example where placing the direct object on a line makes a bigger improvement in readability:

    καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ θεὸς 
       τὸν θρόνον Δαυὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ,   


  5. If a line remains too long, consider whether phrases beginning with καὶ can be placed on separate lines.

    Example 5. Placing phrases beginning with καὶ on separate lines

    Phrases beginning with καὶ can often be placed on separate lines.

    καὶ ἡ κοινωνία δὲ ἡ ἡμετέρα μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς 
    καὶ μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ.  

    When multiple phrases joined by καὶ are modified together by another phrase, keep them on the same line:

    καὶ οἶνον καὶ σίκερα οὐ μὴ πίῃ


  6. If a phrase modifies the noun that precedes it, place it on a separate line.

    Example 6. Placing phrases that modify a preceding noun on a separate line

    Ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἡρῴδου
    βασιλέως τῆς Ἰουδαίας

    ἱερεύς τις
    ὀνόματι Ζαχαρίας
    ἐξ ἐφημερίας Ἀβιά,
    καὶ γυνὴ αὐτῷ
    ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων Ἀαρών,
    καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῆς Ἐλισάβετ.


  7. Consider indenting some lines to reflect hierarchy.

    Example 7. Indenting lines to reflect hierarchy

    ἱερεύς τις
        ὀνόματι Ζαχαρίας
        ἐξ ἐφημερίας Ἀβιά,
    καὶ γυνὴ αὐτῷ
        ἐκ τῶν θυγατέρων Ἀαρών,
        καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῆς Ἐλισάβετ.


  8. Note questions within the text, at the end of each line.

    After phrasing a Greek text, you can write down things that you do not understand after a given line, as shown below. That way, you make sure your questions don't get lost without forcing yourself to stop and look everything up immediately. This makes it easier to spend more time working with the Greek and less time reading aids written in English or other languages.

    Example 8. Noting a question

    Ἐπειδήπερ πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρησαν ** Ἐπειδήπερ?

    This also gives you a place to record your answer later.

    Ἐπειδήπερ πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρησαν ** Ἐπειδήπερ="seeing that, since"


    It is often difficult to find phrase boundaries until you know the meaning of a word. If you are having difficulty with the phrasing, look up the words you don't know.

3. Automatically Phrased Texts

I have creeated an experimental automatically phrased Greek New Testament, which can be used as a starting point for phrasing passages of the New Testament. Phrasing a text well is a manual process, dependent on understanding the grammatical relationships and sense of the text. But automatic phrasing, based only on sentence, clause, and verse boundaries within a clause, is already quite helpful. For some passages, automatic phrasing is quite good.

Example 9. Matthew 5:35, phrased automatically

34 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως μήτε ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ,
ὅτι θρόνος ἐστὶν τοῦ θεοῦ
35 μήτε ἐν τῇ γῇ,
ὅτι ὑποπόδιόν ἐστιν τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ μήτε εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα,
ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶν τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως
36 μήτε ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ σου ὀμόσῃς,
ὅτι οὐ δύνασαι μίαν τρίχα λευκὴν ποιῆσαι ἢ μέλαιναν.


For other passages, only a few changes are needed.

Example 10. Matthew 6:9-13 (Lord's Prayer)

Automatically formatted:

09 Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου,

10 ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου,
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς.

11 Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον
12 καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,
ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν
13 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,
ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.

One manual line break is all that is needed:

09 Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς 
                
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου,

10 ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου,
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς.

11 Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον
12 καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,
ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν
13 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,
ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.


For other passages, automatically phrasing does little to help the manual process.

Example 11. Luke 9:22

In this text, there is no punctuation or verse boundaries to automatically phrase the text:

Luke 9:22 Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς δεικνύειν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἀπελθεῖν καὶ πολλὰ παθεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ ἀρχιερέων καὶ γραμματέων καὶ ἀποκτανθῆναι καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγερθῆναι.


Manual phrasing makes this much easier to read:

Luke 9:22 Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς δεικνύειν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ 
ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἀπελθεῖν 
καὶ πολλὰ παθεῖν 
ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ ἀρχιερέων καὶ γραμματέων 
καὶ ἀποκτανθῆναι 
καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγερθῆναι.