History of the Greek Language. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Why Greek? Please, listen to the audio.
Or read the pdf. Intro Greek lesson 4
GREEK GRAMMAR
Semitisms in the New Testament
Semitic influence makes the language of the New Testament different, a peculiar type of Koinè which can be traced back to the Septuagint but that continued in that path gaining a more specific terminology. This is why it must be called Biblical Greek.
There are many examples of Semitism and Semitic influence on the Greek of the New Testament.
Here are a few.
Many of the Greek expressions used in the New Testament are Hebraisms, or expressions borrowed from Hebrew. For example, the phrase “kingdom of God” (basileia tou theou) is a translation of the Hebrew phrase malkut shamayim, which is used in the Hebrew Bible.
In Matthew 6:33 we read in Greek: “ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.”
In Matthew 1:1 we find the use of the genitive case to express possession or origin, as in the phrase “son of David” (huios Dauid), which is a Semitic syntactical feature.
The whole sentence in Matthew 1:1 is Hebrew literally rendered with Greek words.
“Βίβλος γενέσεως ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, υἱοῦ Δαυΐδ, υἱοῦ ᾿Αβραάμ.”
If we translate this passage literally we read: “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.”
If we consider the Hebrew background of this sentence, it actually means something like: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, descendant and heir of the promises of David, descendant and heir of the promises of Abraham.”
Fascinating, isn’t it?
There are some words in the New Testament that are borrowed directly from Aramaic, a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. For example, the Aramaic word “mammon” (mamona) is used in the New Testament to refer to wealth or material possessions. “οὐ δύνασθε Θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ.” (Matthew 6:24)
The Greek of the New Testament often contains idiomatic expressions that reflect Semitic language patterns. For example, the phrase “to give up the ghost” (ekpneō) is a translation of the Hebrew phrase nafal ruach, which means “to expire” or “to breathe out one’s soul.”
There are many Hebrew and Aramaic words transliterated in Greek and kept into the original text of the New Testament. Some are followed by the translation into Greek.
Amen (Gr. ἀμήν, Heb. אמן) occurs for the first time in Matthew 6:13 as the word concluding the Lord’s Prayer.
Abba (Gr. ἀββᾶ, Heb. אבא) is a term dear to all the believers. It occurs in Mark 14:36, “καὶ ἔλεγεν ἀββᾶ ὁ πατήρ, πάντα δυνατά σοι· παρένεγκε τὸ ποτήριον ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ τοῦτο, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω, ἀλλὰ τί σύ.” In this instance, the transliterated Aramaic term is followed by the Greek “translation.”
Alleluia or Hallelujah (Gr. ἀλληλούϊα, Heb. הללויה) is probably one of the most widely used Hebrew expression among Christians. It means something like “Praise the Lord.” The word occurs only four times in the New Testament, in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4 and 6. It was the Septuagint that transliterated the Hebrew word instead of translating it and this made its way in the Greek of the book of Revelation.
Messiah (Gr. Μεσσίας, Heb. משיח) is the Hebrew word which is translated into Greek as Christ, literally meaning Anointed One. The Hebrew word is kept and transliterated in Greek alphabet only two times in the whole New Testament, in John 1:41 and 4:25.
Many expressions of Jesus in the Gospels are preserved in the original Hebrew language, transliterated and then translated.
Let us see at least two instances.
In Mark 7:11, “But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban (that is, a gift to God).”
In Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Many more examples could be added. But what we said is enough to prove our case.
Overall, the Semitic influence on the Greek of the New Testament reflects the cultural and linguistic context in which the New Testament was written, as well as the specific audience and literary conventions of the authors of the New Testament.
Exercise 4
Use the internet, the apps or software we suggest in the next paragraph to look for Hebrew sentences and words in the New Testament.