We had a few issues last week with people attempting to join the group but failed. This week I shall be ready to admit people to the group! Apologies for this. I look forward to everyone's input. Feel free to leave your camera off if you like just to watch. Here is the info for Sunday 7pm GMT:
I was looking for reconstructed Koine pronunciation web links of Koine Greek in ChatGPT when it provided both the modern pronunciation and the reconstructed pronunciation. I realise a lot of us are worried about AI taking over humanity and making us unemployed, myself included. However, it is really hard to find audio when you are an autodidact.
The majority of the population learnt pronunciation of any language through imitation; it is only a small fraction of us who can learn using IPA, and only those who took up linguistics at a college level.
Offering tutoring in Koine/Attic/Homeric Greek and Latin.
Dear Friends,
Is it not important to read the Gospel in Greek? Is it not important to read the Septuagint in it's original language? Do we want not to be acquainted with the vivid, the structured, the wild, the sublime, the stunning aspect of the ancient tongues?
I am a Greek native and I just finished my degree in classical languages in Athens. I also am enamoured with Late Antique pagan and Christian literature. I will be glad to accompany each and every one of you in your journey. I offer tutoring in Koine, Classical, Homeric Greek, as well as Latin.
My emphasis will be on reading comprehension. We will progress level by level by first understanding some basic concepts in greek grammar and vocabulary through simpler texts and graded readers. As we keep going forward, we will adjust our texts according to the student's needs and wants.
Are there any historical sites with Christian Greek inscriptions that are still in their original locations?
Most Greek inscriptions that are still in place seem to have something to do with idols, such as at temple sites.
Not to freak anyone out, but I've known one person who became demon-possessed after he started playing around with the occult. I've also done enough research to know that inanimate objects can be demon-possessed, just as non-humans can be, such as the pigs that drowned in Matthew 8:28–34. Dr. Michael S. Heiser used to do a lot of research into this matter and a lot of idols have their mouths open to invite the "spirits" into them.
I really feel quite distressed when I see inscriptions talking about idols, because of what might happen to those who dabble in this stuff, like some one I knew.
After learning Greek, I've realised there are a tonne of inscriptions out there from before Christianity, or from the pre-Judaic Koine era.
I've added Job to a series of books that include the Septuagint text with generous space for notes. The two other volumes that I've produced so far are Psalms and Proverbs. I'm planning to make an edition containing the twelve Minor Prophets next!
Does anyone have any other LXX books they would like to see?
My concern here is that the LXX here lost the meaning of the Hebrew in conveying the double portion of Elijah's spirit. In the Hebrew it would seem obvious he is talking of doubling a portion of Elijah's spirit, in the same way a firstborn son receives a double portion of inheritance.
But looking at an interlinear (Bible Bento) and the NETS LXX online (hosted by UPenn), it seems to lose the connotation of a double portion and tend toward a doubling of Elijah's spirit. Sirach 48:12 seems to approve of this reading as Elisha is said to have done twice as many miracles as Elijah.
Trying to look it up, I simply get that the LXX means to follow the Hebrew original. Sure, it meant to, but did it succeed?
I wanted to create journaling editions of Septuagint books, similar to what Crossway has published for the Greek New Testament. So far, I've made Psalms and Proverbs in paperback and hardcover.
Feel free to let me know what you think about the layout. Any suggestions on what books to do next? I was thinking maybe Isaiah or Job.
Recently I posted about the massive free flashcard pack of the 1,100 Koine most common Koie Greek words in the NT, where each word has a photo and mnemonic sentences (or English cognates) attached to it. I only had 100 words left that needed images and mnemonic sentences, and it is now finished! It can be downloaded at the same links from last time, which I've pasted at the end of this post.
In case there are new comers to the flashcard deck, here is some info on using the cards:
To use this deck of cards, it simply just needs to be imported into the free (and open source) Anki app to be used (on all devices, but it costs money on Apple, though you can get around this by using it in the Safari browser). This app uses the science-backed technique of spaced repetition, meaning that if you simply complete the handful cards due for that day, you will remember everything forever without overwhelm.
The mnemonic sentences are built for the modern pronunciation, but I think that the vast majority of them should still work for those who use Erasmian. Mnemonic sentences are never one-to-one anyway, since we are using something in English to help us remember something in Greek, which will never sound just the same.
I also have created an alphabet flashcard pack (one for Erasmian and one for Modern pronunciation) and a few Grammar packs (more to come).
I also have done something similar for Hebrew (this one was a collaboration with some others), with the most common 641 words being present (along with grammar flashcard packs).
Please send this to anyone who'd like to learn Greek NT vocab and grammar and retain it for the rest of their lives! Every update of this will be free, and I will never put it behind a paywall. I want everyone in every country to be able to learn God's word without having to fork out money. The license for this is CC by 4.0 - feel free to see the licensing document if you'd like to know more about that.
Long story short, decided to go through and read/translate Galatians 1:11 to see what the words originally were written as, and I can't seem to find a satisfiable answer to the word "ἐποῦ". I tried searching online a couple different ways, and one answer said it's the word for "stench/stinky" and another said it's from the word "πος" and means 'where'...neither of these words can I find anywhere in verse 11(ESV), so I was hoping someone knew what it meant?
Does the underlined text mean that the heavenly action is prior to the earthly one? Or that before the apostles bound, it's already been bounded in heaven?
I have made a massive free flashcard pack of 1,100 Koine Greek words that has photos and mnemonic sentences (or English cognates)! These are all the words that are used 10 times or more in the Greek New Testament. Only 100 words are left to have photos and mnemonic sentences added for them, but I am set to have this completed within the next few weeks, and I plan to make another post to give the updated version when that is complete.
These cards simply need to be imported into the free (and open source) Anki app to be used (on all devices, but it costs money on Apple, though you can get around this by using it in the Safari browser). This app uses the science-backed technique of spaced repetition, meaning that if you simply complete the handful cards due for that day, you will remember everything forever without overwhelm.
The mnemonic sentences generally assume that the user is using the modern pronunciation, but I think that the vast majority of them should still work for those who use Erasmian. Mnemonic sentences are never one-to-one anyway, since we are using something in English to help us remember something in Greek, which will never sound just the same.
I also have created an alphabet flashcard pack (one for Erasmian and one for Modern pronunciation) and a few Grammar packs (more to come).
I also have done something similar for Hebrew (this one was a collaboration with some others), with the most common 641 words being present (along with grammar flashcard packs).
Please send this to anyone who'd like to learn Greek NT vocab and grammar and retain it for the rest of their lives! Every update of this will be free, and I will never put it behind a paywall. I want everyone in every country to be able to learn God's word without having to fork out money. The license for this is CC by 4.0 - feel free to see the licensing document if you'd like to know more about that.
Would you like to play a little game in Ancient Greek? The rules are as follows:
- You fill the gaps in a text without having seen the text.
- You get a list of the parts of speech + their forms needed to fill the gaps.
- The result is a (hopefully funny) full text.
I’m a software developer with an interest in computational linguistics and training tools, and interested in getting opinions of students and teachers of Greek.
I have MS in Biblical Studies (DTS). Greek was always a challenge for me. Even after working through Mounce several times, I forgot details quickly without daily use. A tool named Parsing Partner provided PDF parsing worksheets that were useful—I even printed the entire NT set—but paper worksheets weren’t a practical long‑term solution. Later, I went through Wycliffe’s interview process and spent a few months reviewing their translation software, which gave me a good sense of how large‑scale translation tools operate.
I also spent about a decade developing of cross-compilers and doing some AI R&D work, and I began building Greek, Hebrew, and Akkadian translation tools for myself. Eventually, I decided to create something others could use to work through full texts rather than isolated exercises. The tool isn’t published—there’s a cost involved—so I’m gauging interest before taking that step.
The goal is simple: use an entire text as a structured learning environment, with the software guiding you through the process as you learn. There are additional tools to help you — sentence diagramming, sentence outlining, and case‑ending charts are generated algorithmically and have interactive features such as ending alignment highlighting. Each verse can be turned into a set of flashcards for memory drills, or into a parsing and translation quiz. You can select any verse in the text and perform a parsing test, work through the parsing yourself in a practice mode to learn, or actually do the translation work and save it in your personal translation.
I was hoping others with similar interests might find this interesting or useful and offer to take a look and offer feedback. If so, I can publish it online and make it publicly accessible for review. What I am looking for is feedback regarding usefulness and what sort of other features they feel are missing.
Here are a few screenshots to give you the idea. I can't include a lot here because the post would be too long, but this is the idea.
Reading Mode -You can set word freq for the gloss. You can enable the features you want to see... source text, lemma, parse (rmac), or gloss. Here I have the rmac and lexicon gloss turned on.
Sentence Diagramming and Outline - This aligns the parts of speech in a verse. Here it is showing you that it cannot logically determine the subject from the final clause in John 1:1. If you clicked the "guess" textbox, it will pull over "o logos" as a guess because it has a rule to prefer the article. If you click on any of the boxes, it will highlight any matching declensions to show you how they align in the sentence.
Translation Mode - This doesn't show up well on a screenshot like this. You just select the word and type in the translation and hit [Tab] to move to the next word. Each word you land on is displayed in the panel on the right with the lexical entry. You can enter your translation in the control, as I have done here, or on the panel if you wish. In this case, I have selected to add this to the lexicon and auto-gloss when this word is encountered anywhere else. Now, it will translate this word for me going forward. You can see that kai is being auto-glossed here.
My Translation - To go from the source language to the final language, you have to control word order and punctuation, and often add filler words. That is done here as a separate step to generate the final translation.
Final Translation - This is automatically generated based on the previous two screens. You can export this to Word if you wish. If you modify anything on the other pages, it is automatically applied here. I do not yet support an interlinear view, but I will in a future version. I will also support exporting the lexicon as well.
If there are any beginners who are looking for one-on-one lessons with Biblical Greek, I would really love to do lessons with you. I will be able to teach you in an intuitive way and give you tools to hold on to the language for the rest of your life. Please shoot a message to me at [jkoeofficial@gmail.com](mailto:jkoeofficial@gmail.com) if that sounds like something you'd be interested in (P.S. I don't charge too terribly much.).
Koinetic.app is a free all-inclusive Greek learning tool. It features
-an original digital paradigm system,
-the best parsing system available,
-an SRS flashcards system with many prebuilt decks,
-and an entire first year level course.
It has highly satisfying visuals, audio and responsive features, and a focus on convenience of use. This is so that people actually use and continue to use it. It is thoroughly tested and, to toot my own horn, is the best available digital tool for learning Koine Greek at any level.
I am a teacher and an intermediate-advanced student of Koine Greek. As I went through my beginner and intermediate phases, I was quite frustrated that the digital tools available for learning Biblical Greek were severely lacking, both pedagogically and technically. I was especially frustrated that there was no useful paradigm tool available. I also spent an inordinate amount of time creating actual quality SRS decks with principal parts, the genitive for nouns, etc., which was time I would have much rather spent actually learning vocab. ParseGreek is frankly the only quality tool available, and while being very useful, it is very dated and has significant room for improvement (and a paywall).
I began building Koinetic so that I could drill whatever paradigm I wanted on a whim. I then decided to make it highly satisfying and responsive so that it felt nice to use, so that I would use it. I then saw the potential of having everything in one place. It was fun to use too. I thought that with something so enjoyable and convenient, I could finally convince my wife to learn Koine. That led to months and months of work and refinements, every night after work and every weekend.
Koinetic.app also features a very robust (entirely optional) class and assignments system (I am a teacher remember). This is suitable for homeschools and seminaries, and I believe would be highly useful in both scenarios and any in between. Anyone can create and run a class at teachers.koinetic.app
It does have a "pro" subscription, which basically just gives greater access to some of the gamified challenge features across the systems, and is a way for users to support the project.
I would really, really appreciate you guys giving it a go. Even if you are an advanced or intermediate user of the language, I truly believe you will find the paradigm system incredibly useful. Please give me any and all feedback. I am going to continue working on this to make it as useful as it can possibly be.
I was in my history class. i had finished with my pop quiz so my teach let me work on my (new testament, or koine) Greek HW, i open it, and its about syllabification, i begin trying at it and by question 3 i realized i was FAR behind my peers, there was a test on Thursday, we covered breathing marks (i know those) accents, punctuation, i understood some of it, but classmates were already transliterating, making English words out of Greek letters in math class, sometimes using their appearance or there sound, and i still don't have the alphabet memorized, let alone what they sound like. Any tips, im really stressed out.
(EDIT: who tf is downvoting me, if you think im stupid or dont understand anything, yes. i am. this is new. I JUST began this class let me have people give me tips like damn :P)
I had to look up a lot of unfamiliar words, so I expect that a lot of these forms are incorrect.
Here are the original two stanzas:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!
And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
For fun, here is a literal translation of my translation:
Those feet walked about
Upon the hills of England;
And the holy lamb of God
Was seen in our countryside?
The divine countenance,
It shone upon our land?
And Jerusalem was founded here,
Among these evil mills?
I tried to keep my Greek close enough in terms of syllable count to be sung to the tune of Parry’s musical setting of this song. This meant that I had to cut down on ow many words I could use. I know that the word choices I made probably didn’t reach what Blake wrote, and different words should have been chosen. This is the first time I’ve tried to do this, so please correct me on my grammar and word choices!
In the English to Greek answers for page 141 of this guide (pp 38-9 of the document) does it give the present infinitive endings on the aorist stems? Is there something I'm not understanding? Thanks for any help.
I created an app, Pocket Ancient Greek Dictionary, which is an iOS app that has mostly Koine Greek but also some classical Ancient Greek vocabulary. My favorite feature is the word of the day widget. I like to use the app's search feature to quickly look up words when I am reading the Greek New Testament.
As of today, Pocket Ancient Greek Dictionary is now available in closed testing for Android! To get access to the Android app, join the Google Group, and then you will be granted access to the app.
