Basic Greek Language Study

A Review of the Imperative Mood

When one thinks of the imperative mood, one associates it with being the mood of command. That is by and far the largest usage of the imperative. Modern scholarship, however, associates the imperative mood with intention instead of command. This...

Definite Attributive Adjectives

by Kevin Cauley If we are familiar with our English grammar, then we will be very well aware that an adjective is a word that describes a noun. An adjective specifies the quality of a noun by indicating is quantity...

What is SARX (flesh)? Part 2

The word SARX takes on more of a theological meaning in Paul's epistles where the life of the flesh is contrasted with the life of the Spirit. In these passages, Paul's usage of the word SARX signifies a lifestyle that...

What is SARX (flesh)? Part 1

The Greek word SARX can be a complex word to define. Few Greek words are misunderstood more than this particular word. Countless scholars have attempted to define its theological meaning. (There are over fifty-five pages dedicated to doing just this...

Did Saul Baptize Himself?

In a standard sentence, there is a subject, verb, and object. The subject is the one who is acting. The verb is the action. The object is that which is acted upon. The relationship of the action to the subject...

The Meaning of the Word "Adultery"

Language is quirky; words can have multiple meanings and nuances of meaning within the meanings. It becomes incumbent upon those who study language to ensure that the meanings of words are represented correctly if we are going to understand other...

That Pugnacious Participle (Part 3)

Not only does the Greek participle have verbal features (as we have discussed in our previous two articles), it also functions as a noun or adjective (adjectivally) as well. Like all nouns and adjectives, the preposition can have number, gender,...

That Pugnacious Participle (Part 2)

In our previous article, we looked at the work the participle may do in explaining more detail regarding the action in the main verb. However, the participle may also describe events that are occurring independent of the main verb, but...

That Pugnacious Participle (Part 1)

The New Testament Greek participle can be a difficult concept to understand. As in English, the participle is a mixture of both verb and noun. As such, the participle has qualities of each. For example, the participle will have tense...

The Perfect Translation (Part 4)

In this last part of our study, we will look at some additional words translated "perfect" in some of our versions. These words are DIASOZW, hOLOKLHRIA, and PLHROW./1 We find the word "perfect" in English associated with DIASOZW in Matthew...

The "Perfect" Translation (Part 3)

Perhaps the most celebrated word translated "perfect" in the New Testament is TELEIOS. There are several New Testament words that have the root TELEI- within them. These include: TELEIOW, TELEIOTHS, TELEIWTHS, TELEIWSIS, TELEIWS, TELESFOREW and EPITELEW. In looking at the...

The "Perfect" Translation (Part 2)

The Greek word ARTIOS is only found once in the entirety of the Greek New Testament (2 Timothy 3:17). However, it is conjoined with the preposition KATA to form the synonyms KATARTIZW (a verb), KATARTISIS (a substantive noun), and KATARTISMOS,...

The "Perfect" Translation (Part 1)

One of the most commonly discussed Greek words in the New Testament corresponds to the English word for "perfect." When we search through the New Testament (AV), we find several different instances and forms of the word "perfect" (perfect, perfected,...

A "Tense" Time in the Life of Jesus

During a recent discussion in an online Bible forum a question was raised regarding the significance of Greek tenses. A particular passage was presented in which the questioner wondered whether the significance of the tenses is as firm as often...

Common Words Used with Special Meaning — DIAKONOS and APOSTOLOS

At one time, scholars thought that New Testament Greek was a special "divine" language. However, since scholarship proved in the early 1900s that the Greek of the New Testament was commonly spoken by the average businessman in the Roman Empire,...

The "History" of hISTOREW

There are, in the Greek New Testament, some words which are unique to the Bible. One such word is found in Galatians 1:18. It is the Greek word hISTOREW. One can almost see the English word "history" in this word...

Greek Conditional Sentences (Part 4)

Last week we looked at the third and the fifth class conditional sentence. This week we will look at the last kind of conditional, the fourth class conditional. There are no complete fourth class conditionals in the New Testament. You...

Greek Conditional Sentences (Part 3)

When we get to the third class Greek conditional sentence, we are no longer dealing with things assumed to be true or counter factual situations. The third class conditional sentence is that which mirrors our logical function of "if...then"; it...

Greek Conditional Sentences (Part 2)

(Author's note: In my last column I mentioned that our third child was on the way. He was born on January 11th, 2005. Thanks to God, both he and his mother are healthy and doing very well.) As we mentioned...

Greek Conditional Sentences (Part 1)

We've all used conditional sentences in language. Perhaps the greatest use (abuse) of the conditional is in regard to rearing children, "If you touch that, then you'll regret it!" (Ah, the joys of parenthood.) But we also use conditional sentences...

The Future Perfect of Matthew 16:19, 18:18

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus stated to Peter, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall...

Studying Greek--Beginners' Pitfalls (Part 3)

by Kevin Cauley (Author's note: This article concludes this series of articles on "Beginners' Pitfalls." I hope that the reader has enjoyed studying these things and can take some practical benefit from them.) 7. Presume ordinary meanings to grammatical terminology....

Studying Greek--Beginners' Pitfalls (Part 2)

(Author's note: Last week we looked at some beginner's pitfalls in studying Greek. This week we continue those thoughts along the same lines. If necessary, please review the context of last week's article for continuity.) 4. Assume That There Are...

Studying Greek--Beginners' Pitfalls (Part 1)

A few months back, Randal asked me to take on the challenge of writing about some of the pitfalls which beginning Greek students make in an effort to learn the language. I thought that that would be a good thing...

The Giving of Thanks

There are several words that can be translated "Thanks" in the New Testament and seeing that this article will be sent out shortly after Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving weekend, I thought that I would engage in a brief word study...

Distributive KATA

Greek prepositions usually merit their own major section of discussion in the syntax of most Greek grammars. They merit such discussion due to their multifaceted nature. The Greek preposition is one of the Swiss army knives in the Greek language;...

What Is the Septuagint?

Many years ago, scholars thought that the Greek language was a "specialized" language that was in place for the New Testament alone. More recent scholarship has dismissed this theory in favor of the idea that New Testament Greek was the...

All You Need Is ... Agapao, Phileo, Stergo, Eros ... Love?

One of the earliest introductions to the Greek language for most Bible students comes through a study of the word "love." As most Greek students are quick to point out, there are different words in the Bible for different flavors...

The Strength of Strong's

Perhaps one of the most popular Bible tools that is readily available is Strong's Concordance. As a concordance, Strong's is one of the best (if not the best) available to the Bible student today. Many a gospel preacher wrote his...

Psallo

Perhaps one of the most controversial words in the discussion of music in the church today is the Greek word "psallo." In the 1923 Boswell-Hardeman debate on instrumental music, Boswell, who represented the Christian church, set forth the argument that...

A Greek Proof of The Deity of Christ

In the English language we have two articles, one definite ("the") and one indefinite ("a"). We use these articles to distinguish between definite and indefinite nouns/substantives. For example: "If you are thirsty, you may go to a water fountain, but...

The Sense of Tense

"An event to remember! A great time for all!" What do you make of the previous phrases? We are all used to seeing such phrases in bulletins, flyers, newspapers and other advertisements. But do the words indicate when the event...

"Conjunction Junction! What's Your Function?"

If you grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970's, then you are familiar with the above title. Schoolhouse Rock was a popular Saturday morning "filler" between cartoon times that educated children on various school subjects: history, law, mathematics,...

Why Study Greek?

There may be someone out there reading this column who has asked at this point, "Why study Greek?" It is a good question. Greek is a difficult language, as is Hebrew and Aramaic. So why study them? Why make things...

"Strait" to the Cross

by Kevin Cauley One of the things that I've noticed about Forthright is the magazine's motto: "Straight to the cross." In the English language, we have a homonym which is often confused with the word "straight," namely, the word "strait."...

When hell is not Hell

A few weeks ago on a Bible Study Forum (http://www.preachersfiles.com/forum) we received a question about hell. Basically the question was how can the lake of fire described in the book of Revelation be hell if hell is going to be...

"Plain Old Vanilla"

I have to admit that the one thing that intimidated me more than anything about going to one of our brotherhood schools of preaching was having to take Greek. I was fortunate to have a very patient and understanding teacher...