[B-Greek] Classic or Koine
Dr. Don Wilkins
drdwilkins at sbcglobal.net
Wed Dec 17 16:47:48 EST 2003
There are various opinions on this, but my own experience is that
learning classical will indeed enable you to read both koine and the
LXX. Also, I taught beginning Greek from Athenaze for several years and
found it to be an excellent primer. Some might argue that you will be
ill-prepared for the differences between classical, koine, and the LXX,
but I think that for the most part you'll discover (at least in regard
to koine) that some of the technicalities in classical Greek are simply
missing from koine, rather than being significantly changed (again,
others may disagree). It would no doubt be a good idea for you to obtain
an intermediate or advanced grammar and lexicon for koine, and the
choices out there fortunately are better now than they were twenty or
thirty years ago. Consider Dan Wallace's grammar, perhaps Funk, etc. If
you come across A.T. Robertson's advanced grammar or Dana & Mantey, I
would encourage you to pass both of them up. Robertson, though valuable
in many points, is very difficult to read and mainly dependent on
secondary sources. D&M is prone to exaggerations and errors.
As to the LXX, I do not know of any grammar that would improve on a
good classical grammar like Smyth--perhaps someone else on the list
will. As a Bible translator I have spent a good deal of time making
comparisons between the Hebrew and the LXX, and the biggest problem you
might face is dealing with "translation" Greek. Some of it is very nice
Greek, deliberately altered from the original for that very purpose, and
other parts might appear awkward or difficult to understand because the
original translators were having difficulty handling the Hebrew.
I hope that helps, and best wishes to you.
Don Wilkins
On Wednesday, December 17, 2003, at 09:49 AM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
> Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 11:47:42 -0600
> Forwarded for: David Ramirez <dramirez at panam.edu>
> Subject: Classic or Koine
> To: "'b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org'" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>
>
> Greetings all,
> I am a beginner self-taught student in Greek. And am using the Athenaze
> book
> one. I enjoy it very much and feel that I am making good progress.
> However I
> need some information regarding the Classic vs. Koine approach to
> learning
> Greek. Will studying Classical Greek enable me to read the Septuagint?
> and
> the New Testament in Greek? Or will I need to take the Koine route for
> that.
> My interests are reading Biblical Greek scriptures as well as secular
> Greek
> classics.
> Any feed back would be greatly welcomed.
>
> Thank you,
>
> David Ramirez
>
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