Today I received out of prepub An Introduction of Biblical Greek Grammar: Elementary Syntax and Linguistics by Dana Harris. I've only read the TOC and a portion of Chapter One, but I gather from this brief encounter that this book is special and holds the promise of lifting the fog off of my study of Biblical Greek.
I share this impression with the hope that it will prove valuable to other struggling students of the language. I highly recommend this book to the beginner and those in need of a refresher. See the portion I read below.
chapter ONE
IMAGE-BEARERS, LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, AND GREEK: From Theological Reflections to Learning the Alphabet
OBJECTIVES AND OVERVIEW
Chapter 1 covers a lot of important, introductory information. We will draw upon the linguistic concepts and the forms that are introduced in this chapter throughout the rest of the book. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the following:
• the theological nature of human language
• the biblical languages and the distance between them and today
• the benefits, pitfalls, and privileges of studying Greek
• a brief history of the Greek language
• the Greek of the NT and some witnesses to it
• the languages spoken in first-century Roman Judea
Chapter 1 introduces the following linguistic concepts:
• morpheme, word, construction, phrase, clause, sentence; morphology and phonology
• main/independent and subordinate/dependent clauses
• noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction
• substantive, modifier
• “slots” and “fillers”; form and function
• word order and inflection; declension and conjugation
• semantic range, lexeme, lexical form, gloss (translation)
In chapter 1, you will also learn and need to memorize the following:
• the Greek alphabet (consonants and vowels), diphthongs, iota subscripts, gamma combinations
• breathing marks
• punctuation, diacritical marks, accents
• syllabification
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE AND STUDYING GREEK
Language is something that we use every day, yet most of us have probably never thought much about language and what exactly it is. For one thing, language is unique to humans. Even though animal communication can often be very sophisticated (just think of dolphins or whales!), it is significantly different from human language. For example, people can “do” things with words—just by uttering a simple request, such as, “Would you close the window, please?” one person can cause another person to perform an action. Sometimes this can happen without an actual request. Consider a time when you were sitting in a stuffy room and someone said, “Wow, it’s really hot in here!” Chances are that someone else got up and opened a window or a door in response. This can be described as the “performative” function of language.
With words, humans can create entire worlds (think of The Lord of the Rings series) or describe (often in great detail) events that have yet to happen (think of the Book of Revelation). Language is one of the primary ways that humans are linked together in community and is thus vital for human relationships. Indeed, when people do not speak the same language, we refer to this inability to communicate as a “language barrier.”
We can go further. The phenomenon of human language is profoundly theological. Language is an important reflection of how we have been created in the image of God. Genesis 1 describes how God spoke the world into existence with words. It should not be surprising that the greatest revelation of God, the incarnate Son, is described as the Word in John 1. Although humans do not create in the same way that God does, humans have been entrusted with the privilege of extending God’s work of creation throughout the world, and human language is one of the primary ways that this is accomplished. Theologian Kevin Vanhoozer writes, “In the beginning, God created language; it is his good gift, designed to be enjoyed by his creatures.” He adds, “Language is a God-given capacity that enables human beings to relate to God, the world, and to one another.”3 Thus, human language has the ability to create or “uncreate”—to build up or to tear down
Harris, D. M. (2020). An Introduction to Biblical Greek Grammar: Elementary Syntax and Linguistics (pp. 1–3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.
