Reason To Stand » greek

Greek resources: fonts

Wes Widner — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:53:31 +0000

In order to learn and use Greek alphabet, you’ll need to have a suitable Greek font installed on your system. Here are a few resources to hopefully point you in the right direction:

I have seen some fonts that do not conform to the Unicode standard and the result is that anything done in that font is completely unusable by anyone without the font. So it is important that you pay attention to whether the font you are using for Greek conforms to the Unicode standard or not.

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Free resources for learning Greek

Wes Widner — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:00:22 +0000

After we’ve decided that its a great idea to learn Greek, figuring out where to begin can be daunting. Especially if we aren’t part of a group committed to encouraging and holding one another accountable.

Here are a few free resources¹ to help get started:

Greek Tools For Bible Study by Bill Mounce
Little Greek online textbook
NTGreek.net online textbook
Teknia, which has a lot of great resources including several songs in Greek, Greek fonts, as well as PDFs for learning Greek grammar
Flashcards for Android mobile device
Flashcards for your computer courtesy of the Crosswire Bible Society
Make your own flashcards
Xiphos, an all around free Bible study application
Greek alphabet songs in a variety of forms. Two of my favorites are the techno version and the story form

Here’s a great bare-bones introduction to Greek:

Greek Alphabet. Basics of Biblical Greek. from Bill Mounce on Vimeo.

There are many good books that you can purchase, but I’ll focus here only on the free ones

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Putting Greek to music for easy learning

Wes Widner — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 12:00:11 +0000

Ken Berding explains why he decided to put Greek grammar to music:

And here is his class singing the Greek alphabet and other helpful grammatical tools (like the variations of the verb “to be”):

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Bible Flashcards for Android 1.0

Wes Widner — Wed, 26 May 2010 12:00:10 +0000

Bible Flashcards is an Android application based on the data files provided by the Crosswire Bible Society‘s Flashcard application. It contains flashcards for both Greek and Hebrew along with appropriate fonts for proper display.

I’ve also included an additional lesson set titled “greekBasics” which includes flashcards for the Greek alphabet.

Here are some screenshots:

You can find Bible Flashcards in the Android app Market by entering “Bible Flashcards” or by scanning the barcode below:

Additionally, if you are interested in helping out with new lessons or if you would like to provide feedback, please feel free to email me.

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Wordy Wednesday: timē

Wes Widner — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:00:33 +0000

What it means

Greek

τιμή

Transliteration/Pronunciation

timē/tē-mā’

Strong’s

G5092

Definition

This word has two distinct categories of meanings. 1.) a “valueing by which the price is affixed” or 2.) honor due someone.

The range of this word is best seen in Paul’s first letter to Timothy where Paul tells Timothy that elders who labor in preaching and teaching are worthy of a “double honor” which is commonly taken as a proof-text for paid clergy positions within the body of Christ. However the word Paul uses is “timē” which Paul also uses in 1 Timothy 6:1.¹.

Where it’s found

Genesis 20:16; Genesis 44:2; Exodus 28:2; Exodus 28:40; Exodus 34:20; Leviticus 5:15; Leviticus 5:18; Leviticus 6:6; Leviticus 27:2; Leviticus 27:3; Leviticus 27:5; Leviticus 27:6; Leviticus 27:7; Leviticus 27:8; Leviticus 27:13; Leviticus 27:15; Leviticus 27:16; Leviticus 27:17; Leviticus 27:19; Leviticus 27:23; Leviticus 27:25; Leviticus 27:27; Numbers 20:19; 2 Chronicles 1:16; 2 Chronicles 32:33; Esther 1:20; Job 31:39; Job 34:19; Job 37:22; Job 40:10; Psalms 8:5; Psalms 29:1; Psalms 44:12; Psalms 45:9; Psalms 49:8; Psalms 49:12; Psalms 49:20; Psalms 62:4; Psalms 96:7; Psalms 99:4; Proverbs 6:26; Proverbs 12:9; Proverbs 22:9; Proverbs 26:1; Isaiah 10:16; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 14:18; Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 55:1; Ezekiel 22:25; Daniel 2:6; Daniel 4:30; Daniel 4:36; Daniel 5:18; Daniel 5:20; Daniel 7:14; Matthew 27:6; Matthew 27:9; John 4:44; Acts 4:34; Acts 5:2; Acts 5:3; Acts 7:16; Acts 19:19; Acts 28:10; Romans 2:7; Romans 2:10; Romans 9:21; Romans 12:10; Romans 13:7; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23; 1 Corinthians 12:23; 1 Corinthians 12:24; Colossians 2:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:4; 1Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Timothy 6:1; I Timothy 6:16; 2 Timothy 2:20; 2Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 2:7; Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 3:3; Hebrews 5:4; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 2:7; 1Peter 3:7; 2 Peter 1:17; Revelation of John 4:9; Revelation of John 4:11; Revelation of John 5:12; Revelation of John 5:13; Revelation of John 7:12; Revelation of John 21:26

Incidentally, the Greek word for “pay” (misthos) is used in 1 Timothy 5:18

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Wordy Wednesday: aphiēmi

Wes Widner — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:34 +0000

What it means

Greek

ἀφίημι

Transliteration/Pronunciation

aphiēmi/ä-fē’-ā-mē

Strong’s

G863

Definition

This word has a rather broad range of meanings (well, broad from our western perspective) as it can mean “I let go”, “leave”, “permit”, and “forgive”. The broad range of meanings this word has permits for some interesting word studies, particularly when it comes to the cases where it is translated as “forgive”.

Where it’s found

Matthew 3:15; Matthew 4:11; Matthew 4:20; Matthew 4:22; Matthew 5:24; Matthew 5:40; Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 7:4; Matthew 8:15; Matthew 8:22; Matthew 9:2; Matthew 9:5; Matthew 9:6; Matthew 12:31; Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:30; Matthew 13:36; Matthew 15:14; Matthew 18:12; Matthew 18:21; Matthew 18:27; Matthew 18:32; Matthew 18:35; Matthew 19:14; Matthew 19:27; Matthew 19:29; Matthew 22:22; Matthew 22:25; Matthew 23:13; Matthew 23:23; Matthew 23:38; Matthew 24:2; Matthew 24:40; Matthew 24:41; Matthew 26:44; Matthew 26:56; Matthew 27:49; Matthew 27:50; Mark 1:18; Mark 1:20; Mark 1:31; Mark 1:34; Mark 2:5; Mark 2:7; Mark 2:9; Mark 2:10; Mark 3:28; Mark 4:12; Mark 4:36; Mark 5:19; Mark 5:37; Mark 7:8; Mark 7:12; Mark 7:27; Mark 8:13; Mark 10:14; Mark 10:28; Mark 10:29; Mark 11:6; Mark 11:16; Mark 11:25; Mark 12:12; Mark 12:19; Mark 12:20; Mark 12:22; Mark 13:2; Mark 13:34; Mark 14:6; Mark 14:50; Mark 15:36; Mark 15:37; Luke 4:39; Luke 5:11; Luke 5:20; Luke 5:21; Luke 5:23; Luke 5:24; Luke 6:42; Luke 7:47; Luke 7:48; Luke 7:49; Luke 8:51; Luke 9:60; Luke 10:30; Luke 11:4; Luke 12:10; Luke 12:39; Luke 13:8; Luke 13:35; Luke 17:3; Luke 17:4; Luke 17:34; Luke 17:35; Luke 18:16; Luke 18:28; Luke 18:29; Luke 19:44; Luke 21:6; Luke 23:34; John 4:3; John 4:28; John 4:52; John 8:29; John 10:12; John 11:44; John 11:48; John 12:7; John 14:18; John 14:27; John 16:28; John 16:32; John 18:8; John 20:23; Acts 5:38; Acts 8:22; Acts 14:17; Romans 1:27; Romans 4:7; I Corinthians 7:11; I Corinthians 7:12; I Corinthians 7:13; Hebrews 2:8; Hebrews 6:1; James 5:15; I John 1:9; I John 2:12; Revelation of John 2:4; Revelation of John 2:20; Revelation of John 11:9

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Wordy Wednesday: astheneō

Wes Widner — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:07 +0000

What it means

Greek

ἀσθενέω

Transliteration/Pronunciation

astheneō/ä-sthe-ne’-ō

Strong’s

G770

Definition

This word means weak, sick, ill. It’s a pretty common phrase that can indicate either physical or spiritual sickness/weakness.

Where it’s found

Judges 16:7; Judges 16:11; Judges 16:17; I Samuel 2:4; I Samuel 2:5; II Samuel 3:1; II Kings 19:26; II Chronicles 28:15; Job 4:4; Job 28:4; Psalms 9:3; Psalms 18:36; Psalms 26:1; Psalms 27:2; Psalms 31:10; Psalms 58:7; Psalms 68:9; Psalms 88:9; Psalms 107:12; Psalms 109:24; Proverbs 24:16; Isaiah 7:4; Isaiah 28:20; Isaiah 29:4; Isaiah 32:4; Isaiah 44:12; Jeremiah 6:21; Jeremiah 18:15; Jeremiah 46:6; Jeremiah 46:12; Jeremiah 46:16; Jeremiah 50:32; Lamentations 1:14; Lamentations 2:8; Lamentations 5:13; Ezekiel 17:6; Ezekiel 21:15; Ezekiel 34:4; Daniel 11:14; Daniel 11:19; Daniel 11:33; Daniel 11:34; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 11:41; Hosea 4:5; Hosea 5:5; Hosea 11:6; Hosea 14:1; Hosea 14:9; Nahum 2:5; Nahum 3:3; Zechariah 12:8; Malachi 2:8; Malachi 3:11; Matthew 10:8; Matthew 25:36; Matthew 25:39; Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40; John 4:46; John 5:3; John 5:7; John 5:13; John 6:2; John 11:1; John 11:2; John 11:3; John 11:6; Acts 9:37; Acts 19:12; Acts 20:35; Romans 4:19; Romans 8:3; Romans 14:1; Romans 14:2; I Corinthians 8:11; I Corinthians 8:12; II Corinthians 11:21; II Corinthians 11:29; II Corinthians 12:10; II Corinthians 13:3; II Corinthians 13:4; II Corinthians 13:9; Philippians 2:26; Philippians 2:27; II Timothy 4:20; James 5:14

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Wordy Wednesday: Kairos

Wes Widner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:54 +0000

What it means

Greek

καιρός

Transliteration/Pronunciation

kairos/kī-ro’s

Strong’s

G2540

Definition

Primary meaning is time, season. Specifically it carries the idea of an appointed or anticipated time rather than a sequential set of moments like chronos, the other word commonly translated as time. Interestingly enough, this is also the name of one of the Greek gods which, while not uncommon, indicates the unique importance placed on this word outside of a simple description of chronological events.

Where it’s found

Genesis 1:14; Genesis 6:13; Genesis 17:21; Genesis 17:23; Genesis 17:26; Genesis 18:10; Genesis 18:14; Genesis 21:2; Genesis 21:22; Genesis 29:34; Genesis 30:20; Genesis 30:41; Genesis 38:1; Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:4; Exodus 9:14; Exodus 13:10; Exodus 23:14; Exodus 23:15; Exodus 23:17; Exodus 34:18; Exodus 34:23; Exodus 34:24; Leviticus 15:25; Leviticus 23:4; Leviticus 26:4; Numbers 9:3; Numbers 9:7; Numbers 9:13; Numbers 14:9; Numbers 22:4; Numbers 23:23; Deuteronomy 1:9; Deuteronomy 1:16; Deuteronomy 1:18; Deuteronomy 2:34; Deuteronomy 3:4; Deuteronomy 3:8; Deuteronomy 3:12; Deuteronomy 3:18; Deuteronomy 3:21; Deuteronomy 3:23; Deuteronomy 4:14; Deuteronomy 5:5; Deuteronomy 9:19; Deuteronomy 9:20; Deuteronomy 10:1; Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 10:10; Deuteronomy 16:6; Deuteronomy 16:16; Deuteronomy 28:12; Deuteronomy 31:10; Deuteronomy 32:35; Joshua 5:2; Joshua 11:10; Joshua 11:21; Judges 3:29; Judges 4:4; Judges 10:14; Judges 11:26; Judges 12:6; Judges 14:4; Judges 21:14; Judges 21:22; Judges 21:24; I Samuel 1:20; I Samuel 4:20; I Samuel 9:16; I Samuel 20:12; II Samuel 11:1; II Samuel 20:5; II Samuel 23:5; I Kings 11:4; I Kings 11:29; I Kings 15:23; I Kings 16:22; I Kings 18:29; II Kings 4:16; II Kings 4:17; II Kings 8:22; II Kings 16:6; II Kings 18:16; II Kings 20:12; II Kings 24:10; I Chronicles 9:25; I Chronicles 11:11; I Chronicles 11:20; I Chronicles 12:32; I Chronicles 21:28; I Chronicles 21:29; I Chronicles 29:30; II Chronicles 7:2; II Chronicles 7:8; II Chronicles 8:13; II Chronicles 15:5; II Chronicles 16:7; II Chronicles 16:10; II Chronicles 21:10; II Chronicles 21:19; II Chronicles 25:27; II Chronicles 28:16; II Chronicles 30:3; II Chronicles 35:17; Ezra 5:3; Ezra 8:34; Ezra 10:13; Ezra 10:14; Nehemiah 4:22; Nehemiah 6:1; Nehemiah 9:27; Nehemiah 10:34; Nehemiah 12:17; Nehemiah 13:21; Nehemiah 13:31; Esther 2:12; Esther 4:14; Job 5:26; Job 19:4; Job 38:32; Job 39:1; Job 39:18; Psalms 1:3; Psalms 4:7; Psalms 10:5; Psalms 21:9; Psalms 31:15; Psalms 32:6; Psalms 34:1; Psalms 37:19; Psalms 37:39; Psalms 69:13; Psalms 71:9; Psalms 75:2; Psalms 81:15; Psalms 102:13; Psalms 104:19; Psalms 106:3; Psalms 119:20; Psalms 119:126; Proverbs 5:3; Proverbs 5:19; Proverbs 6:14; Proverbs 8:30; Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 18:1; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 3:2; Ecclesiastes 3:3; Ecclesiastes 3:4; Ecclesiastes 3:5; Ecclesiastes 3:6; Ecclesiastes 3:7; Ecclesiastes 3:8; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Ecclesiastes 7:17; Ecclesiastes 8:5; Ecclesiastes 8:6; Ecclesiastes 9:8; Ecclesiastes 9:11; Ecclesiastes 9:12; Ecclesiastes 10:17; Song of Solomon 2:12; Isaiah 9:1; Isaiah 18:7; Isaiah 30:8; Isaiah 33:2; Isaiah 38:1; Isaiah 39:1; Isaiah 49:8; Isaiah 50:4; Isaiah 60:22; Isaiah 64:9; Jeremiah 2:27; Jeremiah 2:28; Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 4:11; Jeremiah 5:24; Jeremiah 6:15; Jeremiah 8:1; Jeremiah 8:7; Jeremiah 8:15; Jeremiah 10:15; Jeremiah 11:12; Jeremiah 11:14; Jeremiah 14:8; Jeremiah 14:19; Jeremiah 15:11; Jeremiah 16:21; Jeremiah 17:1; Jeremiah 17:2; Jeremiah 17:3; Jeremiah 17:4; Jeremiah 18:23; Jeremiah 46:21; Jeremiah 50:4; Jeremiah 50:16; Jeremiah 50:20; Jeremiah 50:26; Jeremiah 50:27; Jeremiah 50:31; Jeremiah 51:6; Jeremiah 51:18; Lamentations 1:15; Lamentations 1:21; Lamentations 4:18; Ezekiel 4:10; Ezekiel 4:11; Ezekiel 7:7; Ezekiel 7:12; Ezekiel 12:27; Ezekiel 16:8; Ezekiel 21:25; Ezekiel 21:29; Ezekiel 22:3; Ezekiel 22:4; Ezekiel 22:30; Ezekiel 35:5; Daniel 2:8; Daniel 2:9; Daniel 2:21; Daniel 4:16; Daniel 4:23; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32; Daniel 4:36; Daniel 6:10; Daniel 6:13; Daniel 7:12; Daniel 7:22; Daniel 7:25; Daniel 8:17; Daniel 8:19; Daniel 9:25; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:6; Daniel 11:13; Daniel 11:14; Daniel 11:24; Daniel 11:27; Daniel 11:29; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 11:40; Daniel 12:1; Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:7; Daniel 12:9; Daniel 12:11; Hosea 2:9; Joel 3:1; Amos 5:13; Micah 2:3; Micah 3:4; Micah 5:3; Habakkuk 2:3; Habakkuk 3:2; Zephaniah 3:16; Zephaniah 3:19; Zephaniah 3:20; Haggai 1:2; Haggai 1:4; Matthew 8:29; Matthew 11:25; Matthew 12:1; Matthew 13:30; Matthew 14:1; Matthew 16:3; Matthew 21:34; Matthew 21:41; Matthew 24:45; Matthew 26:18; Mark 1:15; Mark 10:30; Mark 11:13; Mark 12:2; Mark 13:33; Luke 1:20; Luke 4:13; Luke 8:13; Luke 12:42; Luke 12:56; Luke 13:1; Luke 18:30; Luke 19:44; Luke 20:10; Luke 21:8; Luke 21:24; Luke 21:36; John 7:6; John 7:8; Acts 1:7; Acts 3:19; Acts 7:20; Acts 12:1; Acts 13:11; Acts 14:17; Acts 17:26; Acts 19:23; Acts 24:25; Romans 3:26; Romans 5:6; Romans 8:18; Romans 9:9; Romans 11:5; Romans 13:11; I Corinthians 4:5; I Corinthians 7:5; I Corinthians 7:29; II Corinthians 6:2; II Corinthians 8:13; Galatians 4:10; Galatians 6:9; Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 5:16; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:5; I Thessalonians 2:17; I Thessalonians 5:1; II Thessalonians 2:6; I Timothy 2:6; I Timothy 4:1; I Timothy 6:15; II Timothy 3:1; II Timothy 4:3; II Timothy 4:6; Titus 1:3; Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 9:10; Hebrews 11:11; Hebrews 11:15; I Peter 1:5; I Peter 1:11; I Peter 4:17; I Peter 5:6; Revelation of John 1:3; Revelation of John 11:18; Revelation of John 12:12; Revelation of John 12:14; Revelation of John 22:10

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Wordy Wednesday: Dunamis

Wes Widner — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:12 +0000

Bad habits

Many pastors trained in Greek like to try and shed light on the Scriptures by telling their congregations the Greek words behind the text. And often, they decide to help their audience connect with the word by using an English derivative. As good as their intentions may be, it unfortunately this practice adds more confusion than it sheds light. In this case, the most common practice is to define this word with it’s English derivative, dynamite. The problem with this is that it violates a basic principle of translation which, in this case, adds modern connotations of destruction, damage, chaos, and mayhem that would be foreign to the original authors, especially since dynamite was not invented until 1867.

What it means

Greek

δύναμις

Transliteration/Pronunciation

dynamis/dü’-nä-mēs

Strong’s

G1411

Definition

Primary meaning is power, strength, authority.

Where it’s found

Here are the verses where this word is found:

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Why you should love Greek

Wes Widner — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:21:14 +0000

I recently embarked on a quest to learn the Greek language. Or, as ESV translator Dr. William Mounce¹ puts it in his lesson series “Greek tools for Bible Study“, I want to learn Greek in order to understand Scripture better. In other words, I set out to learn a “little Greek“.

Outside of a desire to know what the authors of the New Testament originally wrote, I didn’t think there would be much use for knowing a language that is no longer in use² but as I have studied, I have found that there are quite a number of English words that come from Greek.

Learning Greek will help you understand (or at least remember) many theological terms like hamartia (gk: αμαρτια) which, when combined with the Greek word λογια, or “discourse”, turns into hamartiology or the study of sin. There’s also ecclesiology, soteriology, eschatology, etc. All of these theological terms have a root in a Greek word. Learning the Greek word will help you remember which area each area of study covers.

Learning Greek will also build your English vocabulary by helping you understand the etymologies of common (and not so common) words. The advantage of knowing the root Greek words behind English terms such as ‘adaiphoria‘ (gk: ἀδιάφορος) is that you also learn other words that are derived from the same Greek root word and, as a result, you learn new English terms at the same time you are learning new Greek terms.

Of course, as Dr. Mounce stated in one of his lectures, the single greatest reason for learning Greek is to put into practice what we say about the Bible being God’s inspired and inerrant Word. I was very convicted when I heard him ask the rhetorical question: “If it’s as important as we say it is, why don’t we take the time to learn the language it was originally written in so we can understand it better?” Ultimately this is the reason to continue slogging through first and second order declensions, case endings, etc. Consequently, this is also what Dr. Mounce writes in the beginning of his book, Basics of Biblical Greek to help motivate us to stick with it.

So, as I work through Greek I hope to post tools and resources I’ve found helpful along the way. To start with, I want to share some resources to help you learn the Greek alphabet.

The best memory aids in learning the Greek alphabet I’ve seen so far is a combination of this popular song³ and this mnemonic (gk: μνημονικός) device taught to grade school children by a rather inventive teacher through a clever story. While they won’t help you memorize the symbols or the phonetics, they do help you remember the basic alphabet.

If anyone reading this knows of any other helpful resources, pneumatic devices, songs, etc. that you’ve found useful while learning Greek let me know!

Personal website, Greek tutorial site
The Greek used today is not the same as the Koine Greek used in the time of Christ.
For those who like techno music, here is a spin off with a beat mixed in.