JustinSmith wrote: ↑August 17th, 2019, 8:48 am
Randall, I have looked into IBLT at the commendation of Scott McQuinn. I am very impressed by it, Θεός μαζί σας!
RandallButh wrote: ↑August 16th, 2019, 2:43 pm
Then you will know why the school/center needs to be in Israel rather than Athens.
To become fluent in Hebrew, all dialects and periods, there is no more efficient place than Israel.
However, to become fluent in ancient Greek one needs a good program more than modern Greek.
I am confused by your logic here. Hebrew in Israel? Φυσικά. But why not Greek in Greece? It seems to me to offer just as much for Greek as Israel does for Hebrew, if not more because Greek has been in that land continuously since the NT was written. The ancient dialects are tattooed upon the land, and the dialect of the NT is spoken in the liturgy of the Orthodox Church.
Don't be confused by the logic but consider some facts. Hebrew is simply much closer between dialects, so much so, that one should point out that 100% of modern Hebrew morphology maps into classical Hebrew and the words themselves, when attested, are the same. Not so, modern Greek. For example, modern Greek has -s- infixes in some of its imperfects and many verbs have changed their forms. Plus, a higher percentage of non-ancient based vocabulary is used in modern Greek. I muse over this problem quite a bit, but have concluded that a one-year immersion course on ancient Greek in Greece would not work any better than such a course in Jerusalem, maybe worse. In Greece students would need to spend too much time learning and using the modern dialect.
As a brief example with central core modals, in Hebrew one may say ani yaxol "I am able" in both modern and ancient (the participle with yaxol is attested in Arad-letters 1st-Temple Hebrew), but in Greek one says βρορώ in modern not δύναμαι . This is multiplied in too many vocab items in the core of the modern dialect. In Hebrew one can say `alay la`asot for "I must do it" in both ancient and modern, although ani tsariix and ani Hayyav from colloquial 2nd-Temple substrate and mishnaic Hebrew are more common in modern. But Greek? δεῖ με ποιῆσαι "I must do it, it is for me to do" is confusing in modern, as if to say "See me . . . [ποιεῖν the infinitive is not modern but the root ποιε- remains in many vocab items]. For 'want' both biblical and modern may use ani Hafets b-, although modern prefers ani rotsei, and ani rotsei in biblical dialect is slightly different "I am pleased with."
I am in favor of including modern Greek in an overall long-term program, but it is too distracting to work out of modern at the beginning and within a very limited time frame (under 12 months intensive). That is my conclusion. I would be happy to be proven wrong, but I have to make my best judgement here for program planning. The intensive program in Jerusalem would include three weeks of visits to Greece and Ionia (including a brief introduction to emergency modern Greek) but lectures on site would need to be in simple ancient Greek. [If the required guide couldn't do it, then bilingually with English, especially in Troy, Assos, Ephesus, Philadelphia, etc., but probably necessary in Greece proper {!], Epidauros, Korinth, Delphi, Mycanos-
Delos, Patmos, Kos, etc. ]
For Jason:
Naturally? Of course? Why not φυσικῶν?
Adverbials are typical -a in modern. E.g. Koine καλῶς is καλά in modern.
Your second question is a yes-no-maybe kind of answer that is best reserved for when the Greek program comes on line. Very briefly, the main funders for the programs have been international Bible translation agencies/supporters and scholarships are so designated. Yes, off-campus is possible, especially families, but not recommended because of the current advantage/requirement for the participants to be in a raq-`ivrit environment, something not usually practical or available even for students at Hebrew U across town. The idea for IBLT is a little more like a "Monterey-Language-Institute" bubble than simply an international program in Israel. Yes, the IBLT students learn modern Hebrew as an efficient aide for the ancient dialect yet the focus remains the biblical dialect and content throughout. After a year, they return to their home countries to work in translation projects. וסבורני שאתה כבר שולט בשפה בת-ימינו אם לא בשפה העתיקה על בוריה.