How Long Until I Can Read the New Testament in Greek
It seems today everyone wants to learn a language. But the problem is that many people don't actually define what they hateful past "learn a language." In this article, I'll provide you with two main options to help yous decide what you lot mean by learn biblical Greek and some estimates of how long it will take.
What practice you hateful by "learn"?
If someone was to tell y'all they want to learn Castilian, y'all might ask why. Perhaps they tell you that they're going to take a holiday in Espana. And so you can expect that they probably want to learn how to say basic greetings, inquire for directions, and perhaps order food or barter over prices in Castilian. You probably wouldn't await them to tell you that they want native fluency by the time they get on their trip. Why not? Because the effort they will expend learning is directly connected to the anticipated value they will become from the attempt they spend.
When information technology comes to biblical Greek, nobody speaks Greek today. Then few learn biblical Greek to speak the language. That means at that place are largely two reasons to learn biblical Greek. Either you can learn to do basic exegesis in the Greek New Attestation or you can learn to read the New Testament fluently.
Acquire Biblical Greek for bones exegesis
What is exegesis? Exegesis is the process of identifying the way grammar and words inside a given context contribute to agreement what that text says and ways. The process typically consists of discussion-studies, syntactical analysis and some form of synthesis where y'all bring what you've learned together. Historically, exegesis is the level of knowledge of New Testament Greek you would acquire from a seminary.
However, today many seminaries don't even teach this level of Greek. Increasingly students are only taught how to use software to look up words and connect with commentaries and other secondary literature. In other words, you're not studying the Bible so much every bit studying what people say about the Bible. This is a loss for the church as a whole.
Getting to exegetical competency
To become to exegetical competency, you'd probably accept a couple of years of Greek in a college or seminary. This would consist of 2 semesters of basic Greek, during which time you lot'd learn the bones Grammar, the mutual vocabulary and have your beginning steps translating the text.
Once you've completed the offset ii semesters, you lot'd probable adjacent desire to accept at least one semester of Greek exegesis, but more likely two. During this course you'd piece of work through a book such as Andreas Grand. Köstenberger, Benjamin L. Merkle, and Robert 50. Plummer'sGoing Deeper with New Testament Greek or Daniel Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. Some classes will have you go through the book in class working through exercises, others will have y'all read the book on your own and give you different exercises (normally learning the exegetical process). Across this intermediate level, some seminaries offer exegetical classes on specific books, which are helpful to continue to build out exegetical skill. At the stop of 3-4 semesters, you should be competent and confident with biblical exegesis from the Greek text.
If you're working on your own, then the question of how long it will take will depend on how much time you spend each day. If y'all can spend an hour each day for 5 days each week working on your Greek, yous should exist able to finish commencement Greek in about 36 weeks. Having the right tools will assistance, so see this article for the key variables. Getting intermediate Greek training outside of seminary is difficult, simply it is built into Master New Testament Greek.
Learn biblical Greek to reading fluency
If you want to acquire a natural understanding of the language of the biblical authors and to read their thoughts in their own words, then yous'll want to get to reading fluency. At this level, you lot'll learn every word and empathise every Greek construction. At the same fourth dimension, you'll dramatically improve your ability to exegete (not to mention empathize) the text. There are all sorts of benefits of learning to read fluently. Merely this approach takes a little longer.
The primal factor: vocabulary
Oft students who stop Greek exegesis classes, or even first Greek, volition have a want to continue to learn the language. By and large, they continue using the approach they learned at seminary, which is to continue learning the most common vocabulary.
In one regard, this makes sense. After learning words that occur 50 times or more during kickoff twelvemonth Greek, many exegesis classes require students to larn words that occur 20 times or more than, or in some cases 15 or x times or more. Many students at this signal see this method equally a feasible way to continue their growth and expect for free vocabulary decks or purchase vocabulary books. Frequently, they'll learn vocabulary down to 5 or 10 occurrences.
In that location are two problems with this. Oftentimes students see limitations in flashcards apps, and the process of gaining fluency this way can be irksome and wearisome, getting harder as the occurrence frequency goes downwards. They know at that place should be a better way, and so they're always looking for a meliorate app, and virtually get frustrated and give up. This is one reason so many people settle for exegetical competency. It's non because they don't want to larn, but that the approach they learned limits them.
The secret: piece of work smarter
If your goal is to learn biblical Greek to the fluency level, then vocabulary conquering is key. There is no way to get effectually the need to build your vocabulary. But equally information technology is non sufficient for a 4 year onetime child to no longer build his vocabulary because he can go what he wants with the vocabulary he knows, neither should we give up on vocabulary acquisition because we know the near common words. Vocabulary acquisition needs to become a part of our daily lives if we want to read biblical Greek fluently.
Only, you need a smarter mode to learn the vocabulary. You need a method that volition reward you rapidly for the work yous put into vocabulary acquisition and so that yous tin can use the words y'all learned immediately. Y'all need a method that won't have you unnecessarily reviewing words y'all know well. You need a method that will scale to the unabridged Greek New Testament. This is exactly how Master New Testament Greek is designed.
Conclusion
How long it takes to learn biblical Greek depends on what you lot mean by "learn." Learning basic Greek is necessary either way, and it volition take a couple more semesters (or at least a twelvemonth) to become a basic overview of Greek syntax. To actually exist able to understand the language, y'all'll want to learn to the level of fluency, and that will take a couple of boosted years, and a dissimilar approach. Only fluency is past far the better approach in my experience.
How Long Until I Can Read the New Testament in Greek
Source: https://masterntgreek.com/how-long-to-learn-biblical-greek/