Resources for Learning to Read the Greek New Testament

There are many wonderful resources available for learning Greek that provide an alternative to attending a Bible college or seminary. Here are some reasons why I do not recommend learning Greek at a Bible college:

- high cost
- inconvenient
- outdated Erasmian pronunciation
- use of corrupt Greek texts
- non-KJV translation philosophy

The methods that I am recommending for learning Greek are easier, cheaper, make a lot more sense, and will strengthen your faith in the English King James Bible instead of seeking to tear it down.

The first thing I recommend is that you start by learning the basics of modern Greek before jumping into Biblical κοινη Greek. Starting with modern Greek will help you get the correct pronunciation from native speakers, not the ugly, awkward pronunciation taught in seminaries that features a heavy American accent and will have native Greeks face-palming and shaking their heads. Also, learning modern Greek first will help you see Greek as a real-life, living language, not a dead language from the past. Here are some programs that I have completed in modern Greek that I highly recommend:

- Duolingo
- Rosetta Stone
- Pimsleur

...but the greatest of these is Pimsleur.

Once you've learned the basics of modern Greek by completing one or all of the above courses, the transition into Biblical Greek will not be difficult. The first thing you will need is a Greek New Testament which can be purchased from the Trinitarian Bible Society. Another thing that is very helpful is having audio of the Greek New Testament, which is available on the Faithful Word app for Android or iPhone. The audio is a reading of the Textus Receptus by a native modern Greek speaker.

One of the best strategies for learning any language is to start by learning a lot of vocabulary. Flash cards can be very helpful, and there is a set of flash cards available for Biblical Greek that teach you the 1,000 most common words in the New Testament. The New Testament uses about 5,420 vocabulary words, but thousands of them are used only once or just a couple of times. You would rather focus on learning the common vocabulary words first. For example, the 320 most commonly used words represent 80% of the New Testament text. The 882 most commonly used words represent 90% of the New Testament text. Therefore if you learn the 1,000 most commonly used words, you will know over 90% of the Greek words that appear on a typical page of your Greek New Testament. Studies show that if you know 95-98% of the words in a text, you will be able to understand the remaining 2-5% from the context. Not only that, but if you know the Bible very well in English, you will easily understand the unknown words from the context, and over time, you will learn them all.

Lastly, you should work on learning the grammar. Do yourself a favor and learn this last. Why? Because the grammar is difficult and discouraging, but if you have already completed the above steps, it will be much easier. Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, and Pimsleur will have already painlessly taught you a lot of grammar. Then you will intuitively pick up a lot of grammar through reading the New Testament as you learn the vocabulary from the flash cards. By the time you get to serious study of grammar, you will just be filling in gaps and learning forms that are already somewhat familiar. The Bible college classes will throw you into heavy grammar right away which is a mistake. Following the above approach will make learning Greek much more enjoyable and less of a chore.

One book you could use for learning the grammar is "Beginning Greek: a Functional Approach" by Stephen W. Paine (WARNING: wrong Greek text of the Bible. Be sure to replace the reading selections with readings from your TBS Greek Textus Receptus). The first half of the book teaches the κοινη Greek of the Bible (1st century A.D.), and the second half of the book teaches Attic Greek (classical Greek from the 4th century B.C.) with readings from Xenophon. I am currently studying the Homeric Greek of the Iliad (8th century B.C.) using the book "Homeric Greek: a Book for Beginners" by Clyde Pharr. Both of these books contain difficult grammar, and I highly recommend finishing all the above steps first before moving on to these types of books.

Over 5 years ago, I did a series of 27 Greek lessons on YouTube, which you may also find helpful at some point in your studies:



Let me know in the comments if you've had any success using these methods or if you have any other tips!

Marching to Zion in Greek!

Πάνω από 4.000 χρόνια πριν, ο Θεός εμφανίστηκε στον Αβραάμ στη Μεσοποταμία και του είπε, "Άφησε την πατρίδα σου και το πατρικό σου σπίτι και πήγαινε σε μια χώρα που θα σου δείξω εγώ. Από τους απογόνους σου θα δημιουργηθεί ένα μεγάλο έθνος." Ο Αβραάμ υπάκουσε τον Κύριο και ήρθε στη γη της Επαγγελίας της Χαναάν, όπου έζησε μαζί με τον γιο του Ισαάκ και τον εγγονό του Ιακώβ, γη που αργότερα μετονομάστηκε "Ισραήλ."

Ο Ισραήλ και οι 12 γιοί του πορεύτηκαν στην Αίγυπτο λόγω λιμού στην γη της Χαναάν, και εκεί πολλαπλασιάστηκαν και έγιναν ισχυρό έθνος. Οι Αιγύπτιοι αισθάνθηκαν να απειλούνται από το ισχυρό έθνος του Ισραήλ που ζούσε ανάμεσά τους, με αποτέλεσμα να το υποδουλώσουν και να κάνουν τη ζωή του πολύ δύσκολη επιβάλλοντας του να δουλεύει σκληρά. Μετά από 430 χρόνια στην Αίγυπτο, οι Εβραίοι, οδηγούμενοι από τον Μωυσή, αποτίναξαν τα δεσμά της δουλείας και στη συνέχεια διέσχισαν την Ερυθρά θάλασσα και πήγαν στην Αραβία, όπου έλαβαν το νόμο του Θεού στο όρος Σινά.

Η γενιά των Ισραηλιτών, που έφυγε από την Αίγυπτο με τον Μωυσή δεν είχε το ελεύθερο να περάσει στη γη της Επαγγελίας διότι δεν πίστευε στον Κύριο. Αναγκάστηκαν να περιπλανηθούν στην έρημο για 40 χρόνια μέχρι να δημιουργηθεί μια νέα γενιά, που πίστευε στον Κύριο και αυτή η γενιά εισήλθε στη γη της Επαγγελίας με τον Ιησού του Ναυή.

Για περίπου 400 χρόνια, οι 12 φυλές του Ισραήλ διοικούνταν από τους Κριτές, σύμφωνα με το Νόμο του Μωυσή. Όταν θέλησαν να αποκτήσουν βασιλιά όπως όλα τα άλλα έθνη, ο Θεός διόρισε τον Σαούλ βασιλιά τους, ο οποίος παρέμεινε βασιλιάς για 40 χρόνια, τον διαδέχτηκε ο βασιλιάς Δαυίδ που βασίλευσε 40 χρόνια και στη συνέχεια ο γιος του Δαυίδ, ο Σολομώντας, που βασίλευσε 40 χρόνια. Κατά τη διάρκεια της βασιλείας του Σολομώντος το βασίλειο του Ισραήλ ήταν το πιο ένδοξο και τότε χτίστηκε ο πρώτος ναός, αλλά επειδή ο Σολομώντας απομακρύνθηκε από τον Κύριο στα γηρατειά του, ο Θεός του είπε ότι 10 από τις φυλές δεν θα είχαν τον γιο του βασιλιά.

Μετά τον θάνατο του Σολομώντα, το βασίλειο του Ισραήλ χωρίστηκε, και οι 10 φυλές του βορά διοικήθηκαν από διάφορους κακόβουλους βασιλείς, που δεν ήταν απόγονοι του Δαυίδ και του Σολομώντα. Το Βόρειο Βασίλειο διατήρησε το όνομα του Ισραήλ και είχε πρωτεύουσα τη Σαμάρεια. Το μικρότερο Νότιο Βασίλειο έγινε γνωστό ως βασίλειο του Ιούδα, είχε πρωτεύουσα την Ιερουσαλήμ και κυβερνήθηκε από τους απογόνους του Δαυίδ. Ξεκινώντας στο Βασιλέων Β' Κεφ. 16, ο λαός του Νότιου Βασιλείου έγινε γνωστός ως "Ιουδαίοι" ή "Εβραίοι" σύμφωνα με το όνομα του Βασιλείου του Ιούδα.

Εξαιτίας της έχθρας που έτρεφε γι' αυτούς το Βόρειο Βασίλειο του Ισραήλ, το βασίλειο ανατράπηκε και οι Ιουδαίοι αιχμαλωτίστηκαν από τους Ασσύριους. Οι Ισραηλίτες που απόμειναν «αναμίχθηκαν» με τα ειδωλολατρικά έθνη που εισέβαλαν και κατέλαβαν τη γη τους. Αυτοί οι άνθρωποι έγιναν γνωστοί ως Σαμαρείτες, και οι 10 φυλές του Βορείου Ισραήλ δεν έγιναν ποτέ ένα ενιαίο έθνος.

Οι υπήκοοι από Νότιο Βασίλειο του Ιούδα τελικά αιχμαλωτίσθηκαν και μεταφέρθηκαν αιχμάλωτοι στη Βαβυλώνα σαν τιμωρία επειδή πίστευαν σε άλλους θεούς και ο ναός τους καταστράφηκε, αλλά μετά από 70 χρόνια οι Ιουδαίοι επέστρεψαν στο Βασίλειο του Ιούδα, ξανάχτισαν το ναό στην Ιερουσαλήμ και συνέχισαν να κυβερνώνται από βασιλείς που ήταν απόγονοι του Δαυίδ.

Στους χρόνους που έζησε ο Χριστός, το έθνος του Ιούδα ήταν γνωστό ως Ιουδαία και ήταν υπό ρωμαϊκή κυριαρχία. Ο Ιησούς Χριστός και οι μαθητές του κήρυξαν το ευαγγέλιο σε όλη την Ιουδαία αναζητώντας τους απολωλότες αμνούς του οίκου του Ισραήλ. Μετά από τριάμισι έτη κηρύγματος, οι Ιουδαίοι απέρριψαν τον Ιησού ως Μεσσία τους και έπεισαν τον Ρωμαίο διοικητή να τον σταυρώσει. Τρεις ημέρες αργότερα, αναστήθηκε εκ νεκρών και εμφανίστηκε ζωντανός στους μαθητές του πριν αναστηθεί και καθίσει εκ δεξιών του Πατρός του στους Ουρανούς.

Λίγο πριν σταυρωθεί ο Ιησούς, προφήτευσε ότι θα τιμωρηθούν επειδή τον απέρριψαν και θα καιγόταν η Ιερουσαλήμ, θα καταστρεφόταν ο ναός, και ότι οι Εβραίοι θα οδηγηθούν μακριά αιχμάλωτοι σε όλα τα έθνη της γης. Αυτή η προφητεία εκπληρώθηκε το 70 μ.Χ όταν ο Ρωμαίος αυτοκράτορας Τίτος κατέκτησε την Ιερουσαλήμ. Για πάνω από 1800 χρόνια, οι Εβραίοι παρέμειναν διασκορπισμένοι σε όλα τα έθνη της γης.

Στη συνέχεια το 1948 συνέβη το αδύνατο. Ιδρύθηκε το κράτος του Ισραήλ, και οι Εβραίοι ήταν πλέον κάτοχοι της γης της επαγγελίας. Πολλοί Χριστιανοί δήλωσαν ότι επρόκειτο για θαύμα και ευλογία από τον Θεό, αλλά ήταν πραγματικά ευλογία του Κυρίου, ή εργάστηκαν κάποιες σκοτεινές δυνάμεις; Αυτή η ταινία θα σας δώσει την απάντηση.

Beware of "Going Back to the Greek" in Sermons

Often you will hear preachers "go back to the Greek" in their sermons in order to make certain points. Some will even go so far as to "correct" something that they feel has been "mistranslated" in the King James Bible. But even for those who believe that the King James Bible is word of God, "going back to the Greek" in a sermon is a dangerous practice. Here are several reasons why English-speaking preachers should not "go back to the Greek" in order to make points in their sermons.

1. Doing so implies that there are hidden meanings in the Bible that only someone who knows Greek or Hebrew can reveal.

There is nothing magical or mystical about the Greek and Hebrew languages. The fact that God originally delivered the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek should show us that there is not one special language that God speaks. In Acts 2, the Bible records God's word being spoken in at least 17 languages by the early church members who were speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. If the Holy Ghost could speak God's word in 17 languages in Acts 2, why in the world would anyone think that it is impossible for God's word to be expressed perfectly in English?

If there were hidden meanings in the Bible that only Greek and Hebrew scholars could reveal, then that would make the people in the pew reliant upon the pastor to teach them those things. He would then be acting as a mediator between them and God since they would be unable to fully understand God's truth without him. This is similar to Catholic doctrine that teaches that only the church can interpret the Bible for you, and that you should beware of "privately interpreting" the Bible. God forbid that Baptists would ever believe or teach such a thing!

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." - 1 John 2:27

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" - 1 Timothy 2:5

2. Doing so implies that the Bible we preach from is not completely accurate or fully translated.

People often repeat the cliche that "you always lose something in the translation." Many people who repeat this myth do not even speak a second language. The Bible can be translated into any language without losing any of the meaning. Although not all translations are 100% accurate, it is theoretically possible to perfectly express God's word in any human language. Thankfully, we were brought up speaking English and have the King James Bible in our English language, which is the word of God without error. Many other languages also have excellent translations of the Bible.

The Bible never commands us to learn a foreign language such as Greek or Hebrew. Instead we see the biblical example of translating God's word into all languages. Keep in mind that God is the one who gave us different languages in the first place at the tower of Babel.

3. The tendency among preachers is to not be fluent in Koine Greek, but rather to blindly rely on lexicons and other man-made study tools.

When the vast majority of preachers who "go back to the Greek" in their sermons are challenged after the service by someone who actually speaks Greek, it quickly becomes obvious that they know little or no Greek. About 99% of the time, they are just repeating something that they read in a commentary, looked up in a lexicon, or heard from another preacher. Therefore, they aren't really "going back to the original," they are just going to someone else's opinion and stating it as fact. Who wrote the commentary? Who wrote the lexicons? Is everything written in these commentaries and lexicons Gospel? Often they are written by people who do not even believe the Bible or have horrible doctrine. Should we let these random people's opinions trump what is plainly written in our English Bible?

4. 99% of pastors are nowhere near as qualified as the KJV translators, yet they flippantly correct the translation using their amateurish knowledge of Greek. 

"Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." - Psalm 131:1

If a pastor is not fluent in Koine Greek, why in the world would he translate on the fly from behind the pulpit? Is he more qualified than the 54 expert men who spent 7 years translating the King James Bible? Yet so many preachers will "correct" what they consider "translation errors" based on their 2 semesters of Greek in Bible College (if that!). Why? Either because they want to change what the Bible says to fit their sermon, or they want to make themselves look smart.

5. If the pastor goes back to the Greek, most listeners have no clue whether or not what he is saying is true and must blindly trust the pastor.

If the church is an English-speaking church, the English King James Bible should be the final authority for all matters of faith and practice. The pastor should not be believed blindly. It is the responsibility of the church to listen to the preaching and then search the scriptures daily to see whether what is being preached is the truth. If he is teaching doctrine based on what the New Testament says "in the Greek," no one in the church will be able to verify what is being preached unless they happen to be a Greek scholar.

"Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." - 1 Corinthians 14:29

 Although the Greek Textus Receptus and the English King James Bible are both the word of God without error, the Greek New Testament should not be used in a congregation of English-speaking people where almost no one knows the language.

Greek Lesson Videos for Homeschoolers

These videos teach Biblical Koiné Greek using modern pronunciation, which gives the student the best of both worlds: the ability to read the Greek New Testament and the ability to speak with Greek people. The videos are all available on YouTube for free and teach vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation using real Bible verses from the Textus Receptus (the Greek text underlying the King James Bible). The King James Bible is never criticized, corrected, or undermined in these videos.

The only supplies you will need go through these lessons are pens and paper. However, you will probably want to buy a trustworthy Greek New Testament that can be purchased here from the Trinitarian Bible Society for only $9.50.

Most of the lessons are about 10 minutes long, but the lesson on the alphabet and some of the other lessons are longer. Some are shorter than 10 minutes.

Two of my nephews watching the videos as part of their homeschooling.

Practicing the letters of the Greek alphabet.