Greek 201:  Reading the Greek New Testament and Related Literature   MWF 1:30-2:20      LIB 301 Prof. C.D. Elledge celledge@gustavus.edu 933-6295 Office Hours:   Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 11:00-1:30, 2:30-4:00; and by appointment.  Old Main 305A     P52 (Our earliest copy of a New Testament book, John 18:31-33, c. 125 CE)

 

 

Description:

A course dedicated to substantial readings in the Greek New Testament and Related Literature.  The first portion of the course is dedicated to daily readings in the New Testament; the second is devoted to selected readings in numerous areas of direct concern for understanding New Testament History and Christian Origins, including Septuagint, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Philo, and Josephus.  Brief introductions to papyri and epigraphy will also be given.

 

Objectives: 

This course has been designed with the following instructional goals in view:

– to acclimate students of Classical Greek to Hellenistic koine styles of grammar and syntax;

– to foster reading and vocabulary skills in New Testament Greek that will result in an easy translation style and lifelong appreciation;

– to read and translate some of the most important Greek literature for understanding New Testament history, including the Septuagint, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Josephus, inscriptions, and papyri;

– to introduce students to basic methods and primary resources for philological research in New Testament and Related Literature.

 

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated based upon their performance in the following contexts:

– Vocabulary Quizzes (10%):  Weekly vocabulary quizzes will be given from Metzger, until the most common words in the New Testament have been memorized.  These will be given during the last ten minutes of class, the last day of each week.  Within ten weeks of the course, every Greek word appearing in the NT fifty times or more will have been memorized.

– Daily Reading (20%):  Students will read and be prepared to translate at sight the assigned reading portion for the day, making relevant lexical and syntactic notes in a research notebook.

– Reports (10%):  Brief reports on assigned topics will be presented during the course of the semester.  Guidelines for the report are listed below.

– Finished Translation (10%):  Each student will select one passage of twenty lines from among our readings to be the subject of a more finished translation.  It will be typed and submitted on May 16.

– Memorization (10%):  Please memorize and recite to the professor the Lord’s Prayer in Greek, as found in Matt 6:9-13.  It will be due the week of April 16.

– Midterm Examination (20%):  A midterm review examination will be given on the date listed in the syllabus.

– Final Examination (20%):  A final examination will be given on the comprehensive content of the course.

 

Texts:

The following texts are required:

The Greek New Testament.  With Glossary.  Fourth Revised Edition.  Edited by Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren.  American Bible Society, 2001.  4th Rev edition. 

Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek.  By Bruce Manning Metzger.  Baker Book House, 1999.  3rd edition.

 

 

Schedule

[ * = an edition will be provided by the instructor]

 

Feb 11

                Introduction to the Syllabus

                Introduction to Tools and Resources for New Testament Greek

 

Feb 13 – Apr 14

                Translating the Greek New Testament: Readings from 1 Corinthians

                Vocabulary Quizzes on Fridays (or the last day of the week)

Mini Report:  Corinth in the Time of Paul (Angela)

 

Mar 17

Review day, no class.

 

Mar 18

Please attend the lecture, “Discovering the Lost Tomb of Herod the Great” (Ehud Netzer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem) in Wallenberg Auditorium at 7:30pm.

 

Mar 19

In class review day for 1 Corinthians

 

Mar 21-30

Spring Break

 

Mar 31

Midterm Examination

 

Apr 2-14

More New Testament Readings (1 Cor or otherwise)

 

April 9

Midterm Grades Assigned

 

Apr 16 – 18

                Reading Some Ancient Copies of the New Testament

                Sight-reading an ancient New Testament papyrus (link; bring to class)

                *Sight-reading an ancient Codex

                Mini Report:  What is an ancient “Codex”? (Paula)

 

April 21

Septuagint:  The Greek Scriptures of Jews and Christians

                Mini Report:  What is the Septuagint? (Dan)

                                               

*Apr 23

                Josephus:  Testimonium Flavianum

                Memorization Week:  Please schedule an appointment during this week for the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer memorization assignment.

Mini Report:  Who was Josephus? (John)

 

*Apr 25-28

Apocrypha:  The Wisdom of Ben Sira:  Jewish sofi/a at the time of Jesus

                Mini Report:  Who was Ben Sira? (Peter)

 

*Apr 30 - May 2

Pseudepigrapha:  Psalms of Solomon:  The ui{o/j Dauid before Jesus

                Mini Report:  What are the Psalms of Solomon? (Bob)

 

 *May 5

                Philo of Alexandria

                Mini Report:  Who was Philo of Alexandria? (Taylor)

 

 *May 7-9

                Josephus:  Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes

               

*May 12-14

                Apocalyptic Writings:  1 Enoch, Apocalypse of John

                Mini Report:  What is a literary “apocalypse”? (Colin)

               

*May 16-19

                Epigraphy:  The Theodotus Inscription (link)

                Other Early Christian Writings

                Mini Report:  What was an ancient “synagogue”? (Laura)

 

May 21

Open date

                 

May 23-27

Final Examination

 

 

Bibliography

 

Greek Reference Grammars and Guides to Syntax

 

Blass, F., and Debrunner, A.  A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early

Christian Literature.  Trans. R. Funk.  Chicago:  University of Chicago, 1961.

Brooks, James A., and Winbery, Carlton L.  Syntax of New Testament Greek. 

Washington:  University Press of America, 1979.

Conybeare, F. and Stock, G.  Grammar of Septuagint Greek.  Boston:  Hendrickson,

1995.

Dana, H.E., and Mantey, Julius R.  A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. 

Toronto:  Macmillan, 1957.

Funk, R.  Beginning-Intermediate Grammar of Hellenistic Greek.  Missoula:  Linguistics

Seminar 1972.

Moule, C.F.D.  An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek.  Cambridge:  Cambridge

University, 1959.

Moulton, James Hope, and Turner, Nigel.  A Grammar of New Testament Greek.  4 vols. 

Edinburgh:  T.&T. Clark, 1979.

Robertson, A.T.  A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical

Research.  4^th ed.  Nashville:  Broadman, 1923.

Robertson, A.T., and Davis, W. Hersey.  A New Short Grammar of the Greek Testament. 

New York:  Harper & Brothers, 1931.

Smyth, Herbert Weir.  Greek Grammar.  Cambridge:  Harvard University Press, 1956.

Strugnell, J.  A Guide to Greek Syntax:  Based upon Smyth’s Greek Grammar. 

Cambridge:  J. Strugnell and T. Robinson, 1975.

Zerwick, Maximillian.  Biblical Greek.  Ed. and trans. Joseph Smith.  Rome:  Pontificii

Instituti Biblici, 1963.

 

Lexica and Vocabulary Aids

 

Bauer, Walter.  Ed. and trans. William Arndt and F. Gingrich.  A Greek-English Lexicon

of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.  Chicago:  Chicago

University Press, 1979.

Lidell, Henry George, and Scott, Robert.  Ed. H. Jones and R. McKenzie.  A Greek-

English Lexicon.  Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1996.

Moulton, James Hope, and Milligan, George.  The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament: 

Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources.  Grand Rapids: 

Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985 [orig. 1930]

Muraoka, T.  A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint.  3 vols.  Louvain:  Peeters,

1993.

 

Resources for Reports

(located in the reference section of library)

 

Freedman, David Noel, ed.  The Anchor Bible Dictionary.  New York:  Doubleday, 1992.

Kee, Howard Clark.  The Cambridge Companion to the Bible.  New York:  Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Sakenfeld, Katharine, ed.  The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.  Nashville:  Abingdon, 2006-.

 

 

Guidelines for the Mini Reports

 

Brief reports will be assigned to each student throughout the course and will be listed on the web version of the syllabus.  These reports will be brief, approximately 5 minutes in length.  They will include the following items:  (a) a fact sheet, distributed to each member of the class, containing the most essential information on the topic of the report; (b) an oral presentation to the class on the topic; (c) responses to follow up questions from classmates and the instructor.  Each student will complete two of these reports during the term.