Category: Inspired by Greek

Poetry

Recently I spent a few days looking into a section of the first chapter of Luke called the Magnificat or the Song of Mary. I’ve always wondered exactly what features of a Greek New Testament passage cause it to be considered verse instead of prose. One thing I had already discovered was that it was not the […]

Fulfillment

In the second chapter of Luke the accounts of Simon and Anna at the dedication of Jesus are often seen with the heading “The Prophecy of…” attached to them. I think the real purpose of the author was not to record prophecy but to illustrate that Jesus, even as an infant, was the means by which […]

Dogma

And it came to pass in those days a δόγμα (dog-ma) went out from Caesar Augustus. Luke 2:1 Dogma, according to Webster, is “something held as an established opinion especially : a definite authoritative tenet.” It wasn’t an opinion or a tenet that went out from Augustus, of course. It was a demand. Anyone who did not compile was in peril […]

Blue Jays and Pregnant Women

Since I came to a basic understanding of the classical languages, I’ve also become interested in the Linnaean (some say Scientific) names of birds. A Blue Jay crashed our feeder today, scattering the Passer Domesticii (Sparrows of the House). I’d never learned his Linnaean anme so I looked up and found it is Cyanocitta cristata. Kύανος (ku-an-os) is ancient Greek for […]

Wishing to Want

θέλω (the-lo) was one of the first Greek words I learned. This came to pass because a well-meaning Greek friend (upon learning that I was studying Attic Greek) told me that the ancient language was too hard to learn so I should start with Modern Greek. He  presented me with this book: Greek Made Easy by […]

Fulfillment

My Greek mentor once told me he was initially inspired to study the language because some pretentious British author ended a novel with the words: Τὸ Tἐλος (to tel-os). As you might imagine this means, “The End” in ancient Greek.  My mentor guessed that was the meaning but he took the time to look it up. […]

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