History of the Greek language. Alexandria and the Septuagint. Please, listen to the audio.
GREEK GRAMMAR
The Greek Sentence
The main difference between Greek and English sentences is the word order. In Greek, the word order is much more flexible than in English, and the meaning of a sentence is often conveyed through the endings of the words rather than their position in the sentence.
The Greek sentence often starts with a descriptive phrase, while the English sentence typically starts with the subject and verb.
How can we identify the meaning of one word if not by its position in the sentence. Well, this is when we consider the declension.
Declension
Declension is one of the reasons why the Greek sentence is more flexible than the English. In Greek, nouns and adjectives are inflected to indicate their grammatical function in a sentence, such as subject, object, or possessive. This allows words to be moved around in a sentence while still maintaining their grammatical role.
For example, the sentence “ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ” (ho logos tou theou), translates “the Word of God.” The noun ὁ λόγος (ho logos) is in the nominative case, indicating that it is the subject of the sentence. “τοῦ θεοῦ” (tou theou), is in the genitive case, “of God”.
Matthew 6:33 – “ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ” (zēteite de prōton tēn basileian tou theou kai tēn dikaiosunēn autou) – This verse instructs the reader to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” The word order allows for the emphasis to be placed on “first” (πρῶτον, prōton) and “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou), highlighting the importance of seeking God’s kingdom above all else.
Luke 23:43 – “ἀμήν σοι λέγω, σήμερον μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ” (amen soi legō, sēmeron met’ emou esē en tō paradeisō) – In this passage, Jesus is speaking to one of the criminals being crucified alongside him, promising him that he will be with him in paradise that day. The word order places “today” (σήμερον, sēmeron) at the beginning of the phrase, emphasizing the immediacy and certainty of the promise.
This flexibility in word order allows Greek speakers and writers to emphasize certain words or ideas by placing them at the beginning or end of a sentence. It also allows for more poetic or rhetorical expression, which is evident in the style of Greek used in the New Testament.
Let us consider just two cases of declensions, one is of the article (masculine) and the other of the word logos.
The declension of the masculine article in its singular and plural forms is as follows,
| Singular:
Nominative: ὁ Genitive: τοῦ Dative: τῷ Accusative: τόν |
Plural
Nominative: οἱ Genitive: τῶν Dative: τοῖς Accusative: τούς |
The declension of λόγος (the word) preceded by the article,
| singular:
Nominative: ὁ λόγος Genitive: τοῦ λόγου Dative: τῷ λόγῳ Accusative: τὸν λόγον |
plural:
Nominative: οἱ λόγοι Genitive: τῶν λόγων Dative: τοῖς λόγοις Accusative: τοὺς λόγους |
Exercise 3.
Find and identify the case of the above considered declensions in the following sentences. Do your best to read the sentences.
- Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο (John 1:14)
- παντὸς ἀκούοντος τὸν λόγον τῆς βασιλείας (Matthew 3:19)
- ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου (Luke 1:2)
- ὁ λόγος ὁ σὸς ἀλήθειά ἐστι (John 17:17)