Ancient and Biblical Greek

by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

Why Learn Greek?

Many people learn Greek so that they can read the New Testament in its original language, without having to rely on other people's translations. But why should even beginning students learn at least the Greek alphabet? Even if you don't plan to become a biblical scholar, knowing the Greek alphabet is very helpful for basic biblical research:

It will allow you to use a "Theological Dictionary" or "Greek Lexicon" to learn more about important words and concepts in the New Testament..
It will help you understand that Greek terms often have meanings slightly different from their most common English equivalents (e.g., that λόγος/logos is much more than a just a single "word"; that φίλος/philos and ἐρος/eros and ἀγάπη/agape refer to different types of "love").
It will allow you to make connections between different words and concepts (e.g., knowing that "angel" and "evangelist" and "messenger" and "Gospel" are all related to the Greek ἄγγελος/angelos).
It will even help you learn more English vocabulary, by figuring out the meanings of compound words like "philanthropy" or "cosmology" or "patristic exegesis."
Of course, it will also be useful for studying science and mathematics, or for joining fraternities and sororities!

The Greek Alphabet:

Letter Name	Lower Case	Upper Case	Transliteration	Pronunciation and Notes
alpha	α	Α	a	long open sound as in "father" (not "hay")
beta	β	Β	b
gamma	γ	Γ	g	γγ (double gamma) is pronounced "ng" as in "angle"
delta	δ	Δ	d
epsilon	ε	Ε	e	short sound as in "bet" or "end"
zęta	ζ	Ζ	z
ęta	η	Η	ē	long open sound as in "hey" (not "feed") written with a bar over the letter in transliteration
thęta	θ	Θ	th	throat-less sound as in "thin" (not "this")
iota	ι	Ι	i	short sound as in "sit" (not "white") written without a dot over the Greek iota
kappa	κ	Κ	k
lambda	λ	Λ	l
mu	μ	Μ	m
nu	ν	Ν	n
xi	ξ	Ξ	ks	combined "k" and "s" sounds, as in "fox"
omicron	ο	Ο	o	short sound as in "box" or "off"
pi	π	Π	p
rho	ρ	Ρ	r	don't confuse this with the "pi"
sigma	σ, ς	Σ	s	regular σ at the start or middle of words; terminal ς is used at the end of words
tau	τ	Τ	t
upsilon	υ	Υ	u (sometimes v or y)	short sound halfway between "put" and "pit" [more like French "tu" or German "
phi	φ	Φ	ph	like the regular "f" sound in "photo"
chi	χ	Χ	ch	breathy sound as in "Bach" or "chasm" (not "church")
psi	ψ	Ψ	ps	combined "p" and "s" sounds
omega	ω	Ω	ō	long sound as in "go" written with a bar over the letter in transliteration

Notes:

To learn about Greek dipthongs, accents, breathing marks, iota subscripts, punctuation, and how to write Greek letters, see "The Greek Alphabet" page on Jonathan Robie's "Greek 101" website.

Other Websites for Learning NT Greek:

Online Greek Bible - enables viewing of the New Testament in several Greek fonts
Greek and Hebrew Interlinear Bible - allows you to click on a Greek word to see its lexical entry.
Greek To Me - commercial site with basic NT Greek courses
Daily Dose of Greek - free online videos and downloadable resources
Basics of Biblical Greek - comprehensive print and online resources, by Bill Mounce