The Greek alphabet (1)

The language of the New Testament

The New Testament was written in Greek, and not the Greek of Plato or Homer. It is Koine, "common" Greek, the everyday language used across much of the Roman world, especially in the East, in markets, in letters and in business. That is a large part of why the good news travelled so fast: it was told in a language a great many people could follow.

The Greek alphabet looks strange at first, but it has only 24 letters, and we will learn them in two lessons. Today we take the first twelve. You will be surprised how soon you can pick them out of a real verse, John 1:1 included.

One thing to know before you start. The sounds taught in this course are the traditional "Erasmian" ones that most Bible students use. The play buttons you will see (λόγος) use your device's modern Greek voice, and modern Greek is not pronounced the same way. For example, it reads η, ι, υ, ει and οι all as "ee". Treat the buttons as a way to hear the rhythm of the language, and treat the table below as the sound standard for this course.

The first twelve letters

Each letter has a capital and a small form. Most of the Bible text is in small letters; capitals begin sentences and names. The "panel" column is the Latin spelling that the app's 원어 panel prints under each word. English sound guides are only approximations, and that is fine.

A few deserve a second look. η looks like an English n, but it is not: it is the letter "eta", a long e. (The n sound belongs to ν, which comes next lesson.) θ is the "th" of "thin". γ is always a hard g. And κ is simply k.

The word "alphabet" is just the first two letters, alpha and beta, joined together. The Bible uses the alphabet too: in Revelation the Lord calls Himself "the Alpha and the Omega" Revelation 1:8, the first letter and the last, meaning the beginning and the end. Today we cover the first twelve.

Capital letters begin sentences and names. The name of Jesus, Ἰησοῦς, starts with a capital Ι (iota). A few small letters look quite different from their capitals, so match each pair in the table with your eye. You do not have to memorise everything at once: glance back at the table each time you read a word, and the letters will begin to stay in your head on their own.

Reading real words

Many words carry little marks above the letters: breathing marks and accents. For now, see them as decoration and read the letters; the next lessons explain the marks.

The first word to learn is καὶ, "kai", three letters κ-α-ι, meaning "and". It appears about 9,000 times in the New Testament, and twice in John 1:1. καί

Next, δὲ, "de", a two-letter word that means "and", "but" or "now", about 2,800 times. And ἀλλὰ, "alla", meaning "but", which turns up about 640 times. Its double λ is simply pronounced as you see it. ἀλλά

A longer word is within reach too. In the Lord's Prayer you find θέλημά, "thelema", "will". Its letters are θ-ε-λ-η-μ-α, and every one of them is a letter from today.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10

Finally, look at John 1:1. You cannot read it all yet, and you are not meant to. Just hunt for the letters you know: the λ and γ in λόγος, the θ and ε in θεὸς, and the little word καὶ, which appears twice.

Summary

Koine Greek was the everyday language of the first century, and its alphabet has 24 letters. Today you met α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ. Remember that η is a long "e", not an "n". The three small words καί, δέ and ἀλλά together appear well over ten thousand times, so reading them is already a real step toward reading the Bible.

Words in this lesson

• καίkaiand9,052 times in the NT
• δέdethen2,773 times in the NT
• ἀλλάallabut638 times in the NT

Practice