All programmes > Hellenistic Greek 1b: Learning to Read the Bible

Hellenistic Greek 1b: Learning to Read the Bible (B-KUL-A08A3A)

4 ECTSEnglish26 Second term
Lemmelijn Bénédicte |  Bieringer Reimund (substitute)
Facultaire POC Theologie en Religiewetenschappen

Aims

Knowledge:
Some of the most important primary sources of Christian faith and of theology were originally written in Greek: the Septuagint, the New Testament and some early conciliar texts. At the end of this course students are expected to know by heart the content of Lessons 1-26 of the handbook (Vocabulary, Grammar, Study Tools for Exegesis and Theology, Relevance for Theology and Exegesis, Content Focus, Learn by Heart).

Skills:
This course enables students to acquire the basic skills needed to understand Greek words and sentences used in specialized exegetical studies as well as to parse and analyze medium-level coherent texts taken from of the Septuagint, the New Testament and exceptionally other Koine Greek texts, making use of a specially designed sentence analysis tool. Students will also acquire the skill of translating simple sentences from English into Greek. Students will learn to understand Greek text adapted to their level and answer questions relating to the texts (reading comprehension). Students are expected to be able to compare different translations with each other and with the original Greek text and explain what the differences are rooted in. Students will learn the basics of working with different manuscripts and textual criticism. They will be able to make use of the available (printed and electronic) tools. Students are able to apply to new texts the paradigms and grammatical rules which they learned in the course. Students are expected to look up exegetical tools in the library and on the internet. Students are expected to learn to work with electronic Bible programmes and the university’s learning platform Toledo.

Attitude:
Students are expected to have an appreciation for the difference between original texts and their translations. They are expected to acquire the attitude of working with original texts in original languages as much as possible. Students are expected to have an openness to not only a passive knowledge of Greek, but also some important aspects of an active knowledge, as, for instance, knowing the vocabulary not only from Greek to English, but also from English to Greek; learning some phrases by heart and translating English sentences into Greek. Students are expected to be open to not only learn the Greek language as a language system, but also to learn content by means of this language. Students are expected to be willing to learn how to use the exegetical tools for which one needs to know Greek to use them. Students are able to compare translations with the original texts and to compare translations with each other, to analyse the differences and to evaluate them.

This course has the following goals:
1. The students are able to read Greek fluently and name all the Greek letters and diacritical signs of any Greek text.
2. The students are able to write Greek by hand and type Greek in unicode and one Greek font of their choice.
3. The students know the content of Lessons 1-26 of the handbook.
4. Based on the content of Lessons 1-26 the students are able to analyse, parse and translate texts which they have not seen before (Greek - English and English - Greek).
5. Students are able to understand medium-level Greek texts and have insight into their content. They are able to demonstrate this on the basis of answering questions.
6. Students have a repertoire of phrases and sentences in Greek which they know by heart (based on the section "Learn by Heart" of the handbook).
7. Students have insight into grammatical-philological cases and their exegetical and theological implications.
8. Students are able to make use of the exegetical tools, both printed and digital (based on the section "Study Tools for Exegesis and Theology" of the handbook). 

Previous knowledge

  • Knowledge: the content of the course Biblical Greek Ia
  • Skills: read and write Greek, translate simple Greek sentences into English on the basis of what students learn in the course Biblical Greek Ia; work with electronic Bible programmes and with Toledo;
  • Attitude: basic interest in languages, in analysing texts and in comparing texts with each other; interest in the role of original languages in the study of theology.

Identical courses

This course is identical to the following courses:
A03A5A : Bijbelgrieks Ib (No longer offered this academic year)

Is included in these courses of study

Activities

4 ects. Hellenistic Greek 1b: Learning to Read the Bible (B-KUL-A08A3a)

4 ECTSEnglishFormat: Lecture26 Second term
Lemmelijn Bénédicte |  Bieringer Reimund (substitute)
Facultaire POC Theologie en Religiewetenschappen

Content

This course is based on Lessons 1-26 of the handbook Reimund Bieringer, Ma. Marilou S. Ibita & Dominika Kurek Chomycz, EN APXH: An Introduction to Biblical Greek, Leuven: Peeters, vol. 1: Handbook; vol. 2: Exercise Book (will be made available in class).

• Each lesson begins with a focus on a particular theme based on the Bible or life in the ancient world.
• Basic vocabulary of 1,000 of the most frequently used words in the Septuagint and in the New Testament.
• All the declensions of the nouns and adjectives
• The most frequent morphological forms of the Greek verb.
• Parsing of verb forms and noun forms.
• Sentence analysis and translation of medium-level texts from Greek into English and basic sentence from English into Greek.
• Comparison of different translations with the Greek original and philological explanation of the differences.
• Use of the most important scientific tools for the study of the New Testament (lexica, grammars, synopses, concordances, critical apparatus of critical text editions).
• Examples of the theological and exegetical relevance of the Greek language.

Course material

Required 

  • Handbook: Reimund Bieringer, Ma. Marilou S. Ibita & Dominika Kurek Chomycz, EN APXH: An Introduction to Biblical Greek, Leuven: Peeters, vol. 1: Handbook; vol. 2: Exercise Book (will be made available in class).Exercise book (will be made available in class) 
  • K. Aland et al. (eds.), Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th ed., Stuttgart, Bibelgesellschaft, 2013 (N28). 

Recommended 

  • W. Bauer, F.W. Danker, W. Arndt & F.W. Gingrich (eds.), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago - London: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.
  • B.M. Newman, A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Stuttgart, United Bible Societies, 1971. 
  • M. Zerwick & M. Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek of the New Testament, Rome, Biblical Institute Press, 1988. 
  • J. Lust, E. Eynikel & K. Hauspie, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, Stuttgart, 2003. 
  • B.A. Taylor, The Analytical Lexicon to the Septuagint. A Complete Parsing Guide, Grand Rapids MI, Zondervan, 1994.
  • Greek Tutor, Multimedia CD-Rom. Parsons Technology. 
  • Gramcord, The Gramcord Institute (www.gramcord.org).
  • Bible Works (www.bibleworks.com).

Language of instruction: more information

This course is also taught in Dutch: A03A5A Bijbelgrieks Ib.

Format: more information

Regular class attendance; improve Greek reading skills; improve Greek writing skills; parsing and translation exercises to be completed in individual as well a group learning activities during the classes; take home exercises (assignments); self-correction of the exercises making use of the keys provided on Toledo; learn to work with the paradigms of the lessons; learn to apply rules of grammar to new sentences; analyse and translate Greek sentences with the help of a table and parsing scheme using the handbook and dictionaries; making use of electronic Bible programmes and of Toledo; look up books (mostly tools and original texts) in the library and learn to use them.

Evaluation

Evaluation: Hellenistic Greek 1b: Learning to Read the Bible (B-KUL-A28A3a)

Type : Exam during the examination period
Description of evaluation : Oral
Type of questions : Multiple choice, Open questions, Closed questions
Learning material : Course material

Explanation


Number of Questions and Points of Attention:

The exam will consist of two parts.

Part I (closed book)

  • answering questions on content focus, grammar, the use of tools and/or on the examples of theological/exegetical relevance
  • vocabulary test (Greek - English and English - Greek)
  • translation of a few simple sentences from English into Greek
  • parsing of verb forms and/or noun forms
  • answer questions concerning the short sentences which students need to learn by heart.

There will be both open questions and multiple choice questions.

Part II (closed book)

Parsing, syntactically analysing and translating about eight Greek sentences into English.

Type of Questions

  • analysing and translating sentences
  • answering questions concerning the short sentences which students need to learn by heart (see section "Learn by Heart")
  • comparing and evaluating of modern Bible translations
  • answering questions on content focus, grammar, the use of tools and/or on the examples of theological/exegetical relevance
  • vocabulary test (Greek - English and English - Greek)
  • parsing of verb forms and/or noun forms


Evaluation and Grading:

For the final grade the number of mistakes is added up and proportionately translated into a grade.

Role of the Written Preparation for the Oral Exam:

The exam is both written and oral. The evaluation starts from the written preparation and gives the student opportunities to explain why they parsed forms or sentences in a certain way or why they translated a sentence the way they did. On the basis of the oral exam the students can either improve or worsen their result.

There is no difference in the exam procedure for self-study students.