Synopsis of Classical Greek for Koine Students
by Joel Harlow
     

 

Word order (separation of modifiers from heads)
One of the first things that strikes the New Testament reader when he or she encounters Classical Greek is the word order. Classical Greek word order is more free. For instance, there may be several words between a noun and its modifier:


"...I think, they find a great abundance of men thinking that they
know something — knowing, however, little or nothing" Apology 23c

Note the words in red. The participle("thinking") modifies "men," yet is separated from it by several words. While this is not unseen in the NT (cf. Heb 4:11), it is much less common than in Classical Greek.

The NT Greek student will need to pay special attention to the case of each word and note its relationship to all others in the clause or sentence. Reading from left to right will at times prove difficult.

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Particles
There are many, many more particles in Classical Greek than in the NT. And those particles that do occur in the NT occur with much more frequency in Classical Greek. Smyth (§2771) makes several very useful observations about particles: (1) Greek has "an extraordinary number" of particles; (2) their function is logical or emotional, signaling the relationship various ideas have with each other; (3) their force is best rendered in English by pause, stress, or alterations of pitch (intonation); and (4) grasping their meaning "challenges the utmost vigilance and skill of the student."

The definitive work on particles is The Greek Particles, by J. D. Denniston — published by Oxford, Clarendon Press (1954).

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Optative Mood (Smyth §§1814ff., 1824ff., 2196ff., 2220.; Crosby & Schaeffer §545(c); Paine §§565-569)

While fairly uncommon in the NT (> 70x), the optative mood is in full use in Classical Greek. Most functions of the optative in Classical Greek are taken over by the subjunctive in the NT, with the exception of a wish or prayer about the future. The most common example of this iswhich occurs 15x in the NT—all but once in Paul.

In Classical Greek, the optative is primarily used in dependent clauses after secondary indicative tenses. These clauses are of two types: (1) purpose - mostly with or and (2) those expressing a fear. Examples:

(1) They were doing these things so that it might go well.
(2) He withdrew, so that he might go to the village.
(3) The child was not willing to go, fearing he would die.
 

Another dependent use of the optative is in the protatsis of general conditional clauses. See Conditional Clauses below.

The optative is used in independent clauses as well, especially in the potential optative. This function of the optative, used with , expresses an event that is possible or likely — in the speaker's opinion .

(1) I would wish to speak with you about these things (if it is possible).
(2) Someone, then, might think to say these things.

Another independent use of the optative is in the apodosis of future less vivid conditional clause. See Conditional Clauses below.

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Indirect Discourse (Smyth §§1862ff., Crosby & Schaeffer §547; Paine §§593ff.)

Indirect discourse in Classical Greek is somewhat different from that found in the NT, in two regards. First, indirect speech is introduced by as well as . Secondly, after secondary tenses the mood of the quoted verb is changed to the optative mood. The tense remains the same as it was spoken in the original statement. Below are two examples of how two quotes in the NT would probably appear in Classical Greek.

(1)

(Jn 16:15)
Because of this I told that he takes from what is mine and declares it to you.

In Classical Greek, this would be:

 
(2)

(Jn 11:46)
They told them what Jesus did.

In Classical Greek, this would be:

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Conditional clauses (Smyth §§2280ff.; Crosby & Schaeffer §545(c); Paine §§565-569, 593-604)

As with particles, the NT employs a significantly smaller variety of conditional clauses than Classical Greek. The reader of the NT will be challenged by the wide variety of conditional clauses in Classical Greek. For an overview, see the chart Conditional Clauses in Classical Greek.

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Final Clauses (Smyth §§2193ff., 2249ff; Crosby & Schaeffer §§108, 176(b), 192(b); Paine §§562, 568, 573, 576, 581)

Purpose: As in the NT, purpose can be expressed byplus the subjunctive. In Classical Greek, however, the subjunctive most often followsafter a primary tense main clause, while the optative usually followsafter a secondary tense.

Purpose clauses with the infinitive, common in the NT, are fairly uncommon in Classical Greek.

Result: In Classical Greek, result clauses withare of two forms: (1) followed by an indicative verb, and (2) followed by an infinitive. followed by an indicative verb indicates an actual result; when followed by an infinitive, a clause indicates a natural or probable result. This distinction, while not absent in the NT, is uncommon.

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Miscellaneous:
There are several miscellaneous observations about Classical Greek that the Koine student should note:

    1. Prepositions are generally not used when case is expressing grammatical relationship, e.g., genitive of time, dative of location, and accusative of reference.

    2. Many vocabulary words familiar to the NT reader have a wider range of meaning in Classical Greek.

    3. -iota is used as an emphatic suffix.

    4. Classical Greek makes full use of the dual number.

    5. Verbal adjectives are quite common.

    6. Superlative adjectives are in full use in Classical Greek.

    7. The future infinitive and the future participle, both rather uncommon in the NT (about a dozen times each), are in full use in Classical Greek.

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Resources:

Greek Grammar, by H. W. Smyth - published by Harvard University Press (available online from Perseus)

An Introduction to Greek, by Crosby & Schaeffer - published by Allyn and Bacon

Beginning Greek, by Stephen Paine - published by Harvard University Press

Differences between Classical and Koine Greek: A Quick Introduction, by Jay C. Treat

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