UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
GREEK 2003 FALL, 2008
PLATO/NEW TESTAMENT
Daniel B. Levine
Written Assignment
NEW TESTAMENT GREEK
Read “The Language of the New Testament” by Bruce
M. Metzger from The Interpreter’s Bible (vol. 7, pp. 43-59),
and type brief answers to the following questions. Due Friday, September
12.
1. What were four different Greek dialects of the Classical
period?
2. Metzger calls the spread of Greek “a divinely ordained
preparation for the propagation of the gospel” (p. 45). What do you
think he means by this?
3. What are two general characteristics of the koine which
distinguish it from the Classical Greek language?
4. What are two kinds of ‘literary Koine”? What are
their characteristics?
5. What are our sources for the “nonliterary’ Koine?
6. How is the Epistle to the Hebrews “nearest in literary
quality to the highest standard of koine Greek?” (p. 46).
7. Metzger says that Luke was an “author whose literary
abilities were of a superior order” (p. 47). What evidence does he
give to support this assertion?
8. Why is the Book of Acts written in two different styles?
9. What is wrong with the Greek of the Gospel of Mark?
10. Why is the Book of Revelation written in ‘barbaric’
Greek?
11. What was John’s favorite Greek verb tense?
12. How has the discovery of nonliterary papyri helped
our understanding of the language of the New Testament?
13. Why can the Christian word for ‘church’ be explained
better in terms of Hebrew than in terms of Greek?14.
What does ‘Christ’ mean?
14. How is the Greek word ‘grace’ different in Christian
texts and Classical texts?
15. How did the Christian scriptures give new shades of
meaning to the words for ‘flesh’ and ‘love’?
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