Greek Language

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

It was because of the wide diffusion of this language that the New Testament was written in Greek. Its diction is not, however, that of the classical Greek, but it was chosen, no doubt, with a view to greater usefulness. In the age which succeeded Alexander the Great, the Greek language underwent an internal change of a double nature. In part, a prosaic language of books was formed, η κοινη

διαλεκτος , which was built on the Attic dialect, but was intermixed with not a few provincialisms; but a language of popular intercourse was also formed, in which the various dialects of the different Grecian tribes, heretofore separate, were more or less mingled together, while the Macedonian dialect was peculiarly prominent. The latter language constitutes the basis of the diction employed by the LXX, the writers of the Apocrypha, and of the New Testament. The style of the New Testament has a considerable affinity with that of the Septuagint version which was executed at Alexandria, although it approaches somewhat nearer to the idiom of the Greek language; but the peculiarities of the Hebrew phraseology are discernible throughout: the language of the New Testament being formed by a mixture of oriental idioms and expressions with those which are properly Greek. Hence it has, by some philologers, been termed Hebraic Greek, and (from the Jews having acquired the Greek language, rather by practice than by grammar, among the Greeks, in whose countries they resided in large communities) Hellenistic Greek. The propriety of this appellation was severely contested toward the close of the seventeenth, and in the early part of the eighteenth, century; and numerous publications were written on both sides of the question, with considerable asperity, which, together with the controversy, are now almost forgotten. The dispute, however interesting to the philological antiquarian, is after all a mere "strife of words;" and as the appellation of Hellenistic or Hebraic Greek is sufficiently correct for the purpose of characterizing the language of the New Testament, it is now generally adopted. A large proportion, however, of the phrases and constructions of the New Testament is pure Greek; that is to say, of the same degree of purity as the Greek which was spoken in Macedonia, and that in which Polybius wrote his Roman history. It should farther be noticed, that there occur in the New Testament words that express both doctrines and practices which were utterly unknown to the Greeks; and also words bearing widely different interpretations from those which are ordinarily found in Greek writers. It contains examples of all the dialects occurring in the Greek language, as the AEolic, Boeotic, Doric, Ionic, and especially of the Attic; which, being most generally in use on account of its elegance, pervades every book of the New Testament.

2. A variety of solutions has been given to the question, why the New Testament was written in Greek. The true reason is, that it was the language most generally understood both by writers and readers; being spoken and written, read and understood, throughout the Roman empire, and particularly in the eastern provinces. To the universality of the Greek language, Cicero, Seneca, and Juvenal bear ample testimony: and the circumstances of the Jews having long had political, civil, and commercial relations with the Greeks, and being dispersed through various parts of the Roman empire, as well as their having cultivated the philosophy of the Greeks, of which we have evidence in the New Testament, all sufficiently account for their being acquainted with the Greek language. And if the eminent Jewish writers, Philo and Josephus, had motives for preferring to write in Greek, there is no reason, at least there is no general presumption, why the first publishers of the Gospel might not use the Greek language. It is indeed probable, that many of the common people were acquainted with it; though it is also certain the Christian churches being in many countries composed chiefly of that class of persons, some did not understand Greek. But in every church, says Macknight, there were persons endowed with the gift of tongues, and of the interpretation of tongues, who could readily turn the Apostles' Greek epistles into the language of the church to which they were sent. In particular, the president or the spiritual man, who read the Apostle's Greek letter to the Hebrews in their public assemblies, could without any hesitation render it into the Hebrew language, for the edification of those who did not understand Greek. And with respect to the Jews in the provinces, Greek being the native language of most of them, this epistle was much better calculated for their use, written in the Greek language, than if it had been written in the Hebrew, which few of them understood. Farther, it was proper that all the apostolical epistles should be written in the Greek language, because the different doctrines of the Gospel being delivered and explained in them, the explanation of these doctrines could with more advantage be compared so as to be better understood, being expressed in one language, than if, in the different epistles, they had been expressed in the language of the churches and persons to whom they were sent. Now what should that one language be, in which it was proper to write the Christian revelation, but the Greek, which was then generally understood, and in which there were many books extant; that treated of all kinds of literature, and on that account were likely to be preserved, and by the reading of which Christians, in after ages, would be enabled to understand. the Greek of the New Testament? This advantage none of the provincial dialects used in the Apostles' days could pretend to. Being limited to particular countries, they were soon to be disused; and few (if any) books being written in them which merited to be preserved, the meaning of such of the Apostles' letters as were composed in the provincial languages could not easily have been ascertained.

Holman Bible Dictionary

The origins of the Greek language are buried in antiquity. Its development centered in the Greek mainland and the coastal areas around the Aegean Sea. Prior to the time of Alexander the Great, there was no central form of government which held power over all Greek-speaking people. Their territory, for the most part, was comprised of a series of independent city-states. Because these city-states were relatively isolated a variety of Greek dialects developed. The major literary dialects were Attic, Ionic, Doric, and Aeolic. In time the Attic dialect became dominant. The less influential dialects did continue to be used in many parts of the land.

The extant literature which represents the earliest form of literary Greek begins with Homer and the Iliad and Odyssey . These epic poems reflect the richness of the language from ancient times. Homer used the Greek language to portray the heroic portions of humanity. On the other hand, Hesiod, who lived about a century later, left a different type of poetic literature. In his Works and Days , Hesiod pictured the daily human struggle to survive. Although these writers used different dialects, they both wrote in the same basic language known as Greek.

The Golden Age of Greece differs from the other periods in two ways. It spanned a relatively brief period of time, lasting less than a century. In addition, the literary brilliance of the period was limited primarily to the Attic Greek dialect and to Athens. Its influence, however, has been far reaching. The tragic and comic playwrights left an indelible imprint on the theater of succeeding generations. Similarly Plato, Aristotle, and other writers from the Golden Age of Greece have influenced modern philosophy, logic, ethics, and even science.

The Golden Age of Greece was followed by the Hellenistic Greek period. This period lasted from about 300 B.C. to A.D. 600. It was succeeded by the Byzantine period with its political and ecclesiastical separation between East and West. The Greek Orthodox Church began during this period. Later, the fall of Constantinople ushered in the Modern Greek Period.

Of all of the linguistic periods in the development of the Greek language, the Hellenistic period is of particular importance. During this time Greek became the universal language of the “known” world. The Greek language had already spread to the West through the colonies which had been sent out from the Greek mainland. It spread to the East as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. His conquering armies carried with them the Attic dialect from their Greek homeland in Macedonia and Achaia to the West as far as India.

Although Rome was the dominant military and political force throughout Europe and Asia Minor during the Hellenistic period, Greek rather than Latin maintained its domination as the language of the people. Latin was the language of the Roman government; Greek was the language of the Empire, the lingua franca . Popularly, it has been referred to as koine Greek. The word “ koine ” is a transliteration of the Greek word which means “common.” The word itself had reference to that which was everyday, that which was of ordinary people, that which was “vulgar” or common.

Biblical scholars have long known that the Greek of the New Testament is considerably different from the Greek of the Golden Age. The differences were explained by referring to the New Testament Greek as “Biblical Greek” or “Holy Ghost Greek.” This implied that, although the roots of the New Testament were in the Greek language, its style and form differed sharply from the literary Attic Greek with which scholars were familiar.

Toward the close of the nineteenth century, archeologists began to find fragments of papyri, the “paper” of the ancient world. Much of this papyri was found in Egypt in the garbage heaps of some of the major cities. Adolph Deissmann, one of the important scholars of the day, realized that much of the Greek which he was finding in the papyri was similar to that found in the Greek New Testament. He published the results of his investigation in a work called Light from the Ancient East . This work along with that of others revolutionized biblical study. Scholars were able to demonstrate that the Greek found in the New Testament was the same as that found in other writings of the day. It was not some special dialect or Holy Ghost language. The New Testament was written in the universal language of the Empire.

The understanding of the New Testament has been enhanced by the discovery of secular texts which were written during the Hellenistic period. These texts include the papyri, pieces of broken pottery called “ostraca,” inscriptions on monuments, as well as a number of formal works by such authors as Josephus, Epictetus, Philo, and Plutarch. A study of this material has revealed a wide variation in literary skills and style of the writers. They ranged from the semiliterate to the highly stylized. The latter attempted to imitate style and form of the Golden Age of Greece and were called Atticists. As should be expected, the literary style of the writers of the New Testament falls somewhere between these two extremes. Consequently, the average citizen who lived in Alexandria (Egypt), in Jerusalem, or in Rome could have easily understood the writings found in the Greek of the New Testament.

W. Ray Ellis

Morrish Bible Dictionary

God so ordained it that by the rise of the Greek empire this language was spread over Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and countries adjacent, and it is a language still understood by the learned of all nations. It is acknowledged to be a remarkably flexible language, capable of forming new theological terms with delicate shades of meaning, and of expressing ideas with precision. It was therefore, on all accounts, the most suitable language in which to make known the gospel of God, and the truths needed for the building up of the saints. Not only was the New Testament written in Greek, but the O.T. was also translated into the same language, and that version was quoted by both the Lord and His apostles. The chief captain at Jerusalem, though a Roman, asked Paul if he could speak Greek, supposing him to be an Egyptian.  Acts 21:37 . The inscription placed over the Lord at His crucifixion was written in Greek as well as in Hebrew and Latin: all the world must be informed who it was that hung upon that cross.  Luke 23:38;  John 19:20 . The name and character of the angel of the bottomless pit was also proclaimed in Hebrew and Greek.  Revelation 9:11 .