Updated on Mon, 5 January, 2004

新約希臘文 初階

學習和教導希臘文? updated on Mon, 5 January, 2004

為何要學希臘文? (Why Study Greek?)

• WHY SHOULD ANYONE STUDY GREEK (NT Greek)?;
• Why Study Greek? ;
• Why In Heaven's Name are You Majoring In Greek?;
• Why Study Greek?;
• Revival of studying Greek;
• Why Study Greek?
• Why do we Study Greek? (Catholic view)
• Why is Classics such a rewarding course of study? ;
• Why Study Ancient Greek?
• Why Study Greek and Latin Classics?;
• Why would I want to study Greek? (Modern Greek) ;

 

1. The study of the original languages (= Greek) may be viewed as the proper understanding of the biblical doctrine of inspiration.
2. There are so many good English translations. When they differ, how will you know which one most accurately reflects the text itself?
3. No translation is perfect; it is not possible to transfer everything from one language into another. However, in the final analysis, whether we choose to study God's Word from a translation, literal or not, the Scriptures were communicated in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; all else is translation.

A. T. Robertson, a distinguished Greek scholar, wrote in his Preface to the third edition of A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, “The Greek New Testament is the New Testament. All else is translation. Jesus speaks to us out of every page of the Greek. To get these words of Jesus it is worthwhile to plow through any grammar and to keep on to the end.”

4. Language is an expression of culture. Learning Greek is a gateway into further understanding the culture in which the New Testament was written.
5. You need to learn these languages to give you access to other tools: commentaries that will help you explore the text more fully, and Bible dictionaries that will help you understand how words and concepts function in the Biblical text.
6. To read the texts in Greek means to wrestle with these texts and their meanings on an intimate level. To grapple with issues of vocabulary and grammar slows you down enough to listen to these texts more deeply that you have probably done before, and to puzzle over the text's meaning and purpose. To deal with the texts on this level is a part of being a community that listens; learning Greek will help you to listen to the texts in a new way.
7. Studying Greek beckons students into deeper contact with the New Testament texts.
8. Discover great ideas (from Why study Greek)
9. learn to think critically
10. investigate the origins of philosophy
11. perform great drama
12. meet the people of the world's first democracy
13. explore Greek mythology
14. read Homer, Sophocles, Plato, and Luke in their own words.
15. Greek has a great influence on the Western culture and it has influenced the Latin too.
    From the earliest times the Greeks had penetrated and molded Italic civilization. Greek craftsmen and purveyors of culture, high and low, had settled in Rome supplying words from their various callings. Roman nobles had brought Greek pedagogues to instruct their children… The upper classes had become bilingual, receiving formal instruction in Greek even before their own language. (L.R. Palmer, The Latin Language 176)
16. Greek has influenced Latin and English has been affected by these two languages heavily, especially from 1500s onwards.
17. Greek is the language used to formulate the doctrines in the catholic councils. To understand the doctrines fully included this language and its philosophy. (about 15% of the words in the English language come from Greek.) Estimated by Prof. Louis H. Feldman. Besides, GREEK ROOTS contains: over 500 modern English roots with their original Greek meanings.over 1000 modern Greek derived prefixes and suffixes. The Greek Influence on the English Language: In this page you can see a good example how Greek words influence English (about 19% of the words used are derived from Greek in this example). according to the Webster International Dictionary the total of the word stock of the English language is 166,724 words, out of which 41,214 are Greek. On the other hand, A. Konstandinides, in his remarkable work “The Greek Words in the English language”, argues that the whole of the medical terminology in English amounts to 43,716 words, out of which 20,346 are Greek. [Details please see my lecture note: Use Your Greek in Daily Life (2): Greek influence on English]
18. Greek was the language of the famous philosophers, artists, scientists, mathematicians, and scholars.
19. Many English words are rooted in the Greek Language. The terminology of modern sciences and technologies is derived mainly from Greek.
20. The study of the Greek roots of English raises awareness of the functions and modes of expression in a variety of languages.
21. Greece is the birthplace of democracy and the cradle of Western civilization.
22. Some of the greatest works of literature were written in Greek.
23. Greek was the first language of Christianity and the New Testament. (Greek NT & LXX in PDF Downloadable)
24. The first institution of higher learning, The Academy, was founded in Greece.
25. Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States were knowledgeable in the Greek language.
26. Greece is a member of the European Union and holds a strategic geographical position in the Mediterranean region.
27. Many Bronx Science Graduates have been able to continue with their study of Modern Greek as prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Georgetown.

Up to the twentieth century, in Europe and those areas of the world strongly influenced by the European tradition, Classics dominated the educational curriculum. To be educated was to be familiar with the ancient Greek and Roman world. Thus, knowledge of Classics is indispensable for the understanding of the European intellectual, political, religious and artistic tradition. In a multicultural, multilingual city like San Antonio, Classics has a particular relevance: the Classical tradition is the common heritage of both the Hispanic and Anglo communities.

• The grammatical principles and analytic skills developed in the study of the Classical languages Greek and Latin, both of which differ substantially from Spanish and English, are immediately useful in developing an educated English or Spanish speaking and writing style. Spanish, of course, is a direct descendant of Latin, and any deep understanding of Spanish requires Latin study. At the same time, since most technical, scientific and intellectual terminology in both English and Spanish derives from Latin and Greek roots, the study of the ancient languages develops vocabulary as well.

  While the study of Classics therefore develops modern Americans' understanding of our own culture, it also helps us appreciate other cultures. By some counts, fifty-seven nations on four continents trace their intellectual heritage back to the Greek and Roman world. The study of the Classics thus can link us with the people of all these countries. Study of Greek and Latin facilitates the acquisition of modern foreign languages—not only the numerous modern languages derived from them, but also languages like Russian and German and even Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. Moreover, as indebted as we are to the Greeks and Romans, in many ways they were very different from us. An exposure to the Classical world broadens one's perspective on what it means to be human and encourages tolerance and understanding of other human beings. [Webmaster: I think it is claiming too much! Chinese, Arabic and Japanese are of different language system! But Russian and German are really related to them, because they are from the Indo-European language family (thus they used infectional endings too). Greek has great influence on Latin and English, thus it is really a great language for you to learn. You are using more Greek languages and thought than you think.]

可能的影響:

1. 原文解經：解釋大部份的約翰福音經文時，可以直接用原文, 也會對解其他福音書有幫助.
2. 原文解經：新約釋經中較常談到的可以用希臘文討論.
3. 歷史神學：因為不少的系統神學的概念建構是早期用希臘文建構的, 所以對神學思想會有點幫助.(例如: 三一神論討論中的 homo-ousia / homoi-ousia就是希臘文.)
4. 英語學習：因為英語是受希臘文及拉丁文影響的, 所以會對英文學習有一點幫助.(文法會比較清楚).
5. 其他語文：對學習其他印歐系(Indo-European)語言有幫助. 因為文法結構和ending system是相關的. 例如: 拉丁語, 德文, 法文, 等都是用ending 改變來構成新的用字的.
6. 聖地文化：如果有時間會加上一些聖地的資料 及 希臘文化, 幫助大家了解聖經的背景和實況.

1. 已經將讀音電郵給你們，有部份同學的電郵有問題；如你未能收到請檢查你的電郵戶口，及送一個電郵給我；使我能用你正確的電郵傳資料給你．
2. 本班的目的是要你能好好學習，所以任何對你學習有幫助的意見，請提出．
3. 而且內容會按你的要求和期望，盡可能作合適的配合．

1. Try this page: Kurie eleison (Click on the music and listen): Kyrie Eleison (Greek for "Lord have mercy"; the Latin transliteration supposes a pronunciation as in Modern Greek) is a very old, even pre-Christian, expression used constantly in all Christian liturgies. (Greek Note: Kurie is the vocative case for the word, Kurios (Lord), and eleison (is the verb, "(have) mercy.") In what tense?
2. 你認為甚麼會對你有幫助呢？　例如：有誰可以畫 cartoon / clipart?　（希望幫助學習用）．
3. 背景資料：古今希臘文化小站　
4. Site: Foreign Languages for Travelers Let's play with the Travelers' fun (Please choose Greek!)
5. 另外，更多輔助學習的資料和其他（例：可能聲帶或其他輔助教學）：學習光碟將會出來!

Greek Text can be found in the following links: (More information click here)

1. John 1 text in Jpeg form (picture), so the font problem cannot affect it; but it loads slower.
2. Greek fonts are in Symbols font (found in Windows System) or SPIonic font or BSTGreek font.
3. 約翰福音１：１的經文（英希對比），並且可按相關的字．可以知道這些字的解釋和在各書中用了多少次．
4. 請 download 這個約翰福音的希臘文全書，將第一章列印出來．
5. 另外，可以下載約翰福音1:1-28的原文分析．
6. download 這個約翰福音的希臘文全書 (我們會用約翰福音第1章1-12節, 請自行印出.)
7. 約翰福音第一章 (新!)
8. 下載約翰福音1:1-28的原文分析. 這個你自己參考，但暫時可能看不懂，但到中段會明白多些．
9. Parallel Greek New Testament (With different Greek source, Vulgate, English Translations) on John

1. 一年內看懂約翰福音的八成內容. (避免神學院般的功課壓力, 進度會慢些; 以便吸收.) 〔因為教科書的特別設計，它包括了新約全書約85%的生字．Wenham, p. ix.〕

2. 希望包括一些受希臘文影響的英文, 以致使學員的英文水平, 因學本課程而提高. 反之，也可以幫助記希臘文生字．（這是基於以往學者引入希臘文；加上近代用希臘文來派生出新的字(Neo-Hellenization of English).

• There are many English derivatives from Greek roots (about 15% of the words in the English language come from Greek.) Estimated by Prof. Louis H. Feldman
• It's guaranteed to help your vocabulary score on standardized exams such as the infamous S.A.T.! It'd be like getting a free SAT course five days a week! ( Top reason why students learn Greek.)
• The impact of Greek upon the vocabulary of all languages, including English, has been enormous. Such prefixes as poly- (much, many), micro- (small), anti- (against), auto- (self), hemi- (half), hetero- (different), chrono- (time), tele- (distance), geo- (earth), physio- (nature), photo- (light), hydro- (water), litho- (stone), phono- (sound), anthropo- (man), psycho- (mind), and philo- (love), each generate dozens of vital words in scientific, technical, and other fields. Equally important Greek suffixes are -meter (measure), -gram (letter), -graph (write), -scope (see), -phone (sound), and -phobia (fear). (From Greek (Modern) Language)
• Check some English words in Dictionary.com, and see their Greek / Latin roots.
• Latin-Greek-English Cross Reference Search: You can search in either one language; but they only provide very brief information.

對教學的期望:

1. 希望將來一年(完全初階的各個課程)，能直接看懂不少希臘文聖經．幫助解經，查經研經及靈修默想．
2. 希望學習中是愉快的．(Have Fun with Greek!)　
3. 希望能夠幫助同學更愛聖經．
4. 希望能夠幫助同學的英文和其他語言的相關學習．

Textbook: Wenham, J. W. The Elements of New Testament Greek. (Cambridge: CUP, 19xx.) 由講師集體購買.

其他的參考書:

1. Friberg, Barbara & Timonthy. Analytical Greek New Testament. Baker's Greek NT Library. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981.
2. Abbott-Smith, G. A Manual Lexicon of the New Testament T & T Clark, Edinburgh 1991.
3. Dobson, J.H. Learn New Testament Greek 2nd edn Bible Society, 1992.
4. Perschbacher, W. The New Analytical Greek Lexicon Hendrickson, USA 1990.
5. Zerwick M A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament Pontificio Istitutio Biblico, Rome 1996.

網上相關的課程 On-line Study Courses： (More information click here)

Introductory Courses and Course Materials; Introduction; Learning NT Greek ; Greek New Testament ; Lesson 1: The Greek Alphabet

希臘文簡史：A Brief History of the Greek Language; History;

希臘文簡介：Encarta: Greek;

希臘文新約：分析；need this Greek font

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