Introductory koini Greek

The class will meet online 24 times, twice a week over 12 weeks. If you are interested, please follow my website for updates, or use the contact form on the main page and then watch out for an email from me with instructions on how to register. The email will go out in February or March.

This course offers a basic introduction to the so called koini Greek, that is, the most common dialect of Greek (at least in common writing) between the 3^rd century BC and 14^th century AD. This is the language of the Septuagint, the New Testament, and the Greek Fathers of the Church, all the way to the end of the eastern Roman empire (and even beyond).This course will provide a basic yet comprehensive look at the morphology and syntax of this form of Greek in order to facilitate the handling of simple grammatical tools for the reading of simple texts from the Greek Bible and early patristic sources.

Format: Online synchronous, with office hours upon request, for discussions and questions.

Textbook: This course uses my grammar. A copy of it will be send to everyone registered for the class, as part of the cost of the class. I do not want you to find additional sources of study unless you pass them by me. With less than a handful of exceptions, sources in English study Erasmian Greek (and that, only of the New Testament) and rely heavily on memorization, rather than at its inner logic. They will not be useful at this early stage of immersion.

Learning objectives: 1. Learn to pronounce koini in a more historically accurate way (compared to the Erasmian system), by using the modern pronunciation. 2. Acquire basic knowledge of koini morphology and syntax. 3. Be able to read simple prose and poetic texts from the Greek Scriptures and early patristic sources. 4. Learn a basic New Testament vocabulary, including most of the words used more than 50 times in the NT.

Class structure: Each class will consist of: 1. Review and clarifications of the grammar section of that day. 2. Exercises related to the grammar reviewed. 3. In some classes (later on in the semester) we will also have a close look at “the ancient text of the New Testament,” the text as it used to be and is no longer in our modern critical editions. In these segments of the class we will look first at these textual differences and second we will identify the specific exegetical issues that this complex nature of the text posed to the ancient interpreter. In its practical component, this segment of the class is to a certain extent an attempt to systematize and categorize the interpretive issues that ancient exegetes and/or copyists confronted when reading, translating, or interpreting the New Testament in its ancient Greek form.

Attendance: Attendance is an essential part of the learning process. Yet, I will not take attendance in this course.

Assessments and requirements: This course has only homework, which will constantly check all knowledge acquired up to that point in the course. The homework will be corrected but not graded. 

Syllabus and readings: The entire syllabus, all extra readings, and all class materials will be available for free to those registered, in a shared folder.