How Matthew Everhard uses New Testament Greek

[@shawngillogly6873]

Good chat. Always enjoy listening to (and reading) from Pastor Matt.

[@1JOHNCALVIN]

We need more of this. God bless

[@Wubss]

That is one area where i Mounce has been so helpful for me is his emphasis on the roots

[@tabletalk33]

Great discussion! Takeaways: 1. The language that our Bible was written in MATTERS. 2. It's easy to fall in love with those languages. "Many of the themes are rather cyclical in the Book of Revelation." I love that!!!!!!

[@theoglossa]

Wow. Thanks for putting this. I've been following Ptr. Matt

[@DonaldPotter_ReadingZone]

L. R. Elliott tells us, "In the fall class of 1911, Dr. W. O. Carver remarked to his Junior Greek class in the SBTS that if one knew the essential meanings of two- or three-hundred-word-roots and the inflectional paradigms he could read the Greek with little reference to the lexicon." Famed scholars A. T. Robertson and W. Hershey Davis in their New Short Grammar write, "Apparently only some 400 roots of Greek words are known for some 90,000 words in the Liddell and Scott's Lexicon and less than half of these words appear in so-called classical Greek." William Douglas Chamberlain in his An Exegetical Grammar of the GNT recommends, "The most fundamental need of the student of any language is developing a working vocabulary. The acquisition of such a vocabulary is for many students a laborious task. This can be greatly lightened and enlivened by the right approach. In the Greek language, all words are built on primitive root-stocks which carry a constant basic meaning. There are only about four hundred of these roots in the entire vocabulary of all known Greek. Instead of developing a vocabulary by sheer mental drudgery, the student may learn certain basic principles of word formation which will enable him to achieve this end with pleasure." May I suggest my revison of L. R. Elliott's A Comparative Lexicon of NT Greek, available from Amazon.

[@SibleySteve]

This conversation is very helpful for us fans of Greek. Fandom is UNDER rated, and it was Rob Plummer’s books and vid that made me a super fan. Also watching NT Wright using his Nestle Aland in the pulpit and sight reading during a lecture was something I will never forget. My Greek minor was done in the 80’s with two profs that were like Jekyl and Hyde, which was not cool because they used different systems. That permanently confused me but Rob Plummer is straightening me out. Praise the Lord for these resources.

[@MichaelThomas-y3m]

This was great. I appreciate both of your channels so this was awesome. Perhaps the vocabulary aid resource that you both were thinking of is "Mastering Greek Vocabulary" by Thomas A. Robinson. It structures the word lists by roots/cognate groups. I would love to see more interviews with Pastors/Scholars to see how they have developed, retained, and presently use their Greek!

[@bma]

Great suggestion!

[@Mark3ABE]

Most of us have listened to sermons from Pastors who preach along the lines “your translation of the Bible probably says this, but, if you go back to the original Greek, it actually says this.” Now, these Pastors mean well. However, the study of a language involves more than simply looking up words in a dictionary. English, for example, is a very complicated language and it would not be possible to simply look up words in a dictionary and translate it into another language. For example, take the simple word “row”. What does it mean? Well, you will say, of course it means things lined up - in a row. What else could it mean. Well, what about using the oars in a boat? The same word is used, however, when you say “row a boat” you mean something completely different. Then if two people are arguing, you might say that they are having a “row”. However, that is pronounced differently and means something completely different and, not only that, it is used quite commonly in England but not nearly so commonly in the USA. So, it would not be possible to simply look up the word “row” in a dictionary and put in the equivalent word found there in some other language, because the word has, at least, three quite different meanings, so that it is necessary to establish the context before the word can be translated. Now, the translators of the King James Bible were Hebrew and Greek scholars. The translators of the various revisions, for example, the RV, the ASB, the RSV, the NASB, the NRSV and the ESV were also all very capable Hebrew and Greek scholars and, not only that, they worked together as a translating team, so that they could discuss and debate the correct translation of any doubtful passages, comparing, them, where necessary, with earlier translations (‘with the former translations diligently compared” as it says on the front page of every King James Bible). These earlier translations included the Vulgate and earlier translations in English made from the Vulgate. So, it is highly unlikely that any Pastor, however earnest he might be, could possibly decide, correctly, that the translators of the King James Bible (and its various later revisions) got it wrong and only he, now, has finally got it right. While it can help to look at the original Hebrew or Greek, the way in which it has been translated by reliable translations into English is far more likely to correctly reflect the sense of the original. So, for those who wish to study Greek or Hebrew for the purpose of discovering a “new and improved” rendering of the original which no one has ever found before - beware! That is not going to happen.

[@lc3507]

This... Reading Greek (or any language) is one thing but speaking it is altogether another thing. Arguments have been made that being merely able to read Greek is just as if not more dangerous than using tools (lexicons, concordances, dictionaries, etc.) if you are unable to speak the language because one may be overconfident and think they know more about a language than they actually do. If one can speak a language, one can pick up nuances such as multiple usages of a word, voice fluctuations, tone, and sarcasm which may not be the case if one can only read it. Full disclosure, I cannot read Greek without heavily relying on modern tools, but I have always pondered how much insight would I actually gain vice simply reading multiple English translations being that I am not conversational in modern or koine Greek. In fact, I have always believed that given the number of reliable translations we have in English, my time is better vested in educating myself on the customs, courtesies, and culture of Ancient Near East and biblical times than being able to only read the original languages.

[@calanm7880]

I really appreciate Matthew’s channel, I similarly loved the scriptures so did 2 years of University classical Hebrew and 1 year of Koine Greek. But because of my beloved theology I mentally blocked out my {insert dismissive} academics & archaeology in biblical lands and wider Assyriology. I don’t want anyone to lose precious faith, but no one should wear thought blinkers

[@barbosacisco]

Awesome talk!! I would love to read the article Pr. Matt mentioned in the beginning of the video, but I am not finding it… 😢

[@gilbertsalinas8652]

VERY HELPFIUL!

[@gilbertsalinas8652]

Great video!!! Thank you🤓

[@PaDutchRunner]

Excellent

[@Rightlydividing-wx1xb]

The main issue with seminaries teaching Greek is that they are teaching the 16th century created Erasmian pronunciation which is refuted by inscriptional evidence, including the same spelling errors from the 6th century to the present day. One of the main problems is concerning iotacism, aspiration, and fricatives. Mounce acknowledges this fact concerning pronunciation.

[@bma]

I wouldn't say this is the main issue, but it is an issue. Thanks for your comment!

[@pierreabbat6157]

Acts 27 is full of technical (nautical) vocabulary: υποπλευειν, ασσον, λιψ, χωρος, σκευος, σκευη, οργυια, κτλ. Acts 7 has a hapax legomenon that's easy to figure out: εμοσχοποιησαν.

[@Rightlydividing-wx1xb]

I mis-spoke when I said "6th" century, that is, I forgot to include "B.C.E." Spelling errors, concerning iotacism, fricatives, the aspirate, and other things, are found all the way back to the 6th century B.C.E.

[@tabletalk33]

That's why I just just +/- for AD and BC. MUCH easier. And this habit IN NO WAY is meant to be dismissive or disrespectful of the Lord or anything like that. This is just to avoid the clunky, unwieldy abbreviations which keep coming at us which are not even understood internationally.

[@PhuManchew]

Your use of B.C.E speaks volumes about your bias.

[@roddumlauf9241]

Old Testament Greek; Septuagint is my primary Old Testament Bible. Do a video on "How a regular pastor uses the Old Testament Greek". The Septuagint, which is very different that the Masoretic, is the Bible that Jesus and the Apostles used, primarily.

[@sciencescholar3440]

Very old scholarship. LXX is not the translation which you it was. Septuagint is just Torah translated into Greek.

[@bma]

Thanks for your comment. I think I'd be hard pressed to find a pastor who was a) educated in the languages and b) uses the Septuagint as his primary Old Testament. Even if I did find someone like that, I'd be questioning his education because I don't think the Septuagint is the pristine representation of the Old Testament that some say it is. I believe the Masoretic Text is a better OT text than the Septuagint for a variety of reasons. The Septuagint is a helpful witness in many ways, but not a reliable guide.

[@roddumlauf9241]

@@bma Even though the Apostles and Jesus uses the Septuagint, and Paul said the Septuagint was/is inspired ? Paul said the OT that Timothy was raised on was inspired, which was the Septuagint/Greek OT. Paul used the Greek Isiah to show his theology in Romans. Paul did not use Hebrew/proto-Masoretic Isaiah in Romans.

[@sciencescholar3440]

@@roddumlauf9241 Where did he he say Lxx was inspired? do u hear urself? prophets didn't write in Greek so that the Greek translation become inspired. and many of the ot quotations by paul doesn't even match the extant LXX....

[@roddumlauf9241]

@@sciencescholar3440 Paul says that Timothy, who was a Greek, raised by his grandmother and mother who were Hellenized Jews, and his father was a Greek would have used the Greek Septuagint. 2 Timothy 1:4-5 "As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.....2 Timothy 3:14-17 " But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[a] you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work." Paul always used and quoted from the Greek OT not the Masoretic . Paul tells Timothy that the Bible he was raised on, the Septuagint, was inspired. Timothy's mom and Grandma didn't even speak Hebrew or even read Hebrew, maybe Aramaic, nut not Hebrew.

[@greggpersons5629]

First step in learning New Testament Greek is ditching the Erasmian pronunciation. True Koine pronunciation is essentially identical to modern Greek. Learn the grammar with consistent authentic pronunciation and you will soar!