Lesson 1 | The Basics

Why Another Greek Course?

1. Biblearc Unlike most online classes, Biblearc allows you to interact with the Greek text by creating diagrams, highlighting words, dividing the text into clauses, etc. Also, Biblearc’s path courses allow you to interact with course instructors, to participate in group discussions, and to receive personal feedback on your assignments.
2. Missions-Oriented While the course uses English to teach Greek, it seeks to do so with simple terminology to help those who speak English as their second or third language. Further, Biblearc offers this course at a missions-oriented price with the hope that pastors from countries in the Majority World will be able to enroll.
3. Tracing the Argument One of the greatest benefits of learning how to read the NT in Greek is that it allows us to trace an author’s argument with more clarity and confidence. This course introduces students to one way of doing so—a Bible study method called Phrasing.
4. Diagramming As the course progresses, you will learn how to diagram Greek sentences. This focus is helpful in two ways. First, it allows you to see the grammar of the Greek text. Second, it forces you explain how each word in a Greek sentence functions.

Course Purpose

οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ᾿ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. —NA28, Koine Greek For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. —ESV

1. Knowing Greek helps us understand specific words better. The word “world” (κόσμος) in John 3:16 refers to all of humanity as rebels against God.
2. In English, most translations of John 3:16 translate the first two connectors as “that.” Is “that” telling us the result, the content, or the purpose of God’s love for the world? Without Greek, it would be very difficult to understand how each “that” connects. The Greek connectors in John 3:16 help us more precisely understand how each clause relates to what comes before it:
3. ὥστε (“that”) connects God’s gift of his Son as the result of his love for the world. So, our God loves rebels so much that it results in him giving his eternal Son to them.
4. ἵνα (“that”) connects eternal life as the purpose of God’s gift. Why does God give his Son to rebels? So that (ἵνα) those rebels can have life in the Son. The heart of our God towards rebels ought to comfort us and give us hope in his love for us.
5. ἀλλ᾿ (“but”) emphasizes God’s life-giving, death-defeating purpose by replacing a negative statement (“should not perish”) of God’s purpose with a positive one (“have eternal life”)

Course Objectives

1. Translate 117 of the most common words in the Greek NT (about 30 words/vocab lesson)
2. Read, parse (analyze the grammar), and translate all non-verb words
3. Visually display how the words of a Greek sentence relate to one another through diagramming
4. Understand how reading the NT in Greek helps us trace an author’s argument

Lesson Structure

1. Devotional—A short worship-inducing reading that shows how Koine Greek helps us see Christ more clearly in a NT text
2. Grammar Quiz—A quiz to test your knowledge of the concepts from the preceding grammar lesson
3. Lesson Objectives—A list of what the lesson seeks to accomplish
4. Grammar Points—Two or three grammar points that teach basic elements of Koine Greek. Each grammar point will include teaching, examples, and practice.
5. Guided Practice—Short exercises that encourage students to apply the grammar points learned in this lesson
6. Review—This section reviews what we learned in the lesson.
7. Assignment—Homework to be completed before moving on to the next lesson
8. Instructor's Work—How the instructor completed the assignment, to help you grow in your Greek abilities

1. Devotional—A short worship-inducing reading highlighting one vocabulary word from the lesson
2. Encouragement—A brief article to boost your motivation to learn Greek
3. Vocabulary Quiz—A quiz, with instant feedback, to test your knowledge of the vocab from the preceding lessons
4. New Vocabulary—A list of the vocabulary you'll memorize this lesson
5. Quizlet—Flashcards to help you memorize the vocabulary
6. Memorization—A three-part process to help you memorize John 1:1-5 in Greek
7. Guided Reading—A video where we practice reading a NT text in Greek together
8. Memory Work—A cumulative vocab quiz and a place to record the memory work from each lesson
9. Assignment—Homework to be completed before moving on to the next lesson
10. Instructor's Work—How the instructor completed the assignment as a point of comparison

Course Outline

1. The Basics of Greek
2. Vocab
3. The First Noun Pattern
4. Vocab
5. The Second Noun Pattern
6. The Greek Article and Pronouns
7. Vocab
8. The Third Noun Pattern
9. Vocab
10. Adjectives and Adverbs

Course Materials

1. A computer with reliable internet access
2. A Biblearc account
3. Pencils and a notebook
4. Optional: A Greek New Testament (we will talk about this more in Lesson 3)