Biblical Greek

Lord's Prayer: Greek TR  - Audio

Matthew 6: 9-13

           οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς·

1. Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, 

2. ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·

3. ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· 

4. γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· 

5. τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·

6. καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·

7. καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. 

                       ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ 

                                                ἡ δύναμις καὶ 

                                                ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν.

Welcome to the study of New Testament Greek featuring J. Gresham Machen's New Testament Greek for Beginners. I chose this grammar because it is the one I am using to review beginning Greek and learn Greek composition (translation from English to Greek). I invite you to travel with me on this exciting journey into the heart of Biblical Greek. 

I have eight semester hours (2 semesters)  of college level New Testament Greek with Professor Donald Wise in the early 1970s.  It was a great experience, which has enabled me to make good use of my Greek Testament in my Bible study and sermon preparations over the years. Our text book was the 1950 edition  of Ray Summers' Essentials of New Testament Greek. Last year, I worked my way through the second edition by Thomas Sawyer. I am choosing Machen over either edition of Summers because of Machen's attention to details and emphasis on translating from English to Greek. I have studied numerous other grammars over the years, but few of the new ones were designed for serious composition, which is the only way into the heart of the language. [John D. Schwandt's An Intro. to Biblical Greek is a notable exception.]

Ray Summers' Essentials was a great beginning grammar, but it only had English to Greek exercises through Lesson 20 and switched from made-up sentences to sections from I John to translate from Greek to English. Sawyer's revison has dispensed entirely with English to Greek Exercises. Machen, on the other hand, has Greek to English and English to Greek exercises for all the lessons covering the entire vocabulary and every point of grammar. 

 Internet Resources - Mostly Free

Here is a pdf of Machen's NT Greek for Beginners that can be downloaded to view on any computer or tablet. I have it on my reMarkable tablet. 

Spiros Zodhiates' Learn or Review New Testament Greek: Answers to the Exercises in New Testament Greek for Beginners by J. Gresham Machen, is very accurate and helpful. I have retyped Zodhiates Answer Book. I have proofed my typed document once, but will be happy to receive any corrections. 

H. P. V. Nunn's A Short Syntax of New Testament Greek is far and away the best reference grammar for beginning students. The pdf is available for free download so it can be read on a digital device or run off with a printer for creating a convenient paper copy. The beginning section is a thorough review of English grammar, which prepares the student to make the best use of the Greek Syntax. 

David L. Thompson's Study Guide for J. Gresham Machen's New Testaent for Beginners (1980) is very helpful. The link is to the copy on Internet Archive which can be borrowed and read Online. The paperback is available on Amazon. This book includes translations of all the Exercises in Machen's NT Greek for Beginners. 

While dated (1876/1907), Samuel G. Green's Handbook on the Greek New Testament contains a library of information on the Greek of the New Testament. It is a valuable reference work for advanced students. 

Here is a free Online Greek Course with audio based on Machen's NT Greek for Beginners.

Ernest De Witt Burton (1906) Syntax of  Moods and Tenses  in NT Greek. An excellent book for intermediate students. 

Harold Greenlee's A Concise Exegetical Grammar of New Testament Greek can be downloaded in pdf.   Very handy. 

I highly recommend  Richard A. Young's 1994 Intermediate New Testament Greek: A Lingistic and Exegetical Approach you can borrow a copy to read Online at Archive or purchase a copy from Amazon.  It is very user friendly. Similar to Nunn's Short Syntax, but more up-to-date. 

David Allen Black's It's Still Greek to Me is another excellent intermediate grammar. 

Read Greek in 30 Days [or less]   (2011) W. Larry Richards. 

Analytical Greek NT by Barbara & Timothy Friberg. Parsing every word in the UBS Greek NT. 

There is a Spanish translation of Machen's NT Greek for Beginners. 

Here is material I used to learn Greek Accents from Ray Summers and Dana & Mantey. 

One book that I find very useful is Nathan E. Han's A Parsing Guide to the Greek New Testament. It parses the verbs as they appear i the Greek text. I use it for parsing practice, kind of like a parsing app trying to parse the verb for myself before consulting Han. 

Concise Vocabulary for Machen's NT Greek for Beginners.  I created this barebones vocabualry w/o English gosses to help students test their mastery of the vocabulary and as a handy aid in doing the exercises, especially the English to Greek, which I consider important for a thorough mastery of the language. 

Printed Editions of Machen's Textbook Available Today 

Shawn Burton has published Machen's NT Greek for Beginners with an excellent answer key in the back. It is available in Kindle, paperback, and hardback. I have the Kindle edition, which is very well done.

Dan McCartney has published a 2nd edition of Machen's NT Greek for Beginners, but it is rather expensive. Used copies can be purchased at a reasonablel price. The last I checked new copies are selling for $169.75 on Amazon! 

Lexical Aids for Building a Robust Vocoabulary 

Bruce Metgzer's Lexical Aids is great for building vocabluary. 

A Comparative Lexicon of New Testament Greek by L. R. Elliott. I edited this book and published in in 2021. The original is available to read on Internet Archive, I made numerous corrections and improvements. You can view the pdf before purchasing the paperback: Comparative Lexicon.

Here my LXX Reader for Genesis and Exodus.  The names are accented! Featuring section headings and paragraphs. 

Here is a very valuable website for reading a pethora of Bible related Greek text: Link to NT Material.  The author is John Barach. 

Material for Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount in NT Greek 

Dr. Louis Tyler's recordings of the Sermon on the Mount in Erasmian pronunciation: Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7. 

Here is a method for memorizing the 23 Psalm from the Greek LXX. 

Sermon on the Mount in English (KJV), Greek (TR), Latin (Jerome), and Spanish. 

Flashcards for memorizing the Sermon on the Mount in Greek. 

Here is a Parsing Guide to the verbs in in the Sermon on the Mount. This is a work-in-progress. I hope to finish it before the end of the year. The Greek Text (TR) is included with verb in red. Textual variants for the verbs between Nestle 26 and the TR are carefully noted. 

Free Commentaries on the Greek Text that I recommend 

Commentary on Mark by C. E. B. Cranfield (1959)

Online Greek Courses

Bruce Gore has a Online Greek class based on Machen's NT Greek for Beginners. 

LXX Resources 

Here is a good pdf of the cannonical books of the LXX with English Translation. I read this text in 1978. Here is the same book in hardback from Amazon. Students who have finished Machens NT Greek for Beginners  will be in a good position to tackle the narrative portions of the LXX.. 

Aids to Pronunciation

Here is some helpful material I developed for mastering The Erasmian Pronunciation. I plan to make recordings to go with the exercises. 

Classical Greek Textbook

We are fortunate to have available for free a superb Classical Greek beginners textbook that follows the same pedagogical approach as Machen's NT Greek for Beginners: First Greek Book by John White. This would be a perfect follow up or supplement to Machen. The Greek readings are a simplification of the first eight chapters of Xenophon's Anabasis.  Machen states in his "Preface," The two books by John William White, Beginner's Greek Book, 1895 and The First Greek Book; 1896, have been consulted with profit, especially as regards the form of presentation." 

D. A. Carson's Greek Accents: A Student's Manual is a comprehsive introduction to the subject. 

Danny Zachariah's Greek Alphabet Song. This teaches capitals and small letters together, which is the way they should be taught from the start.