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The Greeks and their language have a three thousand year literary history from Homer to the present. Approximately 2000 B.C. the Greeks displaced the non-Indo-Europeans in what is now Greece, the Greek Islands and Asia Minor.

Greek communities called themselves Hellenes, their country, Hellas, and their language, Hellenike. The Romans gave the name "Greek" to the Hellenes; the Romans first called them Graioi and later, Graeci.

The Greek Dialects
There are four major Greek dialects: Aeolic, Doric, Ionic and Attic.

Attic Greek replaced these dialects and they were neither spoken nor written by 300 A.D. Attic was used by the classic writers of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. because of its "refinement, precision, and beauty." This was the age of political and literary excellence for Athens, thus contributing to the standardizing of Attic as "the literary dialect."(1)

Koine Greek
The Greek dialect called Koine was based on the spoken Attic dialect with some various dialectal influence. Koine means common or shared. Koine lasted from the Alexandrian period, 4th century B.C., until the 5th century A.D. Koine had a wide geographical range, being spoken from Gaul to Syria.

The New Testament was written in the "popular language of the time" influenced by classic models.(2) Koine is not literary Greek. This is proven by the similarity of the style and vocabulary which has been found in ancient letters. Rubbish heaps of Fayum and Oxyrhynchus in Egypt have provided many ancient letters proving that Koine was the language of the people. In addition to trash heaps, papyrus from Egyptian graves has given evidence of Koine influence. Papyrus waste paper was used to wrap mummies and together with the dry climate, these documents are still preserved.(3)

The Greek alphabet as we have it was adopted at Athens in 403 B.C. Alpha through tau were derived from Phoenecia and have Hebrew names. You will notice many similarities between the Hebrew and Greek alphabets. One interesting similarity is the omicron. It corresponds to the Semitic ayin, a guttural sound produced somewhat like a hard "g" as far back in the throat as possible.(4) Upsilon through omega were invented by the Greeks. The capitals, called uncials, were the original form of Greek writing. The miniscules, i.e., the lower case letters, are the cursive form which were first written in the 9th century A.D.

The 403 B.C. adaptation by the Athenians is the basis of most European languages and alphabets.

The Spread of Koine
Koine was spoken throughout Asia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Sicily and the sea islands. Koine was such an influence that Roman senators and governors had their decrees translated into this dialect. Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor, wrote his meditations in Koine tone eis heuaton, "Concerning the Things to Myself."(5)

It is interesting that a foreign language like Koine would so dominate a culturally diverse area like the Mediterranean. Alexander (336-323 B.C.) was the major influence for this domination. He established the Attic dialect as the world language in the fourth century B.C. The presence of this common speech was the major influence in unifying the Mediterranean. "This unity of culture is the remarkable thing in the history of the world."(6)

Koine's influence and easy style are attributed to the fact that:"Any language which aspired to be a world language... must sacrifice much of its delicacy, its shades of meaning, expressed by many synonyms and particles and tenses which the foreigner in his hurry and without contact with natives cannot be expected to master."(7)

It is interesting and important to note that the Gospel was preached and read at a time in history when there was a universal language. As a result, the Gospel was able to spread to the known world because of Koine Greek. Koine is therefore extremely important in the light of world history. More importantly, Koine is also the language of the New Testament and its writers. When one considers the historical impact of Koine and the foundations of our faith, Koine Greek is most significant to contemporary man.

Forms of Ancient Books
To understand the Greek New Testament properly one must know the nature of the materials which the writers used. The materials and methods of authors and scribes made a significant impact on the Greek New Testament.

Moveable type was first introduced in the fifteenth century A.D. Before this, copying was done by hand, laboriously and with difficulty. Clay tablets, stone, bone, wood, leathers, metals, potsherds, papyrus and parchment (vellum) were used to write on. We are most concerned with parchment or papyrus for almost all New Testament manuscripts were written on these.

Egypt is the main source for papyrus. The marshy land of the Nile River was a perfect environment for the twelve to fifteen feet high plants. The papyrus plant is triangular in cross section and thick and a man's wrist. To make a sheet of paper, twelve-inch sections were opened lengthwise and the center cut in thin strips. The first layer was placed horizontally and the second layer was placed vertically. These layers were pressed together forming a paper with almost the strength of modern paper.

Parchment/vellum was made from the skins of cattle, sheep, goats and antelopes, using primarily the skins of young animals. First the hair was scraped off, then washed, smoothed and dressed with chalk.

Scrolls were the common form of books in the Graeco-Roman world and made of either papyrus or parchment. Papyrus sheets were glued together side by side and then wound around a wooden stick. This made a volume; the Latin is volumen, something rolled up.

Columns were two to three inches wide. Sometimes text was written on both sides of the scroll. Scrolls were cumbersome; trying to find a specific passage of scripture in a roll of paper over ten yards long was extremely difficult. At the close of the first century or early second century the codex form of book was developed. This is a book in leaf form similar to the books used today. Papyrus was folded in the middle and then sewn together. The advantages to this style of book making was immediately obvious to ancient man, for one was able to put all four Gospels or all of Paul's letters in a single book. The codex outclassed the scroll because of the amount of material which was able to be placed in a single book, the location of specific passages was facilitated, and both sides were more accessible to write on.

The Scribes and Their Methods
Would the way a book was written make any difference in the product? Not only were the books different which the writers of the New Testament used, but the people and methods were unique.

Scribes used the horizontal papyrus fibers as guides. Scribes would also make horizontal and two or more vertical lines using a blunt-pointed instrument.

Scribes used a different style of writing than we are accustomed to. Literary works were written in all capital letters, called uncials. Non-literary writing was done in miniscule, a type of cursive script using lower case letters. During the ninth century A.D., uncial writing deteriorated for the production of books. The advantages of miniscule writing were many. For example, less parchment was required due to smaller script; books were therefore less bulky and easier to handle, and writing was more rapid, making book-making less expensive. As a result of greater efficiency, the number of Biblical texts increased. In fact, the miniscule texts of the New Testament which we have today outnumber the uncial texts ten to one.

One interesting practice of scribes copying the New Testament was creating a palimpsest, palin psao. When economic depression was experienced by scribes, they took older texts and scraped, washed, smoothed and wrote on them again. The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus is a fifth century palimpsest. During the twelfth century A.D. some infamous scribe copied thirty-eight sermons by St. Ephraem, a Syrian Church Father (c. 400 A.D.), over the scriptures. There are 250 uncial New Testament Greek texts. Of these 250 texts, fifty-two are palimpsest.

Another interesting method which scribes used was to write a text without putting any spacesbetweenthewords and using very little punctuation. This is called scriptora continua. Often problems developed with this writing method. For example, sometimes words next to one another have different meanings -- "Godisnowhere," is this "God is now here" or "God is nowhere"?

Before the fourth century books were copied by individuals or churches. But when the state sanctioned the church in the fourth century, book manufacturers, called scriptoria made New Testament copies. The scriptoria were manned by several scribes sitting in a room called a scriptorium. A lector read the text as the scribes performed like secretaries taking dictation.

Imagine a scribe sitting for hours taking non-stop notes with the teacher and/or fellow scribes coughing. In addition to listening difficulties, the problem of similar sounding words, called homonyms, was also a challenge. Here are two examples: hour/our, and wine/whine. The words sound exactly the same, but have different meanings. As a result of mistakes, a corrector, called a diorthoteis, checked the copies. His corrections can be seen today in texts in the form of different handwriting style and ink color. Being a scribe was not an easy job. Scribes were paid by the number and quality of the lines they wrote. In 301 A.D., the Emperor Diocletion set scribe wages at twenty-five denarii for 100 lines of good quality, and twenty denarii for 100 lines of lesser quality work. An average line was fifteen to sixteen syllables long. The price of a Bible during this period would have been 30,000 denarii. In the preceding century, Caracalla (211-217), paid a legionary 750 denarii per year over the amount of his maintenance costs.(8)

The Greek alphabet has twenty four letters. Memorize six letters each day. Pronounce them in one breath. At the end of four days you will be able to pronounce all twenty four letters in one single breath.

Epsilon and omicron are always short; the corresponding long vowels are eta and omega.

Diphthongs, literally mean two sounds. A diphthong is the combination of two vowels into one sound. Iota and upsilon are always the second letter.

The diphthongs were sounded nearly as follows:

When an iota appears with a long vowel in a diphthong it may be written under the first vowel. This is called iota subscript (written under) . When these diphthongs are capitalized, the diphthong is written on the line instead of under the vowel, i.e. . Another important mark is called the diaeresis, " separation ". When two vowels appear together and are not a diphthong, the diaeresis is found over one of the vowels to show that they are pronounced separately and not as a diphthong. Example: .

Instead of a letter for the "H" sound, the Greeks used a rough breathing sign, . This rough breathing "H" sound appears over the vowel at the beginning of a word. When the vowel is a capital, the rough breathing precedes, . If a vowel begins a word and it does not have an "H" sound then it has the smooth breathing sound .

The letter H, eta, was originally the "H" sound. However, when the Attic alphabet was adopted, H became eta. In order to create a symbol for the "H" sound, the Greeks broke the H in two using each part for rough and smooth breathing.(9)

Accents are aids to help you pronounce correctly. Often an accent will help in determining the meaning or function of a word. Accents only appear over one of the last three syllables. The last three syllables of a word are called antepenult, penult, and ultima. The ultima is the last syllable, the penult the next to the last, and antepenult precedes the penult.

There are three accent marks:

• The acute appears over any of the last three syllables. However, if there is no punctuation following the word, then the acute cannot appear over the last syllable. Instead the grave accent appears.

• The grave can only appear over the last syllable, ultima, when there is no punctuation following the word.

• The circumflex can appear over one of the last two syllables, . It shows that the vowel or diphthong is long.

Exercise:

• Locate each of the twenty-four letters of the alphabet, write out the word, and pronounce orally in: John 1:1-6; 1:13; 1:22.
• Locate each diphthong in John 1:1-6, 11.
• Locate the rough and smooth breathings, and acute, circumflex and grave accents in John 1:1-4.

• Write out and pronounce the alphabet in one breath.
• Write out and pronounce the diphthongs.
• Write out accents and tell what they do.
• What are breathings?

______________

Footnotes:

(1) Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956), p. 4.

(2) Smyth, p. 4.

(3) A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), p. 21.

(4) Robertson, p. 182.

(5) Robertson, p. 8.

(6) Robertson, p. 4.

(7) Robertson, p. 64.

(8) Bruce Metzger, The Text of the Greek New Testament (New York: Oxford University, 1978), p. 15.

(9) Smyth, p. 10.

(10) Note that this is the five case system. Some recognize eight cases.

(11) Henry, Lamar, Crosby and John Nevin Schaeffer, An Introduction to Greek (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1928), p. 275.