Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

GREEK LANGUAGE

Language of the Greek people.

The Greek language is a beautiful, rich, and well-tuned instrument of communication. It is a fitting tool both for vigorous thought and for religious devotion. During its classical period, Greek was the language of one of the world’s greatest cultures. During that cultural period, language, literature, and art flourished more than war. The Greek mind was preoccupied with ideals of beauty. The Greek language reflected artistry in its philosophical dialogues, its poetry, and its stately orations.

The Greek language was also characterized by strength and vigor. It was capable of variety and striking effects. Greek was a language of argument, with a vocabulary and style that could penetrate and clarify phenomena rather than simply tell stories. Classical Greek elaborately developed many forms from a few word roots. Its complex syntax allowed intricate word arrangements to express fine nuances of meaning.

Ancient History

Although the antecedents of Greek are obscure, the first traces of what could be called antecedents of ancient Greek appear in Mycenaean and Minoan documents (1400–1200 BC) that use three different scripts: Minoan hieroglyphic (the earliest), linear A, and linear B (the latest). Linear B, generally considered “pre-Greek,” is written in a syllabic script found on clay tablets discovered on the island of Crete and on the Greek mainland.

The Mycenaean civilization and script ended suddenly with the Dorian invasions (1200 BC), and writing seems to have disappeared for several centuries. Later, about the eighth century BC, Greek writing appeared in a different script. That script was based on an alphabet presumably borrowed from the Phoenicians and then adapted to the Greek speech sound system and direction of writing. Greek was first written from right to left, like the West Semitic languages, then in a back-and-forth pattern, finally from left to right. Several dialects appeared during the archaic period (8th to 6th centuries BC): Dorian, Eonian, Achaean, and Aeolic.

During the classical period (5th to 4th centuries BC), Greek culture reached its literary and artistic zenith. Classical (or Attic) Greek was characterized by subtlety of syntax and an expressive use of particles (short, uninflected parts of speech, often untranslatable). As the city of Athens attained cultural and political control, the Attic dialect also gained in prestige. With the Macedonian conquests, Attic Greek, combined with influences from other dialects (especially Ionic), became the international language of the eastern Mediterranean area.

Hellenism and the Koine Dialect

The conquests of Alexander the Great encouraged the spread of Greek language and culture. Regional dialects were largely replaced by “Hellenistic” or “koine” (common) Greek. Koine Greek is a dialect preserved and known through thousands of inscriptions reflecting all aspects of daily life. The koine dialect added many vernacular expressions to Attic Greek, thus making it more cosmopolitan. Simplifying the grammar also better adapted it to a worldwide culture. The new language, reflecting simple, popular speech, became the common language of commerce and diplomacy. The Greek language lost much of its elegance and finely shaded nuance as a result of its evolution from classic to koine. Nevertheless, it retained its distinguishing characteristics of strength, beauty, clarity, and logical rhetorical power.

It is significant that the apostle Paul wrote his letter to Christians in Rome in the Greek language rather than in Latin. The Roman Empire of that time was culturally a Greek world, except for governmental transactions.

The Septuagint

During the centuries immediately before Christ, the eastern Mediterranean had been undergoing not only Hellenization but also Semitization. Both influences can be observed in the Greek translation of the OT.

Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek was an epochal event. The Septuagint (the earliest Greek translation of the OT) later had a strong influence on Christian thought. A necessary consequence of Hebrew writers using the Greek language was that a Greek spirit and Greek forms of thought influenced Jewish culture. The Jews soon appropriated from the rich and refined Greek vocabulary some expressions for ideas that were beyond the scope of Hebrew terminology. Also, old Greek expressions acquired new and extended meanings in this translation of the OT by Greek-speaking Jews.

The Greek OT has been very significant in the development of Christian thought. Often the usage of a Greek word in the Septuagint provides a key to its meaning in the NT. The OT dialect of “Jewish Greek” is at times seen in NT passages translated very literally; at other times, the NT translation of OT texts is very loose.

New Testament Greek

Although most NT authors were Jewish, they wrote in Greek, the universal language of their time. In addition, the apostle John seems to have been acquainted with some Greek philosophy, which influenced his style. John used “word” (Greek logos) in reference to Christ (Jn 1:1), and several other abstract expressions. John may have been influenced by the Egyptian center of Alexandria, where Greek philosophy and Hebrew learning had merged in a unique way.

The apostle Paul also was acquainted with Greek authors (Acts 17:28; 1 Cor 15:33; Ti 1:12). Thus, Greek orators and philosophers influenced Paul’s language as well as Hebrew prophets and scholars.

Exactly which dialect of Hebrew or Aramaic Jesus spoke is debated. It is certainly possible that Jesus also spoke Greek. The fact remains that the Gospels were originally written as Greek texts. The records in Greek of Jesus’ teachings and accomplishments prepared the way for the gospel to spread throughout a Greek-speaking culture.

The dignity and restraint of koine Greek used by Christian writers was neither so artificial and pedantic as some classical writings nor so trivial and vulgar as spoken koine.

Greek words took on richer, more spiritual meaning in the context of Scripture. Influenced by the simplicity and rich vividness of Semitic style, the NT was not written in a peculiar “Holy Ghost” language (as some medieval scholars believed) but in koine (common) Greek, largely by Semitic-thinking authors. Tens of thousands of papyri unearthed in Egypt in the early 20th century furnish lexical and grammatical parallels to biblical language, revealing that it was part of the linguistic warp and woof of that era. Yet NT Greek was nevertheless “free,” often creating its own idiom. Christian writers influenced Greek thought by introducing new expressions in order to convey their message about Jesus Christ.

Semitic Influence

Because NT Greek combines the directness of Hebrew thought with the precision of Greek expression, Greek’s subtle delicacy often interprets Hebrew concepts. The Semitic influence is strongest in the Gospels, the book of Revelation, and the Letter of James. Books like Luke and Hebrews exhibit a more typically Greek style. The NT epistles blend the wisdom of Hebrew and the dialectic philosophy of Greek. Sermons recorded in the NT combine the Hebrew prophetic message with Greek oratorical force.

In addition to direct quotes and allusions from the Septuagint, a pervasive Semitic influence on NT Greek has been noted in many areas. For example, the syntax of NT Greek contains many examples of Semitic style.

Vocabulary

The Greek NT vocabulary is abundant and sufficient to convey just the shade of meaning the author desires. For example, the NT uses two different words for “love” (for two kinds of love), two words for “another” (another of the same, or another of a different kind), and several words for various kinds of knowledge. Significantly, some words are omitted, such as eros (a third kind of love) and other words commonly employed in the Hellenistic culture of that time.

Moreover, Greek words often took on new meanings in the context of the gospel, arising from a combination of new teachings with an exalted morality. The writers did not hesitate to use such words as “life,” “death,” “glory,” and “wrath” in new ways to express new thoughts. Sometimes the literal meaning of a word almost disappears, as when the authors use “water,” “washing,” and “baptism” for Christ’s spiritually purifying power. NT vocabulary also contains words found elsewhere only in the Greek OT, such as “circumcision,” “idolatry,” “anathema,” “diaspora,” and “Pentecost.” Loan words from Hebrew or Aramaic include alleluia and amen (Hebrew), and abba, mammon, and corban (Aramaic).

For understanding the meaning of a NT word, then, a lexicon of classical Greek is helpful but not sufficient. One must also know how the word is used in the Greek OT, in Hellenistic writings, and in the inscriptions and documents representing the language of everyday life. Papyrus documents provide many illustrations of the meaning of NT words. For example, the Greek word for “contribution” (1 Cor 16:1), at one time thought to be limited to the NT, is commonly used with the same meaning in the papyri. Many Greek words once defined on the basis of classical Greek have been given sharper meaning in the light of their use in the papyri.

Grammar

As in other Indo-European languages, the meaning of Greek words is affected by the addition and alteration of various prefixes and suffixes (the process known as inflection). Although its system of inflection is simplified compared to classical Greek, NT Greek is more inflected than are many languages. Greek meaning is thus much less susceptible to ambiguity than English.

In contrast to Hebrew, Greek has a neuter gender as well as masculine and feminine. The many and precise Greek prepositions are subtle, having various meanings depending on their context. NT Greek uses only about half of the particles used in classical Greek.

The Greek verb system, much more complicated than that of Hebrew, is capable of nuances of meaning difficult to express even in English. Each Greek verb has five aspects, which grammarians call tense, mood, voice, person, and number.

Tense

Greek verb tense deals primarily with kind of action rather than time of action as in English. In Greek there are three basic kinds of action: durative, expressed by the present, imperfect, and (sometimes) future tenses; simple or punctiliar, expressed by the aorist and (often) future tenses; and completed, expressed by the perfect tense (results of past action continue into the present) and pluperfect tense (results are confined to the past).

Greek tenses are often hard to translate into English; the time of action as well as the verb stem’s basic meaning (such as whether it takes an object) must be subtly blended with the kind of action into a single idea.

Mood

The mood shows how a verb’s action should be understood. Is the action real? (Use the indicative mood.) Is the action demanded by someone? (Use the imperative mood.) Does the action depend on other conditions? (Use the subjunctive or optative mood.) Is the action basically descriptive of another substantive? (Use a participle.) Is the action basically substantive? (Use an infinitive.) In grammar, a substantive is a word or group of words functioning as a noun; the last two examples are not strictly moods, but they are used that way by grammarians. The moods give a Greek writer a rich choice of verbal expression.

Voice

A verb’s voice describes whether action is directed outward (active), inward (middle), or back upon the sentence’s subject (passive).

Person

The person of a verb tells who is doing the acting, whether I (first person), you (second person), or another (third person).

Number

Verb number shows whether the action is performed by one person (singular) or more than one person (plural).

Style

The NT contains a variety of writing styles in its use of Greek. The Gospels especially exhibit Semitic features. Matthew uses a style less picturesque than Mark’s and in some respects close to the style of Luke, Acts, Hebrews, James, and 1 Peter. Luke’s style varies from that of both Mark and Matthew; it is elegant. The rather simple style of John contains many Semitisms.

Among the apostle Paul’s letters, differences of style have been noted. The least literary and most direct in expression are his Letters to the Thessalonians. The Pastorals (1—2 Timothy, Titus) have a style nearer to the koine than most of the other epistles—not so Jewish, and not so much influenced by the Septuagint as his other letters.

The Letter to the Hebrews combines elegance with Jewish-Greek style. James’s letter, though high in cultural quality, is not as sensitive in style as Hebrews. Less elegant is 1 Peter, which is strongly influenced by the Septuagint and thus reflects Semitic style.

The Letter of Jude contains elevated, somewhat ponderous diction, and shows the influence of Jewish style. Second Peter, resembling Jude in its high style, is even more influenced by the Septuagint.

The book of Revelation has a generally simple style but shows considerable Semitic influence in its use of parallelism and redundancy. Linguistic scholars have identified a number of apparent grammatical mistakes in the Greek of Revelation.