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Study Section 10: The Original Languages

10.1 Connect.

The Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek. The emphasis of most preaching or teaching
centers around the truths found in the New Testament. Therefore, a rudimentary
knowledge of how Greek is constructed would tremendously help us interpret New
Testament passages. We can, from the language structure, state what God said. Sounds
exciting? But wait, it is more difficult that you think. You will now have to slow down and
put on your “thinking caps” to understand what we are about to teach you. Ready to dig in?

10.2 Objectives.

1. The student should be able to discuss inflection (word order) and how Greek differs from
English.

2. Nouns are in each sentence. Generally, they are the subject or object of the sentence. Nouns
have characteristics that they possess which give us information that you cannot see on the
surface. The student should be able to explain nouns and what each kind of noun will tell us.

10.3 The Original Languages

Before a carpenter can use his tools, he has to be able to know how they work. He needs a basic
understanding of what each tool does and how to apply it in his various applications. Equally,
the person who wants to carefully study the Word must know some basic foundational elements
of the original languages to properly “divide the Word.” For the sake of time, we will take a look

at a few important elements of the Greek language because the New Testament
was written in Greek.

Koine Greek 101: The Basics. (John 3:16 is printed to the right)

Many words, phrases, and paragraphs in the New Testament cannot adequately
be known without some knowledge of Koine (biblical) Greek and the ability to
use some of the many study aids available today. Let’s learn some basic Greek
grammar and syntax to help you obtain insight into the New Testament passages
without having to memorize declensions, paradigms and vocabulary required for learning Greek.

1. Inflection in Greek Language. In the English language, the function that a noun (a person, place, or
thing) performs is based upon its position in the sentence. Consider the following verse from Romans
16:20, "But the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly." As a reader of English, one has no
problem in quickly discerning who is the subject of the sentence (the one doing the crushing) and what
is the direct object of the verb (the one being crushed).

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