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My fourth-grade grandson can recite the first chapter of the Gospel of John in Latin. Very impressive. I asked his teacher when the class would recite it in Greek. She said she did not know Greek and asked if I could teach the students Greek.
There was a time when learning Greek and Latin was part of the curriculum of the best schools. Katherine Wright, the sister of Wilbur and Orville Wright, knew Greek and taught Latin at the local public school. She later learned French.
So much of the English language consists of Greek and Latin. For example, here are some common Greek-based words: Antique, democracy, ego, idol, dialogue, geography, grammar, architect, economy, encyclopedia, telephone, television, microscope, philosophy, physical, photo, Philadelphia, philanthropy. Even Deuteronomy is made up of two Greek words.
Around 150,000 English words are derived from Greek. “It’s estimated that 29% of all English words are derived directly from Latin. If we include words from Latin-based languages like French and Italian, that figure jumps to over 60% of all English vocabulary.”
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The day I heard my grandson’s class recite John 1:1 in Latin, I thought about how I would introduce young people to biblical Greek. I’m no Greek scholar, but I do have some knowledge of New Testament Greek, and I understand how people learn—in bits and pieces, by association, repetition, and repeating letters and words out loud. Introducing fourth graders to Greek can be an overwhelming experience if it’s not taught slowly and incrementally. Here is how I would do it.
Lesson 1
I would begin by showing them that they already know some Greek. Learning something new is best handled by associating what’s new with something already known. Have them recite their “ABCs,” and then ask them what the list of letters is called. Hopefully, they would say, “It’s the alphabet.” “Well, you just spoke Greek. You know the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and beta, and they are written like this.”
Α α = alpha
Β β = beta
“They look like our A a and B b and sound like our A and B. By saying “alphabet,” you are speaking Greek! Tomorrow we’ll learn some more Greek letters that are like our English letters that will help us translate John 1:1 from Greek into English. Tell your parents that you spoke Greek today. Teach them what you learned. You learn better when you teach what you’ve learned.”
Lesson 2
“There are other Greek letters that look like our alphabet’s letters: d (δ), e (ε), i (ι), k (κ), o (ο), s (ς), t (τ), u (υ). They look and sound like our English letters just like alpha (α) and beta (β) do. The other different looking letters are easy to learn. You might celebrate Pi Day (3.14) on March 14. Pi is a Greek letter. When you get older, you’ll learn about Pi in math class. The Greek letter Π π is the ‘p’ sound.
“If you know your Bible, if I quote Revelation 22:13 where it says, ‘Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega,’ what does that mean? It means that He is the beginning (the first letter of the Greek alphabet, alpha) and the end (the last letter of the Greek Alphabet, omega (Ω, ω). Omega makes a long ō sound and is the last letter in the Greek alphabet.”
“Familiarize yourself with these letters: α (a), β (b), d (δ), e (ε), i (ι), k (κ), o (ο), s (ς), t (τ), u (υ), π (p), ω (long ō sound) so when you see the Greek letters you can sound them out and make up English words using the Greek letters. For example, βαδ and δο. Practice making words and sounding them out. If you want to learn the Greek alphabet and learn all their names and sounds on your own, I’ve included a chart at the end of this article.”
Lesson 3
“At this point, you know 12 of the 24 Greek letters. For our translation of John 1:1, we’ll have to learn a few more letters and some short Greek words.”
γ = g (gamma)
θ = th (theta)
λ = l (lambda)
ν = n (nun)
ρ = r (rho)
χ = ch (chi). It makes a hard c sound as in cat.
“As you can see, γ (gamma) looks something like a ‘g,’ and λ (lambda) looks like an ‘l’ sitting on a chair. With these letters, we’re getting ready to translate John 1:1 from Greek to English. Practice learning these letters. Practice recognizing these letters, pronouncing them, and sounding them out. Make English words from them. The ν (the n sound) and ρ (the r sound) are the tricky letters.”
Lesson 4
To help translate John 1:1, let’s look at some helper words related to the Greek language found in John 1:1.
Enter: Εν is translated as “in.” Remember that the Greek letter ν (nun) makes the n sound.
Archeology: ἀρχῇ is translated as “beginning, ” and λόγος means “word.” Remember that the Greek letter ρ (rho) makes the r sound.
Theology: θεὸς and θεὸν are translated “God,” and λόγος means “word.”
When you Enter a room, you go “in.” The Greek word Εν (ἐν) means “in” and is pronounced en.
Archeo-logy is an English word that’s made up of two Greek words meaning “beginning” (ἀρχῇ) and “word” (λόγος), that is, the “word” or “study” about things related to their “beginning.” Archaeologists study the beginning of human history by studying material left behind by past societies.
Theo-logy consists of two Greek words, θεὸς (theos) “God” and λόγος (logos), “word,” and means the study of God. Theologians study everything about God, religious beliefs, and the practice of religion.
Lesson 5
There are four frequently used words found in John 1:1 that we need to learn so we can translate John 1:1 into English.
ὁ = the article “the.” It makes the ‘ho’ sound. The use of the ‘ makes the h sound. There is no letter h in Greek. If you see a Greek word with ’, it does not make a sound.
τὸν = also the article “the” but in the accusative case. Don’t concern yourself with it now. Just remember it also translates as “the.”
ἦν = was. Long ā sound (ai) with the n sound: ain/ān.
καὶ = and
πρὸς = with
“With all this background, see if you can translate John 1:1 by using what you’ve learned from the above Four Lessons. It’s OK to check the earlier lessons to refresh your memory. Don’t get discouraged. There was a time when you could not read English or Latin!”
John 1:1: Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν [‘the’] θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
“See if you can translate John 1:2.”
John 1:2: οὗτος [this one] ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν
The translations of John 1:1 and 1:2.
Verese 1: Εν (in) ἀρχῇ ([the] beginning) ἦν (was) ὁ (the) λόγος (word) καὶ (and) ὁ (the) λόγος (word) ἦν (was) πρὸς (with) τὸν θεόν (God) καὶ (and) θεὸς (God) ἦν (was) ὁ (the) λόγος (word).
Verse 2: οὗτος [this one] ἦν (was) ἐν (in) ἀρχῇ (beginning) πρὸς (with) τὸν θεόν (God).
The Greek Alphabet for the Study of Biblical Greek
Upper- and Lower-Case Letters
Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω.
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