NT or modern Greek?

Question

I posted this question in Languages and got 0 answers, so let me try once again in this category.

How similar/different are NT and modern Greek? Can speakers of modern Greek read the original NT easily? By the way, do you know if the original NT the official version of the Greek Orthodox Church, or is there a translation in modern Greek in use?

I am planning to start learning NT Greek, and I was thinking that maybe starting with modern Greek, and then (after a year or so) moving to NT Greek is a good idea? Is the grammar essentially the same? I am not that much concerned with (differences in) vocabulary in both languages (dialects), as I am with learning the grammar first. The thing is, I already have resources to learn modern Greek and plus the additional benefit of being conversational in modern Greek. Or do I better go straight to NT Greek, since that's my ultimate goal?

Answer 1

Your question is a hard one, because I have to assume some understanding of Ancient or Modern Greek to answer (and my Demotiki is rather poor).



Yes, an educated Greek can read the NT in a way very similar to how a modern English-speaker can read Chaucer. I go to a Greek Orthodox Church with several ethnic Greeks in it, and the official Greek text is a Byzantine text-type version still in the Koine. Some of them can read it, but some of them can't. They all get something from it. They can all pronounce everything.



The actual differences in the language can at places be extreme. Ancient Greek has an infinitive and a highly inflected participle. The former was dropped and the latter sharply limited. It had five five cases, but the Demotiki has dropped the dative with the accusative and genitive taking over various functions. The perfect was lost then rebuilt so that in the modern it looks like ours, but in Ancient Greek it was formed by a reduplication of the stem and an ending. It had no helper verb. There are other, important differences, but it's more than I can go into here. You really do need to know at least one for it to make sense.



Learn Modern Greek first IF you have Modern Greeks to teach you. Then you have the advantage of learning it in a way you create an audio path in your brain for it (that's something I didn't get a chance to do when I learned ancient Greek). After that, you can expand into Ancient Greek. This would be the ideal way to do it, because it is a more natural way.



If you don't have a way to really learn it spoken, then there's no use at all trying to master both. Pick up a copy of Athanaze and start studying Attic Greek. You'll get to Koine Greek faster. Personally, I would advise you learn Homeric Greek before any of it if you have the patience. Clyd Pharr's "Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners" is a wonderful grammar for it. Everyone in the ancient world learned with Homer.



If you decide to go with Attic Greek (don't start with the NT; you need to read more than the NT in Greek to understand it), then get Athanaze. For your biblical studies, you'll need a New Testament AND a Septuagint. The Septuagint was the NT writers' Bible, and studying it will do more for you than any modern scholarly commentary. There are numerous editions of both, and I have no idea what your approach or beliefs are, so I can't tell you which one to get.



After you have a grasp of the grammar you will want to brush up more on your LXX Greek. It'll help your NT significantly. For that there is a good book "Grammar of Septuagint Greek" by Conybeare.



If you can, attend a Greek Church and learn several of the important prayers in Greek. This will also facilitate your learning Though I would advise you choose one with a good hunk of English also, an immigrant congregation with no English at all would simply make no sense to you. You need to be able to draw connections.

Answer 2

learn the 1st century greek, many words have changes meanings over the year, if you understand a modern word you will have difficulty in learning and understanding older meanings, and modern greek is also wattered down from 2000 years ago. Speakers in modern greek could speak and understand older greek except for words that have gone by the wayside (no longer in use) Most still go to school for the older greek languages, pre Roman greek is also different from NT greek.

Answer 3

I'm no expert, but my guess is the Greek of the New Testament is as foreign to a contemporary Greek as Beowulf is for a modern English reader.

A modern Greek could probably make some sense out of it, but it would not be clear. Also, the different authors of the New Testament vary considerably in their sophistication in the Greek language. Luke was obviously quite educated and familiar with the Greek. John's writings though spiritually profound are gramatically rather simple, so would be more likely understood by anyone with any familiarity with Greek.

Answer 4

The original parts of the New Testament were not written in Greek at all. They were written in several languages and eventually translated to Greek. The New Testament is an anthology of memoirs and letters... with many laid aside at one time or another.

Answer 5

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