NT11 ● Elementary Greek Prof. Michael Emadi, Adjunct Faculty of Biblical Languages 3 Credit Hours
Instructor: Michael Emadi
Course Description An introduction to the vocabulary, grammar, and syntax of Biblical Greek, designed to give stu- dents the skills necessary for translation and interpretation of the Greek New Testament and se- lected extra-biblical literature.
Educational Objectives Overview/ Purpose of the course
The instructor will guide students toward achieving a basic grasp of the Koine Greek language.
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate ability to identify and parse Greek nouns and adjectives of the first, sec- ond and third declensions.
2. Demonstrate ability to identify basic Greek grammatical forms, including adjectives, pro- nouns (personal, demonstrative, and relative), and the article.
3. Demonstrate ability to identify, parse and conjugate verbs of the present, imperfect, and aorist tense indicative mood.
4. Demonstrate the ability to identify basic syntactic functions of the various Greek grammatical forms listed above.
5. Demonstrate ability to sight-read clauses and brief Greek sentences with verbs in the present and aorist tense.
6. Demonstrate ability to recognize and translate Greek vocabulary terms that appear frequently in the New Testament and other early Christian texts.
Required Course Texts (3 Texts): Decker, Rodney J. Reading Koine Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014. [ISBN: 0801039282]
Novum Testamentum Graece: Nestle Aland 28th Edition
Danker, Frederick William, ed. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000. [BDAG] ISBN: 0-226-03933-1. [NOTE: It does not have to be the 2nd edition. You may get any edition you can find or would like to purchase. However, I would en- courage you to buy a used copy of this edition on Amazon since you can get it for MUCH cheaper than the new 4th edition.]
Course Requirements Teaching Strategies: Language acquisition requires the accumulation of various vocabulary and grammar skills. To assist the student in these tasks, the professor will present aspects of Biblical Greek grammar during class and students will practice these skills in class. The professor may also assign extra practice exercises as well as occasional drill sheets to be done outside of class, to be corrected using an answer key before the next class meeting, and to be reviewed in class. In addi- tion, with each textbook chapter the professor will assign vocabulary words to memorize to be utilized in translation and grammar exercises. Weekly grammar/vocabulary quizzes based on each textbook chapter will facilitate the acquisition of new words and the application of grammatical concepts.
Note on Vocabulary Memorization: For nouns, students must learn the article that accompanies the noun (so they will know the noun’s gender) as well as the noun’s genitive form (so they will know its declension pattern). Students may use the vocabulary cards on the Quizlet App for study and help in memorization. For verbs, students must learn the principal parts of the verb. [This information will not make sense right now, but it will once we get into the appropriate chapters.]
1. Students will take two major exams this term in which they will demonstrate their knowledge of grammar and their ability to translate Greek phrases and sentences. The dates for these exami- nations are given below.
2. In addition to these major exams, students will demonstrate their knowledge of Koine Greek vocabulary, grammar, and syntax during regular quizzes. (You cannot acquire a second language by “cramming” at the last minute; regular, systematic study is required!) Quizzes will be emailed out after the class and will usually be due before the start of the following class period.
3. Students will demonstrate their ability to translate Koine Greek sentences and to parse as- signed words through the various homework exercises. Occasionally there will be drill sheets that I have designed for you. At the conclusion of each lecture period, exercises for each lesson are specified.
4. The homework will not be graded. However, unless you are doing the exercises and the drill sheets you will most likely not pass the quizzes.
5. Please read the following section PRIOR to the first day of class: Preface (xix - xxii [stop at “a word to teachers”]); Introduction, and Chapter 1.
Online Students: For this class we are going to use Zoom as it will allow online students to be able to participate and interact more with the instructor. Learning a new language requires interaction and the abil- ity to ask questions. Hopefully this medium will allow for this.
Grading Plan: The course grade will be based on the following grading plan (though this may be changed at in- structor’s discretion):
• 4 quizzes = number of points per quiz varies • One Midterm = 200 points • One Final Exam = 200 points • Participation = 50 points
Academic Performance No student will be deemed to have successfully completed the work in any course who does not achieve a cumulative grade of 75% or above for his course work. The letter equivalents for the percentile grades assigned are as follows:
A -- 95-100% B+ -- 87-89% B- -- 80-83% C -- 74-76% A- -- 90-94% B -- 84-86% C+ -- 77-79% C- -- 70-73%
Class Schedule: We will meet every Monday and Thursday from 6:00pm – 7:15pm (central time) We will discuss the class schedule the first day of class.
Class Date/ Topic: Class Assignment Major Assessments Meeting
09/10 Syllabus & Alphabet (ch 1)
09/14 Nom. & Acc. cases (ch 2)
09/17 Gen. & Dat. cases (ch 3) Quiz 1 emailed out
09/21 Personal Pronouns (ch 4) Quiz 1 due
09/24 Intro to Verbs (ch 5) 09/28 Adjectives & Adverbs (ch 6) Quiz 2 emailed out
10/1 Simple Aorists (ch 7) Quiz 2 due
10/5 Review Day
10/8 Conjunctions (ch 8)
10/12 Prepositions (ch 9)
10/15 Other Pronouns (ch 10) Quiz 3 emailed out
10/19 Third Declension Nouns (ch 11) Quiz 3 due
10/22 Third Declension Adj (ch 12)
10/26 Review Day Midterm Emailed Out
10/29 Verbal Semantics (ch 13)
11/2 Present Indicative (ch 14) Midterm Due
11/5 Passive & Middle verbs (ch 15)
11/9 Imperfect Indicative (ch 16)
11/12 Aorist Indicative (ch 17)
11/16 Second Aorist Indicative (ch 18) Quiz 4 emailed out
11/19 Review Day Quiz 4 due
Thanksgiving Break
11/30 Future Indicative (ch 19)
12/3 Perfect & Pluperfect (ch 20)
12/7 Contract & Liquid verbs (ch 21)
12/10 Infinitives (ch. 22) 12/14 Review Day Final Emailed Out