Lesson 1 | The Greek Verbal System
Course Overview
God’s word is precious. So precious that it is good and right for us to study it well and read it rightly. While there are many ways to carefully ingest the Scripture, perhaps the most serious discipline aimed at this end is learning Koine Greek. That is why this course exists—because we believe that God’s word is really worth all the work we have the strength to give. It is our prayer that you may have such strength so as to complete this course with understanding, and continue on in your study of Greek for a better grasp of the Scriptures, for sweeter worship of Jesus.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following.
- Translate 75 more of the most common words in the Greek NT, building on the 117 words from Greek 1 (about 19 words/vocab lesson)
- Read, parse (analyze the grammar), and translate all non-finite verbs
- Visually display how non-finite verbs relate to the rest of a Greek sentence through diagramming
- Understand how reading the NT in Greek helps us trace an author’s argument
Lesson Structure
Each grammar lesson consists of the following steps:
- Devotional—A short worship-inducing reading that shows how Koine Greek helps us see Christ more clearly in a NT text
- Grammar Quiz—A quiz to test your knowledge of the concepts from the preceding grammar lesson
- Lesson Objectives—A list of what the lesson seeks to accomplish
- Grammar Points—Two or three grammar points that teach basic elements of Koine Greek. Each grammar point will include teaching, examples, and practice.
- Guided Practice—Short exercises that encourage students to apply the grammar points learned in this lesson
- Review—This section reviews what we learned in the lesson.
- Assignment—Homework to be completed before moving on to the next lesson
- Instructor's Work—How the instructor completed the assignment, to help you grow in your Greek abilities
Each vocab lesson consists of the following steps:
- Devotional—A short worship-inducing reading highlighting one vocabulary word from the lesson
- Encouragement—A brief article to boost your motivation to learn Greek
- Vocabulary Quiz—A quiz, with instant feedback, to test your knowledge of the vocab from the preceding lessons
- New Vocabulary—A list of the vocabulary you'll memorize this lesson
- Quizlet—Flashcards to help you memorize the vocabulary
- Memorization—A three-part process to help you memorize Matthew 5:2-10 in Greek
- Guided Reading—A video where we practice reading a NT text in Greek together
- Memory Work—A cumulative vocab quiz and a place to record the memory work from each lesson
- Assignment—Homework to be completed before moving on to the next lesson
- Instructor's Work—How the instructor completed the assignment as a point of comparison
Each lesson should take about an hour and a half for the average student to complete, and the assignments should take about two hours.
Course Outline
This course consists of ten lessons. Here is a road map for where we are going during these ten lessons.
- Intro to Greek Verbs
- Vocab
- Present (Imperfective) Participles
- Vocab
- Aorist (Perfective) Participles
- Vocab
- Perfect (Stative) Participles
- Vocab
- Infinitives
- Vocab
As you can see, there is a lot to learn! But if you are willing to work hard with God's help, you can do this. Hard work and persistence are the keys to success. Learning Greek ought to humble you and move you to throw yourself upon God for help. He wants to help you! Pray before, during, and after lessons. Pray as you parse and as you practice. I am praying for you that God uses this course to magnify Jesus in your eyes and heart.
Course Materials
You will need...
- A computer with reliable internet access
- A Biblearc account
- Pencils and a notebook
- Optional: A Greek New Testament