New Testament
Greek Vocabulary
Learn on the Go
J O N AT H A N T. P E N N I N G T O N
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ISBN 0-310-24452-8
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You are holding in your hands a tool—a tool to help you learn the vocabulary of
the Greek New Testament. My sagging bookshelves bear testimony to the fact that
there are countless Greek grammar books available. But there are only a handful of
works devoted to helping the student with the all-important labor of learning the
vocabulary of Koine Greek. Each of the existing vocabulary aids has unique strengths
that are not necessarily duplicated here. What is unique about this work is that it com-
bines the printed word with the spoken. No longer must the student only look at
flashcards and frequency lists. With this program, he or she can reinforce learning
through hearing each word and its definition spoken.
The foundation of learning a language is learning its words. The Greek language
as found in the text of the Greek New Testament consists of over 138,000 words,
coming from more than 5,400 different vocabulary words.1 Yet before one gets dis-
couraged about this, it is helpful to realize that the ten most common words make up
about 45,000 of the occurrences. Further, the 170 most frequent words comprise
about 100,000 of the words in the Greek New Testament (over 70 percent!).2 This
means that learning only a small percentage of the words in the New Testament will
result in a great breadth of comprehension when reading. Even more helpful, the
observant student of Greek will soon see that many Greek words have made their way
into English and are often recognizable this way.
These figures come from the Gramcord computer program.
1
Bruce M. Metzger, Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek, 3d ed. (Grand
2
Nevertheless, learning vocabulary for any language requires work. Here are a few
tips that can maximize the benefits from every hour spent in this labor:
1. Use all the senses. Studies and experience show clearly that our retention of
information grows exponentially when we use all of our senses. Looking at
vocabulary words in a book is rarely enough. The student will do well to also
write out the words he or she is trying to learn. Further, using this audio pro-
gram to hear and pronounce the words will greatly increase learning.
2. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. When learning a musical instrument, it is
far superior to play one’s scales for fifteen minutes a day than to play for three
hours on Saturday. So it is with vocabulary. Using this booklet and the audio
program regularly—even five minutes per day—will eventually make these
words second nature.
3. Be consistent. In learning a new word, be careful always to pronounce the
sounds correctly and to emphasize the correct syllable (as indicated by the
accent mark). Otherwise, if one pronounces kefalhv as keef-uh-lay´ one day,
kef-a-lay´ another, and ki-fal´-lay another, one’s work is tripled.3
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pastor, seminarian, and teacher. Thank you also to the Chester Hilty family for your
model of faith and godliness in the Christian life. Your impact on me is indelible.
Finally, thank you to Dr. Dan Wallace, and my editor, Verlyn Verbrugge, for treating
me with more respect and kindness than my years deserve. Verlyn’s forty years of
Greek study proved invaluable as we recorded this project. Any errors that remain are
entirely mine.
Dedication
I dedicate this project to my wife and children, for the many daily joys.
About the Author
Jonathan T. Pennington (M.Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the asso-
ciate pastor at the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris, Illinois. He is also a New
Testament teaching fellow at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is planning to
pursue doctoral studies in New Testament. He is a coauthor with J. W. Wenham and
Norman H. Young of The Elements of NT Greek with CD’s and Syntax Lists, published
by Cambridge University Press, 2001.
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merivzw..................................................... I divide
mevtron, mevtrou, tov ................................ a measure
muvron, muvrou, tov ................................... ointment, perfume
noevw ........................................................ I understand
xevnoß, xevnh, xevnon ................................. strange, foreign; as a noun, stranger
oi|oß, oi|a, oi|on........................................ such as
o[fiß, o[fewß, oJ ......................................... serpent
peteinovn, peteinouç, tov........................... bird
prosdevcomai.......................................... I receive, I wait for
Saddoukaiçoß, Saddoukaivou, oJ ........... Sadducee
seismovß, seismouç, oJ .............................. earthquake
siçtoß, sivtou, oJ ...................................... wheat
tavlanton, talavntou, tov....................... talent (a Greek monetary unit)
tapeinovw ................................................ I humble
frovnimoß, frovnimon ............................. sensible, prudent
fuvsiß, fuvsewß, hJ .................................... nature
cwlovß, cwlhv, cwlovn ............................. lame
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We want to hear from you. Please send your comments about this
audio and accompanying book to us in care of the address below.
Thank you.