B-Greek: The Biblical Greek Forum

Almost a year ago Jonathan Robie and I did a presentation at SBL on the use of XML for structuring databases for the Greek text of the New Testament. Since that time we have been discussing the ways our work can support the creation of materials for teaching Ancient Greek using what has come to be called the Communicative Method.

We will be presenting again this year, but this time in a session dedicated to computer assisted language acquisition. Our talk will be on Sunday afternoon (11/22/2015) in Atlanta in session S22-206, Applied Linguistics for Biblical Languages; Global Education and Research Technology. The theme of that session will be Computer-Aided Language Acquisition for Greek and Hebrew.

A part of what we will do is present a brief lesson snippet illustrating the method we recommend. In preparation for this I recently wrote a lesson using the Greek text of Matthew 2:12-13 based on methods that I regularly use for teaching both English and Spanish.

I have decided to post that lesson both here and on my blog at http://Greek-Language.com.

I would love to hear suggestions for improvement.

THE LESSON PLAN
Objective: Students will demonstrate comprehension of a short text with multiple participles responding orally and in writing to comprehension questions.


I. Build Background Knowledge/Access Prior Knowledge:

Use this section to prepare the students for reading Matthew 2:12-13.

A. Teach χρηματίζω

Preparation: Place a cardboard box labeled “ἐπικίνδυνος/dangerous/peligroso” in front of the students. Stand near the box.


• If you only have one student, say:
χρηματίζώ σοι, οὐ μὴ ἅπτῃ ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

• For multiple students, say:
Χρηματίζω αὐτοῖς, οὐ μὴ ἅπτωνται ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

As you say Χρηματίζω, extend your hands (palms forward) toward the audience as if to prevent anyone from approaching.
As you say σοι or αὐτοῖς, open your hands toward the student(s).
If necessary, repeat the phrase Χρηματίζώ σοι or Χρηματίζω αὐτοῖς before proceeding.
For οὐ μὴ ἅπτῃ or οὐ μὴ ἅπτωνται, shake your index finger back and forth and sign “touch” (http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/t/touch.htm).
When you say ἐκείνο, point to the box.
As you say Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν, move your finger from left to right under the word ἐπικίνδυνος on the box as if underlining it, but don’t touch the box.

Repeat this procedure if necessary.

B. Teach ἀναχωρῶ (ἀναχωρέω) and ἀνακάμπτω

Preparation: Before class, label two locations as ὁ οἴκος μου and ὁ οἴκος τοῦ θεοῦ with pictures.




• Standing next to the sign, ὁ οἴκος μου, gesture toward the other sign as you say, Ἔρχομαι εἰς τὸν οἴκον τοῦ θεοῦ. As you say this, start walking to the sign, ὁ οἴκος τοῦ θεοῦ. When you arrive, look back at the first sign and say, ἀναχωρῶ εἰς τὸν οἴκον μου. Walk back to the first sign.
• Repeat this sequence substituting ἀνακάμπτω for ἀναχωρῶ.
Repeat the entire sequence (using ἀναχωρῶ and ἀνακάμπτω) as necessary.
• On the last repetition, say ἀναχωρῶ, ἀνακάμπτω εἰς τὸν οἴκον μου as you begin to return.

Summarize: Gesturing to indicate the direction of each trip, say, “πρώτον, ἔρχομαι. ὕστερον, ἀναχωρῶ.
πρώτον, ἔρχομαι. ὕστερον, ἀνακάμπτω.
ἀναχωρεῖν καὶ ἀνακάμπτειν ἴσα εἰσίν."
Repeat as needed.

C. Teach ἴσθι ἐκεῖ

Lead a student to the sign ὁ οἴκός μου. Raising both palms toward the student, say, ἴσθι ἐκεῖ and walk away. If the student moves, lead him or her back to the sign and repeat, ἴσθι ἐκεῖ and walk away again.

Repeat as needed until the student realizes that you want him or her to stay. When the student successfully follows the direction, say καλόν (the adverb related to καλός).

ΙI. Reading: Matthew 2:12—13.

Many class members will have heard the story of the flight to Egypt in their native language. This context will help them comprehend the meaning of several words in their Greek context. Read the passage aloud slowly without translation.

A. Scaffolded Reading

Picking up a Greek New Testament, say: ἀναγινωσκῶμεν τὸν εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Ματθέου.

Read Matthew 2:12—13 using the text and illustrations provided online (http://slides.com/mwpalmer/fleetoegypt), but without translation. As you read, point to relevant portions of the illustrations and use gestures introduced earlier in the lesson to assist with comprehension.

[The last page of the online representation of the text contains a set of comprehension questions. Leave that page displayed throughout the remainder of the lesson, but don't attempt to answer the questions yet. Just move on to the re-reading below.]

B. Re-reading

Read the text a second time as printed below without the online support. You can use your own Greek New Testament if you wish, just make sure to stop at the appropriate place (with the words ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι).

As you read, point to places in the classroom where you illustrated relevant vocabulary. Repeat key phrases from the lesson as needed to prompt memory.

Matthew 2:12-13

2:12 καὶ χρηματισθέντες κατ᾿ ὄναρ μὴ ἀνακάμψαι πρὸς Ἡρῴδην, δι᾿ ἄλλης ὁδοῦ ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν.

13 Ἀναχωρησάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου φαίνεται κατ᾿ ὄναρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ λέγων· ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ φεῦγε εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἴσθι ἐκεῖ ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι·

III. Identify Student Success (Formative Assessment of Comprehension).

After the re-reading, distribute the student page (see χαρτηρία τοῦ μαθητοῦ below). Use this as an informal assessment of how well your lesson has gone. Can the students answer the questions effectively?

A. Oral Assessment

Ask the following questions to eliciting oral responses. Possible answers are given here in parentheses. The questions are displayed on the last page of the online presentation as well. Keep that version displayed as you ask these questions.

1. τίς ἐχρηματίσθηται;
(οἱ μάγοι, ὁ Ἰωσήφ, οἱ μάγοι καὶ ὁ Ἰωσήφ)
2. πῶς ἐχρηματίσθη ὁ Ἰωσήφ; (κατ᾽ ὄναρ)
3. πῶς ἐχρηματίσθηται οἱ μάγοι; (κατ᾽ ὄναρ)
4. τὶς πρῶτον ἐχρηματίσθη, ὁ Ἰωσήφ, ἤ οἰ μάγοι;
(οἰ μάγοι)
5. Ἀνεχώρησαν οἱ μάγοι πρὶν χρηματίσθηναι ὁ Ἰωσήφ ἤ ὕστερον; (πρίν) [Note: The adverbs πρὶν and ὕστερον may be unfamiliar, but should be easy to illustrate.]
6. τὶς ἀνήκαμψε / ἀνηκάμψαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ / αὐτῶν;

B. Written Assessment

Distribute copies of the student page show below. Have the students write their answers on the student page. These are the same questions they just answered orally. You can either read them aloud a second time and ask for written responses or allow the students to work in pairs reading the questions to each other and negotiating answers.

___________________________________________________________________________

χαρτηρία τοῦ μαθητοῦ

Γραφε τὸ ὄνομά σου· ____________________

Ἀποκρίνου ἕκαστον λόγον

1. τίς ἐχρηματίσθηται;



2. πῶς ἐχρηματίσθη ὁ Ἰωσήφ;



3. πῶς ἐχρηματίσθηται οἱ μάγοι;



4. τὶς πρῶτον ἐχρηματίσθη;



5. Ἀνεχώρησαν οἱ μάγοι εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν πρὶν χρηματίσθηναι ὁ Ἰωσήφ ἤ ὕστερον;




6. τὶς ἀνήκαμψε / ἀνηκάμψαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ / αὐτῶν;[/list]




END OF LESSON PLAN

Please comment freely. Do you have suggestions for improvement? Do you have questions about how to implement the lesson?

A few comments that might help put this in context.

This is the first of five one hour lessons introducing the Greek participle, using the same teaching approach that Micheal uses when teaching ESL in the public schools. Micheal, can you outline what kinds of things you might do in the rest of the first five lessons on the participle?

You might be wondering what this has to do with querying Greek syntax trees. Micheal and I have embarked on a journey where we are exploring how to use communicative methods anchored firmly to authentic Greek texts. We are now using queries on Greek syntax trees to identify sentences that would be useful for teaching specific things. We then discuss the sentences that the queries find, and identify the ones that are most useful for teaching a given point. We found Matthew 2:12-13 in a query that sorts sentences by the number of participles contained, giving extra credit for sentences with participles in more than one case. Here is the text:

Matthew 2:12-13 wrote:καὶ χρηματισθέντες κατ’ ὄναρ μὴ ἀνακάμψαι πρὸς Ἡρῴδην δι’ ἄλλης ὁδοῦ ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν.

Ἀναχωρησάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου φαίνεται κατ’ ὄναρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ λέγων· Ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ φεῦγε εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἴσθι ἐκεῖ ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι· μέλλει γὰρ Ἡρῴδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον τοῦ ἀπολέσαι αὐτό.

Here are some of the queries we have done on participles:

• Show sentences sorted by the number of participles contained, giving extra credit for sentences with participles in more than one case.
• Show sentences sorted by the number of circumstantial participles, giving extra credit for sentences with participles in more than one case.
• Show sentences with supplemental participles.
• Show sentences with supplemental participles where the case of the participle is not nominative and the participle, demonstrating that they have their own subject constituents that agree with the participle.
• Show sentences with participles in all 4 cases.
• Show sentences with participles in at least 3 cases, sorted to put the shortest sentences first.

The best way to look at these queries might be to read through Rijksbaron's chapter on participles over in the Rijksbaron threads, illustrating each section with some query results.

This is the first of five one hour lessons introducing the Greek participle, using the same teaching approach that Micheal uses when teaching ESL in the public schools. Micheal, can you outline what kinds of things you might do in the rest of the first five lessons on the participle?

Typically my lessons span a week. A topic introduced on the first day focusses on getting the students to understand some key vocabulary needed to understand a particular text and expose them to that vocabulary in some typical syntactic and semantic contexts typical of its usage. Later days work toward getting the students to begin the process of using that vocabulary and those syntactic structures. Practice works far better than memorization for this purpose. The lesson I posted to this forum at the beginning of this thread is that first day in what would be a much longer "lesson" on the usage of participles. Later sections of this lesson would expand the text and provide other texts heavy with participles and require the students to provide more reflective responses to those texts. I would not introduce a paradigm chart until the students were well down the path of understanding and usage, and then only if it seemed that doing so would help support and solidify their understanding of the texts under analysis.

I teach both ESL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and SSL (Spanish for Speakers of Other Languages) in a dual language immersion program using a set of strategies that fit well within what has come to be called the "Communicative Method" among those using these methods for teaching Greek. When I taught Greek at the seminary and college levels I used much more traditional methods, frustrated by the lack of materials to support a more communicative model. I also taught ESL at the University of Louisville in a phenomenally successful program where we used intense communicative practice in the classroom accompanied by structured written practice as daily homework. It was frustrating to understand and utilize those methods for English while simultaneously teaching Greek without appropriate materials to do the same.

In my English and Spanish classes I address listening, speaking, reading, and writing every week, and as many of these as reasonable each day. I base my lessons around particular texts (fictional narratives, historical narratives, science texts, social studies texts) and design lessons that will produce accountable talk and writing about those texts. I would like to produce these kinds of materials for Ancient Greek, lessons based directly on Ancient Greek texts—lessons that demand students listen to, read, talk about, and write about those texts in Greek. What Jonathan and I are doing will take us a lot closer to being able to efficiently produce appropriate materials for this kind of text-based communicative approach.

Of course there are special circumstances that impact the teaching of Ancient Greek that make it necessarily different from teaching a modern language. When a student leaves the classroom, for example, she or he is not going to be surrounded by people speaking Ancient Greek as todays students of English in the U.S. are surrounded by English speakers. What is needed is not simply classroom materials but supplementary materials to increase exposure to the language outside the classroom. Some great classroom materials are currently being produced. I won't argue over whose are best, just note that more than one scholar is now producing materials for teaching Biblical Greek communicatively. It has taken a terribly long time, but I am finally at a place where I can also dedicate time to producing these materials, and the collaboration with Jonathan, whose computer skills are amazing, is enabling us to look realistically at the possibility of producing materials based directly on texts from the New Testament.

To summarize: Micheal is teaching ESL and SSL classes, and using modern language texts. Students listen to, read, talk about, and write about those texts in the target language. We want to do the same kind of thing with ancient Greek texts.

Finding authentic Greek texts that precisely fit the needs of a given lesson is a bottleneck. Querying syntax trees makes this much, much easier.

Micheal and I are both new to do doing this. He's been doing it in English and Spanish, but when he taught Greek, he did it with a traditional approach. I've been using a related but different approach in my Sunday School, but I first started using communicative approaches this Fall. So we have a whole lot to learn from the people who have been using communicative approaches for a much longer time. At the same time, we may have a different approach that is useful for those who want to focus on nailing instruction firmly to authentic ancient texts.

mwpalmer wrote:• If you only have one student, say:
χρηματίζώ σοι, οὐ μὴ ἅπτῃ ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

• For multiple students, say:
Χρηματίζω αὐτοῖς, οὐ μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

Perhaps you could consider
Μὴ ἅψαι τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζώ σοι μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.
Μὴ ἅψασθε τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζω ἡμῖν μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.

Χρηματίζειν (+inf.) is narrative or descriptive verb, not a dialogue verb. It is used to describe a dialogue, not to make it. I used the diminutive τὸ κιβώτιον because it is quite small. The box of the covenant that was carried about by the Israelis was bigger I thought.

mwpalmer wrote:As you say Χρηματίζω, extend your hands (palms forward) toward the audience as if to prevent anyone from approaching.
As you say σοι or αὐτοῖς, open your hands toward the student(s).
If necessary, repeat the phrase Χρηματίζώ σοι or Χρηματίζω αὐτοῖς before proceeding.

Using your hands is κωλύειν, using your voice is χρηματίζειν.

mwpalmer wrote:As you say Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν, move your finger from left to right under the word ἐπικίνδυνος on the box as if underlining it, but don’t touch the box.

κιβώτιον is neuter, κιβωτός is feminine, your box has the masculine form ἐπικίνδυνος written on it.

mwpalmer wrote:B. Teach ἀναχωρῶ (ἀναχωρέω) and ἀνακάμπτω

...

• Standing next to the sign, ὁ οἴκος μου, gesture toward the other sign as you say, Ἔρχομαι εἰς τὸν οἴκον τοῦ θεοῦ. As you say this, start walking to the sign, ὁ οἴκος τοῦ θεοῦ. When you arrive, look back at the first sign and say, ἀναχωρῶ εἰς τὸν οἴκον μου. Walk back to the first sign.
• Repeat this sequence substituting ἀνακάμπτω for ἀναχωρῶ.
Repeat the entire sequence (using ἀναχωρῶ and ἀνακάμπτω) as necessary.
• On the last repetition, say ἀναχωρῶ, ἀνακάμπτω εἰς τὸν οἴκον μου as you begin to return.

Summarize: Gesturing to indicate the direction of each trip, say, “πρώτον, ἔρχομαι. ὕστερον, ἀναχωρῶ.
πρώτον, ἔρχομαι. ὕστερον, ἀνακάμπτω.
ἀναχωρεῖν καὶ ἀνακάμπτειν ἴσα εἰσίν."

I think the point of the two verbs is that ἀνακάμπτειν means turn around and go back to the place they were, while ἀναχωρεῖν means don't go to where you were, but rather get some distance between yourself and where you are. In the case of this story, the direction of ἀναχωρεῖν is more like perpendicular to that of ἀνακάμπτειν.

mwpalmer wrote:C. Teach ἴσθι ἐκεῖ

Lead a student to the sign ὁ οἴκός μου. Raising both palms toward the student, say, ἴσθι ἐκεῖ and walk away. If the student moves, lead him or her back to the sign and repeat, ἴσθι ἐκεῖ and walk away again.

Repeat as needed until the student realizes that you want him or her to stay. When the student successfully follows the direction, say καλόν (the adverb related to καλός).

I think the order is wrong here, if you were to "say, ἴσθι ἐκεῖ and walk away", you would be inferring that ἐκεῖ meant "here".

mwpalmer wrote:Picking up a Greek New Testament, say: ἀναγινωσκῶμεν τὸν εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Ματθέου.

Use τὸ. I suggest κατὰ Ματθαῖον.

mwpalmer wrote:Matthew 2:12-13
ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι·

This could be used for a game. Students could repeat an action till you tell them to stop. Useful vocab. might be; Κροῦε (Κρούετε) τὰς χεῖρας ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι (ἡμῖν), Ἀνάσειε (Ἀνασείετε) τὴν χεῖρα ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι (ἡμῖν). "Clap your hands", "Wave your hand in the air". μὴ παῦσον / παύσατε, οὔπω εἶπον. παῦσον κρούων / ἀνασείων (παύσατε κρούοντες / ἀνασείοντες).

mwpalmer wrote:1. τίς ἐχρηματίσθηται;

Creative! Use ἐχρηματίσθη

mwpalmer wrote:3. πῶς ἐχρηματίσθηται οἱ μάγοι; (κατ᾽ ὄναρ)

ἐχρηματίσθησαν

mwpalmer wrote:6. τὶς ἀνήκαμψε / ἀνηκάμψαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ / αὐτῶν;

ἀνέκαμψε. τίνες ἀνέκαμψαν

mwpalmer wrote:χαρτηρία τοῦ μαθητοῦ

ὁ χάρτης is far more mainstream. I think you should put students in the plural.

mwpalmer wrote:Γραφε τὸ ὄνομά σου·

How many times?!?!? Use the aorist.

mwpalmer wrote:Ἀποκρίνου ἕκαστον λόγον

ἐρώτημα

mwpalmer wrote:3. πῶς ἐχρηματίσθηται οἱ μάγοι;

vide supra

mwpalmer wrote:5. Ἀνεχώρησαν οἱ μάγοι εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν πρὶν χρηματίσθηναι ὁ Ἰωσήφ ἤ ὕστερον;

ἢ

mwpalmer wrote:6. τὶς ἀνήκαμψε / ἀνηκάμψαν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ / αὐτῶν;[/list]

vide supra

Stephen Hughes wrote:

mwpalmer wrote:• If you only have one student, say:
χρηματίζώ σοι, οὐ μὴ ἅπτῃ ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

• For multiple students, say:
Χρηματίζω αὐτοῖς, οὐ μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

Perhaps you could consider
Μὴ ἅψαι τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζώ σοι μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.
Μὴ ἅψασθε τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζω ἡμῖν μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.=

ἅπτεσθαι ordinarily takes a genitive of the thing contacted; so: τοῦ κιβωτίου and ἐκείνου

cwconrad wrote:

Stephen Hughes wrote:

mwpalmer wrote:• If you only have one student, say:
χρηματίζώ σοι, οὐ μὴ ἅπτῃ ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

• For multiple students, say:
Χρηματίζω αὐτοῖς, οὐ μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστίν.

Perhaps you could consider
Μὴ ἅψαι τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζώ σοι μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.
Μὴ ἅψασθε τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζω ἡμῖν μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.=

ἅπτεσθαι ordinarily takes a genitive of the thing contacted; so: τοῦ κιβωτίου and ἐκείνου

Sorry my mind only worked at level of the knee-jerk reaction.

Perhaps you could consider
Μὴ ἅψαι τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζώ σοι μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.
Μὴ ἅψασθε τὸ κιβώτιον. Χρηματίζω ἡμῖν μὴ ἅψασθαι ἐκείνο. Ἐπικίνδυνον γὰρ ἐστίν.

Thank you, Stephen, for the addition of Μὴ ἅψαι τὸ κιβώτιον. Referring explicitly to the box (in addition to pointing to it) is a good idea. I'll adapt your suggestion as revised by Carl. I'll go with

Μὴ ἅψαι τοῦ κιβωτίου.
Μὴ ἅψασθε τοῦ κιβωτίου.

I would also like to thank you for the gracious way you made it clear that I had not made the optimal choice for the voice for ἅπτω! I must not have had enough sleep the night before. The verb is almost always middle or passive by the New Testament, and when it is active (Luke 8:16, 11:33, and 15:8, for example) it usually carries an implication of change or impact upon the thing touched. Middle voice is clearly a better choice for the context of this lesson.

Using your hands is κωλύειν, using your voice is χρηματίζειν.

I'm not sure why you included this comment. There is nothing in the text about using hands. The comment about hands is an instruction to the teacher suggesting something to do to communicate the idea behind χρηματίζειν, not an implication that χρηματίζειν is referring to anything to do with hands. The idea is that you extend your hands in warning in an English context, the context the students are likely to already know.

κιβώτιον is neuter, κιβωτός is feminine, your box has the masculine form ἐπικίνδυνος written on it.

I made it masculine because ἐπικίνδυνος in this context does not refer to the box (τὁ κιβώτιον). It refers to the contents within the box whose gender is unknown. The box is merely the container of what is ἐπικίνδυνος. Of course you could make an argument that even in this context neuter might be preferable.

I think the point of the two verbs is that ἀνακάμπτειν means turn around and go back to the place they were, while ἀναχωρεῖν means don't go to where you were, but rather get some distance between yourself and where you are. In the case of this story, the direction of ἀναχωρεῖν is more like perpendicular to that of ἀνακάμπτειν.

If the point of the lesson were to teach a clear understanding of these two verbs I might go into exploring the differences between them, but my objective here has more to do with where the verbs overlap. Exploring their differences might well be worth the investment in a follow up lesson, though.

I think the order is wrong here, if you were to "say, ἴσθι ἐκεῖ and walk away", you would be inferring that ἐκεῖ meant "here".

Not if you are already standing at a small distance away from the students. Perhaps I did not make it clear where the teacher should be standing. When I lead the student to the desired spot, I normally stop a few feet shy of the destination and point to where the student should go. That makes ἴσθι ἐκεῖ correct. I will take a look at the instructions I wrote and clarify where the teacher should be standing.

You offered a significant improvement to my statement: ἀναγινωσκῶμεν τὸν εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Ματθέου. The article is clearly wrong (as you say, it should be τὸ), and τὸ εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ματθαῖον is much more in keeping with the usage of the early church. Thank you.

Regarding ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι you commented:

This could be used for a game. Students could repeat an action till you tell them to stop. Useful vocab. might be; Κροῦε (Κρούετε) τὰς χεῖρας ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι (ἡμῖν), Ἀνάσειε (Ἀνασείετε) τὴν χεῖρα ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι (ἡμῖν). "Clap your hands", "Wave your hand in the air". μὴ παῦσον / παύσατε, οὔπω εἶπον. παῦσον κρούων / ἀνασείων (παύσατε κρούοντες / ἀνασείοντες).

That's a fabulous idea! I love it.

As for the repeated instances of ἐχρηματίσθηται when a different form is needed, I don't even know how to explain that. Thank you for the corrections.

I wrote:

Ἀποκρίνου ἕκαστον λόγον

and you responded

ἐρώτημα

I agree that ἐρώτημα is a better choice. λόγος was used to refer to an act of speech or its written equivalent both when referring to a statement and when referring to a question. One could answer a λόγον as well as an ἐρώτημα. One way of understanding it is the think of λόγος as referring to the topic or the issue at hand rather than the linguistic category "question". Still, your point is well taken. It would be better for the students to use ἐρώτημα.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to comb all the way through the lesson offering suggestions and corrections. I will update the version posted on my blog and note that you provided valuable comments that led to the changes.

Stephen:

I failed to mention in the response above that I understand your reservations about χρηματίζειν.

Χρηματίζειν (+inf.) is narrative or descriptive verb, not a dialogue verb.

I struggled for a while with this because there are several words in Ancient Greek that are used in reference to warning someone of something, but none of the others seemed to be a particularly good fit either. Do you have one you prefer?

mwpalmer wrote:I failed to mention in the response above that I understand your reservations about χρηματίζειν.

Χρηματίζειν (+inf.) is narrative or descriptive verb, not a dialogue verb.

I struggled for a while with this because there are several words in Ancient Greek that are used in reference to warning someone of something, but none of the others seemed to be a particularly good fit either. Do you have one you prefer?

Reservations...

Actually, I have reservations about speaking too directly and fully about what I think in this case. Let me preface what I will say by first saying that I admire the work you are doing as presented here and as described in part during a few pleasant hours of walking and sitting both in and around Fudan.

To put it directly first, I think your activity with the "danger box" for χρηματίζειν is promoting (or consolidating) a "shift" in its meaning.

χρηματίζειν doesn't mean "warn", it means "reveal", (closer perhaps to δηλοῦν than to ἀποκαλύπτειν if I answer your question for preferring words). By the Holy Spirit, an angel, dream or human messenger, a message comes from God (or a god in a polytheistic context). In the construction with μή it can be conveniently rendered into English as "warn", in the sense of get a negatived oracular response to a question posed - oracles were sought in the ancient world in answer to a specific question. Those guys of course were gentiles with pagan religious practices and it is not the business of the Evangelist to promote (or even really explain) them, but we should understand that this form of divination ("seeking guidance from God", in the modern parlance) - posing a question, sleeping on it and getting a positive or negative answer (by interpreting something in the dream) - is quite different from what happened to Joseph in the following verse (13), to whom an angel appeared in a dream and explained things - a revelation and a command. Presumably Joseph was not aware of the impending massacre. The situation that confronted the Holy Family was revealed to Joseph, while some sort of negative answer came to the magi in a dream, in keeping with the oracular direction, they made a rational choice and planned to go another way.

On the positive side, further down in verse 22 of the same chapter (used without μή), Joseph gets "oracular advice", "a message of personal guidance" to go somewhere, and he goes there. It is not "warn", but rather "reveal", in the sense of a personal revelation of what to do.

The question begs itself as to whether the Magi would have been in danger to return to Herod, I'm guessing that they would not have been. Translating as "warn" then in verse 12 (used with μή) slightly obfuscates the meaning, "got a negative oracular response to going back to Herod", "got personal guidance to not go back to Herod (in more modern terms)". Whether people should be encouraged to seek personal guidance, by translating it like that is something I don't think we need to discuss here.

In Luke 2:26 Simeon is obviously not being"warned" by the Holy Spirit not to die ... αὶ ἦν αὐτῷ κεχρηματισμένον ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον πρὶν ἢ ἴδῃ τὸν χριστὸν κυρίου. A personal revelation or message from God came to him, as indeed to others in the New Testament.

While the oracles of, say, Delphi were described as χρησμός, I think that Paul's choice of the word χρηματισμός for God having a private communication with Elijah in Romans 11:4 is a form of pious avoidance. Quite whether what the girl with the spirit to prophesy from Python (the daughter of Gaia the earth mother in the pagan understanding), said could be understood as χρηματίζειν is another matter of vocabulary usage again.

I know this is not style of answer that you expected, but I think that your lesson seems to teach the contextual and interpretative meaning of χρηματίζειν, but that is not the meaning of the word. To split fine hairs, in that lesson plan you are teaching an interpretative understanding of the text, not the language of the text.