I have primarily tried to learn Koine Greek in order to read my New Testament in the original language. However, I think my knowledge of Koine would be greatly helped by becoming more comfortable with other writings in Koine greek. Can anyone give me some helpful advice on how to increase my vocab and grasp of grammar so I can read church Fathers etc. More easily.
Thanks in advance.
You might be interested in A Patristic Greek Reader by Rodney A Whitacre. It’s designed to help biblical Greek students move ahead. Lots of explanations and vocabulary.
Thank you I will take a look.
You could also check out Reading Greek with the Desert Fathers by Timothy Brady. The Greek is slightly adapted to match the GNT in vocabulary and syntax which makes this an intermediate stepping stone between the GNT and other koine writings.
Late comments here but hope they help the OP.
I’ve been using The Apostolic Fathers Greek Texts and English Translations for some additional (non-Biblical) Koine reading, it’s available from Amazon. Earlier this summer I read through Second Clement pretty easily, and the accompanying English translation helped give me more insight into some parts of the letter (though I sometimes disagreed with the translator).
And of course, reading the Septuagint helps! I have a copy of Rahlfs-Hanhart Septuaginta, Revised Edition, which I bought from Amazon, but the German Bible Society also has the Septuagint online. I always prefer hardcopies however as I like marking them up with glosses, crossrefs to sections in the Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, and spiritual insights I feel I’ve gleamed. If you still feel like a novice in New Testament Greek, I’d suggest you start by trying to read some Septuagint passages whose English translation in the Old Testament you’re already familiar with, like Psalm 23 or snippets from Isaiah quoted in the Gospels.
Cheers,
—Mitch
The Septuagint is worth a look. There’s a very nice(if somewhat expensive) reader’s edition in two volumes that you can get online.
A good place to start would be 1-2 Chronicles and 1-4 Kings
Or you could try Polybius for pre-Christian koine.
Try speaking the language. You remember words easier if you hear them and even more so if you speak them. Think of all the sentences that you have memorized. Are any of them sentences that you read only? Probably not. I for one cannot think of one sentence that I have memorized which I read only.
I would second Deus_CreavitMachinam on the Septuaginta Reader’s Edition, I have the two volume set and they’re probably the best looking books I own. Very enjoyable to read, and the publishers have a reading plan on their website that also includes a link to their book-by-book guide to Septuagint vocabulary.
You might also consider some of the Popular Patristics series from St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, they have several more popular works in dual language volumes with Greek on the left and English on the right. I have On Pascha from Melito of Sardis and On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius, both of which are excellent.
I can also second Mitch’s recommendation for the Apostolic Fathers volume he links to. I just got my copy in the mail yesterday and it is a really nice book. Very readable in terms of font, with tons of content. 1st Clement has been reasonably straightforward for me so far, especially with the facing English translation to help when I’m stuck.
Very much agree with you Kyle, just because a language is dead doesn’t mean one shouldn’t speak it aloud! It should still be learned as a living language even if it isn’t, as much as one can anyway.