Using the Original panel

What one word line holds

You can now sound out Greek, so it is time to use the app's 원어 panel to read a verse. The panel lists the Greek words of a verse one at a time. Each word comes with its form (the shape it has in the text), its transliteration (the Latin spelling), a gloss (a short English rendering), a lexicon number beginning with G, and its grammar labels. Take the fifth word of John 1:1.

The line for λόγος shows the form λόγος, the transliteration logos, the gloss "Word", the lexicon number G3056, and the labels "Noun · Nominative · Singular · Masculine". The gloss is a short rendering for that verse, so it can differ slightly from the dictionary's basic meaning.

The labels come in a fixed order. The word class always comes first. For a noun, case, number and gender follow, so "Noun · Nominative · Singular · Masculine" says it is a noun, nominative in case, singular in number and masculine in gender. For a verb, the word class is followed by tense, voice, mood, person and number. In the same verse, ἦν reads "Verb · Imperfect · Active · Indicative · 3rd · Singular".

You do not have to understand all of these labels today. Later lessons explain each one: case and number in Nouns and case, gender in The article, and the verb labels in The verb εἰμί, 'to be' and The imperfect. The twelfth word, θεόν, follows the same pattern: "Noun · Accusative · Singular · Masculine · Title". We will come to the last label in a moment.

Tap any word and two things open: "Learn this grammar" links and the lexicon entry. The links lead to the lessons that explain that word's labels, so whenever you meet a label you do not know, follow the link. The lexicon entry gives the dictionary form, the number, the meaning and a fuller English definition. How often a word occurs in the New Testament is shown in each lesson's word list (λόγος about 330 times).

Tags on names

Sometimes the app adds one more word at the end of a noun's labels. It marks names and special terms.

Take John 1:17, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" John 1:17. Ἰησοῦ is tagged Individual: it is the personal name Jesus (Ἰησοῦς, about 900 times in the New Testament). Right after it, Χριστοῦ is tagged Title: "Christ", the "anointed one" (Χριστός, about 530 times). The θεόν you saw above has the same Title tag, because the app marks words for God this way.

Places have a tag too. In John 1:19, Ἱεροσολύμων is "Jerusalem", tagged Location. A little earlier, Ἰουδαῖοι, "Jews", is tagged Person Gentilic. It is not one person's name but the name of a people (Ἰουδαῖος, about 190 times). The word for "Lord", κύριος, is also common, about 630 times, and in Matthew 22:37 κύριον carries the Title tag because it refers to God. Be aware that the database tags some of the forms used in addressing someone ("Lord!") differently. These name tags are the app's own guidance, not grammar, so treat them as a useful extra.

Some Hebrew words come into the Greek text in Hebrew sound. In John 3:3 Jesus says "Truly, truly, I tell you" John 3:3. The word "truly" is ἀμὴν, and it appears twice. It is the Hebrew אָמֵן written in Greek letters, so it is tagged Transcribed from Hebrew. It is the same word as the "amen" we say at the end of a prayer (ἀμήν, about 130 times), and it came across with its sound rather than a translation.

Words found in only one edition

Now and then a word carries a small "NA" or "TR" badge. There is more than one edition of the Greek New Testament. The two best known are the Nestle-Aland critical text (NA) and the Textus Receptus (TR). A few words occur in just one, and the panel marks them. The eleventh word of John 3:16, αὐτοῦ ("of him"), is found only in the TR. English Bibles can differ over such words, so a badge simply tells you that the editions differ here. There is no need to build any grammar on a badged word.

Summary

One line of the panel shows the form, transliteration, gloss, lexicon number and grammar labels. The labels begin with the word class, then case, number and gender for a noun, or tense, voice, mood, person and number for a verb. Names carry the tags Title, Individual, Location, Person Gentilic and Transcribed from Hebrew. An "NA" or "TR" badge marks a word found in one edition only. Tapping a word opens its lexicon entry and the "Learn this grammar" links.

Words in this lesson

• ἸησοῦςIēsousJesus906 times in the NT
• ΧριστόςChristosChrist529 times in the NT
• κύριοςkurioslord: God628 times in the NT
• ἀμήνamēnamen128 times in the NT
• ἸουδαῖοςIoudaiosJew194 times in the NT

Practice