Introducing Vine’s You Can Learn New Testament Greek

 Vine’s You Can Learn New Testament Greek

Course of Self-Help for the Layman

BY

W. E. VINE, M.A.

Thomas Nelson Publishers

Nashville • Atlanta • London • Vancouver

Copyright © 1996 W.E. Vine Copyright Ltd. of Bath, England

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

PREFACE

THE production of this Grammar is the outcome of a Class held many years ago in Exeter, for students desirous of acquiring a knowledge of the Greek Testament to avail themselves freely of a course of instruction in it. The method adopted was somewhat of a departure from the rigid order prevailing in the School Grammars. From the beginning use was made of the Greek New Testament, the simpler sentences and phrases being brought into use by way of exercises, with a gradual extension according as progress was made in the Grammar itself. The method proved both practicable and interesting.

More recently some of the Lessons in this volume appeared monthly in a Magazine, and it became evident that there is a fairly widespread desire to acquire the knowledge of the New Testament in the original tongue. The provision of Lessons in a Magazine involved their length being adjusted to circumstances of the space required for Magazine articles, and this meant a certain amount of over lapping (without repetition of subject matter from one Lesson to another), it not being possible to divide the subjects so as to put them completely into one Lesson. This, however, did not prove an interference in the course of the study. After some twenty-three lessons had been thus inserted, the Magazine was discontinued, and circumstances, over which the author had no control, have necessitated the publication of the Lessons according to the division previously adopted, but no hindrance to the study is thus presented.

Another result of Magazine work is the somewhat conversational style of guiding the studies and pro viding explanations, and this again is not without advantage. The student should study the Lessons patiently and thoroughly, and follow closely the advice given as to memorizing, and as to repeating certain parts of the Lessons. The Latin proverb “Festina lente” (“Hasten slowly”) is of great importance in this respect, and though constant review is a laborious task, the ability to read certain parts of the Greek New Testament almost from the commencement of the studies provides interest for those who delight in the Word of God, and makes the task well worth while. The author is hopeful that, in spite of defects, some real contribution may have been made towards this important means of knowing the mind of the Lord.

W. E. Vine, M.A.

BATH

Foreword

THERE are many excellent translations of the New Testament from the original Greek into our English tongue, but it is admitted that the student of New Testament Greek has the advantage over the ordinary reader.

The author of this little text book has done a signal service to all who have the linguistic gift. Indeed under its guidance that talent will be dis covered and improved. Mr. Vine has long ex perience in teaching this subject and his Grammar is no mere echo of other text books. His progressive method and the direct use of the Greek New Testament are his own. No better book can be put into the hands of those who have no previous knowledge of learning languages. It is worthy of a place in any “Teach Yourself” series, especially in this revised edition. Designed for the lay reader, it will also find a place in the equipment of others, who wish to feed first-hand upon the Word of God, and give themselves to its glorious ministry.

Francis Davidson

LESSON

1. The Alphabet and Notes thereon

2. Consonants. Pronunciation. Punctuation. Inflections. Numbers. Genders. Cases. The Article. The First Declension

3. First Declension Nouns (continued). Second Declension and the Verb “To be,” Present and Imperfect Tenses

4. Adjectives, and Pronouns corresponding to the First and Second Declensions

5. Demonstrative Pronouns (continued). Personal and Relative Pronouns

6. Possessive Pronouns and Regular Verb, Indicative Mood

7. Indicative Mood (continued). Contracted Nouns and Adjectives of the Second Declensions. The Third Declension

8. The Third Declension (continued)

9. The Third Declension (continued). Adjectives and Participles

10. Participles (continued)

11. Pronoun

12. The Verb (continued). The Imperative Mood. The Subjunctive Mood

13. Subjunctive Mood (continued)

14. Negative Commands or Prohibitions. The Optative Mood

15. The Infinitive Mood

16. Passive Voice of the Verb. The Indicative and Imperative Mood

17. The Passive Voice (continued). The Subjunctive Mood

18. The Passive Voice, Optative Mood. The Middle Voice

19. The Middle Voice (continued). Deponent Verb

20. Verbs with Contracted Vowel Ending

21. Verbs with Liquid Stem Endings. The Second Conjugation, Active Voice

22. The Second Conjugation. The Middle Voice

23. Special Verbs of the Second Conjugation

24. Irregular and Defective Verb

25. Notes on the Case

26. The Comparison of Adjective

27. Adverb

28. Prepositions (Part I)

29. Prepositions (Part II)

30. Interrogative Particles. Numeral

31. Some Additional Rules of Syntax. Negative Questions. Subjunctive Mood Uses. Optative Mood Use

32. Some Rules of Syntax (continued). Dependent Clause

33. Some Rules of Syntax (continued). The Infinitive Mood and Participle

34. The Accent

Introduction

It has been well said that the Greek language is “the most subtle and powerful language that ever flowed from the tongue of man.” Yet, comparatively speaking, it is easy, and particularly Biblical Greek. The language of the New Testament Greek was much simpler than what is known as Classical Greek, and is to be dis tinguished from the writings of men who aspire to literary fame. As the late Dr. J. H. Moulton wrote, “The New Testament writers had little idea that they were writing literature. The Holy Ghost spoke absolutely in the language of the people. . . . The very grammar and dictionary cry out against men who would allow the Scrip tures to appear in any other form than that ‘understanded of the people.’” The language spoken throughout the Roman Empire in the first century of this era was Hellenistic Greek, otherwise called the Koiné, or the common dialect of the people. How it came about that such a language became universal is described in the writer’s manual “B.C. and A.D.” or “How the world was prepared for the Gospel,” one of the Witness manuals. The hand of God is strikingly seen in the national movements which eventually made it possible for the message of eternal life to be conveyed to all nations by means of the natural, yet powerful tongue which it is our privilege to study. The study indeed is important as it opens up the mind of God to us as no translation could ever do. Patience and perseverance are required, but the student who has a few hours to spare in the course of a month will soon make progress, and find that he is experiencing a new delight in the intelligent reading of the actual words by which “Men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21).

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