Education

Graecum est; non legitur

One of the fundamental truths of understanding, I believe, is that one must know what was actually said and done, not just what someone else has to say about it. Over the past decade, I have delved deeply into my understanding of the collection of texts that comprise the Bible and have discovered that I cannot progress much further until I know what it is trying to say in the languages its authors used to write it.

While biblical Hebrew is a bit beyond me just yet, I decided that I will take the next year (likely the next two) to teach myself to read biblical Greek and, eventually, classical Greek. My hope is that, by learning this language, I can expand my understanding to another layer of what at least the New Testament has to say and to expand my horizons along the way.

In pursuing this course, I am relying on the advice of a friend who already reads biblical Greek and who is on his way to Africa to put that skill to use as a Bible translator. On his recommendation, I will be using the following tools along with consultation with various Greek readers I know:

• Learn to Read New Testament Greek
• Learn to Read New Testament Greek – Workbook: Supplemental Exercises for Greek Grammar Students
• Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Cards (The Zondervan Vocabulary Builder Series)
• A Reader’s Greek New Testament: 2nd Edition

Along with:

• Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics
• The Greek New Testament (the third edition in my case)

I keep anyone reading this post apprised as I progress.

DLH