. . . to the website for A Workbook of New Testament Greek.
For blog posts, click on ‘Recent blog posts’, to your right.
For a listing of the Table of Contents for all published Workbooks (currently 1-5) click here.
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Two vocabulary drill lists are now available on the memrise website, each with fifty of the most common words in the New Testament.
See them here: http://tinyurl.com/lmv2rof and here: http://tinyurl.com/l6vybcs
You will need to have a memrise account, but it’s free.
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A Workbook of New Testament Greek 
As a NT Greek tutor, I would like to know how many books are planned for the series?
Many thanks,
Thaddeus
(Pastor Dr Thaddeus Irvine)
Hello Dr. Irvine, Thank you for your interest. The third book in the series will be out sometime in March. After that I am planning at least two more.Workbooks, with more possible if interest warrants.
Evyenia
Brilliant,
I’ll be looking forward to them.
Blessings,
Thaddeus
A welcome treasure in the vast wasteland of the Internet.
Thank you for your comment! It often feels like I am sending my small efforts out into the void, so I very much enjoy hearing from a reader.
I have purchased many primary Greek grammars over the years, and none have been a good fit for me until I found these books. They are absolutely great. I feel that i am finally making some good progress in my Greek studies. Where can I find a bio on the author?
Hi Ken – Thank you for your comment. If you are talking about the Workbook series that is available (on amazon) through this website, then those are books that I wrote. I have a long-time interest in the Greek language, from Homer to modern Greek, and I teach classes in both koine and modern, with a very occasional student interested in Homeric. I find it particularly interesting to look at word usage over the very long history of this language – what has changed, and what hasn’t.
I have always found a workbook format helpful in my own studies, which is why I started writing the series. Thanks again!
Evyenia
I looked at the sample pages on Amazon and I just ordered all 5 workbooks plus the quiz book 🙂 I am talking a 25 week course through the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (which I love) but I think these workbooks would be a great addition because I can sit on the couch in the evening in relaxed mode and work on them. They will be great reinforcement. I also like seeing concepts presented by other teachers because someones that helps me make better sense. I hope you are planning more in the series 🙂
Hi- thanks so much for your comment. I hope the workbooks are helpful, and please ask if you have any questions.
Hi Evyenia – Just a follow up to my comments this past October. After many years of trying, I was about to give up on New Testament Greek until I found your books. I purchased all five of them, and am nearing completion of Volume 5. You have made learning NT Greek almost easy. Do you plan to have more books available in the near future? If so, when will they be published, and what level will they be? You really have me excited about learning more NT Greek. Ken Gerhan
Hi Ken – I am so glad that you found the workbooks useful! I may have another volume available sometime in the next year – but not soon, unfortunately. I am trying to think of another book you might try in the meantime. It depends quite a bit on your interests – are you a person who wants to know everything about the ins and outs of koine grammar? Or are you ready to start reading, and not worry too much about the details? Thanks again for your comments! Evyenia
Hi Evyenia – I would like to go deeper into Koine grammar, but mainly I would like to be able to read the Greek New Testament and other documents written in Koine, and be able to understand and think in the language, rather than just translate. I would also like to be able to share this knowledge with others. I guess that’s a lot for an old man to hope for. Ken
What Ken said 🙂 I am really enjoying A Daily Dose of Greek which shows you how translation actually works in real life.
I’m in your situation too, Ken. I’m semi-retired, working part-time, and I want to be able to become authentically familiar with Kione Greek, to be able to write it accurately, grammatically, and with a sense of the connotations and nuances of the words I’m using. (Well, initially Koine, although to be honest I’d love to be able to read Classical Greek too.) At the moment I have just acquired enough to cheat my way through an interlinear New Testament, scanning it for the few Greek words I know so far.
My background is Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse and Medieval Celtic languages, so Greek is a whole new direction. I don’t anticipate it will be easy. Still, I’ve just splashed out and bought all five of the books!
Thank you for that leap of faith – I came to koine after working first on classical Attic and then on modern Greek. It takes awhile, but eventually the rhythm of the language starts to make sense. Good luck in your studies!
HI again Ken and Michele –
You might try ‘A Graded Reader of Biblical Greek’ by Mounce, or ‘Koine Greek Reader’ by Rodney Decker. I don’t have the Mounce book so I can’t say more about it. The Koine Greek Reader has selections ranging from John (fairly easy) to Hebrews (yikes!) in the New Testament. It follows those with readings from the Septuagint, the Apostolic Fathers, and the early creeds.
For something quite different I personally like ‘Learn New Testament Greek’ by J. H. Dobson. The approach is idiosyncratic, but Dobson includes a LOT of translation practice examples (some are made up Greek) with short phrases – and their keys.
For more advanced grammar the long-time standard has been ‘Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics’ by Wallace. However, it looks like ‘Going Deeper with New Testament Greek’ by Kostenberger et al. might be the up-and-comer. I haven’t checked it out yet, but it may be my next purchase!
I like Michele’s ‘Daily Dose’ idea. Repetition, repetition, repetition, until the rhythms of a new language seep into your bones. For those of us beyond the first flush of youth (!) it becomes more difficult. But not impossible . . . .
I appreciate these recommendations!
Dear Evyenia,
Thanks so much for writing these workbooks. I have completed four of them, and they were incredibly helpful – perhaps the best resources that I have found for learning Koine, and my collection is not small! I finally feel, now, that I have a good grasp of Koine after doing the first Polis textbook by Cristophe Rico and then your magic workbooks 2 – 5. One thing that I did, and looking back I think it was a very good idea, was to do ALL of your exercises backwards – i.e. from English into Greek. Since your English translations of the Greek are so beautifully constructed to reflect the idiomatic structure of the Greek, this worked very well, forcing me to use the Greek much more actively.
If you publish a sixth workbook, I will be the first to buy it. But I have a suggestion: would it be possible to leave just a wee bit more space between lines of your English translations of verses, in order to help those of us working from English into Koine? In most cases, this would not even require adding pages to the workbooks, since often the English “key” comes at the end of a section and there is unused space after the key anyway (I am thinking of places like p. 73 of Workbook 4).
Thanks again and please keep up your phenomenal work.
Best wishes,
Adrian
Hi Adrian – Thank you so much for your kind words. I put my heart into writing the workbooks, and it is so nice to hear that they have been helpful. Translating from the English back into Greek is definitely a good exercise – it really forces you to come to grips with the detail of the language. And I can certainly leave more space! Again, thank you – Evyenia
Hello Evyenia,
I am taking a Greek course but don’t feel I get enough practice for what I am learning to stay in my mind. And then I found your site and then your workbooks. Words cannot express how thankful I am for these precious workbooks.
Joseph
Thank you so much for your kind words. I am so happy that you found the workbooks helpful, and please do not hesitate to send me any questions! Evyenia
Hi Evyenia – Any idea when Workbook 6 and beyond will be available? I’m still convinced that the very best way to learn Koine Greek is with your workbooks. Ken
Hi Ken [hanging my head in chagrin] Well, our first grandchild arrived fairly recently, and many plans were changed. However, I have been thinking about what would be best to include in the next volume. Details of grammar? More verbs? Or an emphasis on working through short texts? If you have a minute, I would love to know what you would find most useful. In the meantime, I am enormously touched and happy that you have found the books useful.
– Evyenia
Hi Evyenia – Congratulations on your first grandchild. I can’t imagine what a thrill that must be. Here’s my two cents worth on what I would like to see in the next volume and beyond. First, keep the same basic format. In my fantasy world, the next volume(s) would be a combination of both a grammar and a reader. Go in more depth on the grammar, add to the general vocabulary plus words unique to the Scripture being studied. Finally, go thru an entire book (something other than 1 John), including other Koine writings, have the text printed in the book, with room for the translation, and have answers provided for the questions asked, parsing required, etc. That’s a lot to ask for, but in my perfect world, it would really help me progress in my Koine Greek studies. Ken
Thanks Ken! I will think about your suggestions – I like the idea of doing an entire book (and not 1 John!). Evyenia
http://www.letsreadgreek.com/resources/greekntaudio.htm
Hi Evyenia,
This link appears not to be working.
Many thanks for all your hard work.
I have ALL your publications.
Thank you very much – I will check on this and see what has happened. I hope the books have been useful! – Evyenia
Update: I have now checked, and the website seems to be defunct, so I will remove the link. However, I did scout around for another resource and found this page: https://bekkos.wordpress.com/the-new-testament-read-in-greek/
There are links here to files with all books of the NT read in Greek. The author uses a modern Greek pronunciation (as do I). Although he is evidently not a native speaker, he is fairly good. I am going to edit my own page to delete the defunct link and add this one.
Hi Evyenia – It has been more than a year since there has been any action on here. I hope you are doing well. Any progress on Book 6 yet? It would be great to hear from you. Ken Gerhan
Hi Ken – Thanks for your note – between COVID, completely revamping my infectious disease class for Zoom, and moving my 96 year old mother 1500 miles to our home it has been an eventful year! Koine Greek got pushed to the back . . . I have looked again at the notes you gave me in a previous message, and I think my next project will be based on one of the shorter letters – I’m thinking James. It would be translation help, parsing, some grammar, etc. I will let you know, and thanks again for your interest. Evyenia
Hi Evyenia – It’s just me, the pest, wondering how things are going for you. I hope your “eventful” year has settled down for you. I keep reviewing your workbooks, each time finding something new. Since I don’t have anything to compare these wonderful workbooks to, I was wondering what level of NT Greek is covered in the five volumes? Are they equivalent to one year of Greek, or two years of Greek, or????? Still hoping for James someday soon. Take care. Ken Gerhan
Hi Ken! Well, believe it or not, I am working on James and will loop you in as I make more progress. As for the first five volumes, I would judge them equivalent to about one year of Greek, with – perhaps – just a bit more. Hope all is well with you – take care! Evyenia
Hi Evyenia, I’ve been away from computers for a while, but am back now. In May, at age 81, I decided to leave my 60 hour per week job and take the summer off. I have a new email address and would appreciate your updates on James. I hope all is going well for you. Ken Gerhan
Good morning Ken, and it was good to hear from you – I hope you had a good Christmas. I am making progress on James! Currently working on the last part of chapter 4, out of the 5 chapters, so I hope to be done sometime this spring. I have you to thank for the impetus to keep plugging away, and it has been difficult, but fun (!) I hope you are well and enjoying the holidays – Evyenia
Hi Ken –
The new book is done! Coming soon . . . .
Evyenia
Hello Evyenia,
As someone who has literally just received the first three of your books, I’m even more excited than when I first happened upon your books.
I’m currently enrolled in an excellent online course for basic Koine, but would like to continue to deepen my knowledge of the language. After more than a little searching about, I came across your books on Amazon.
It might be helpful for you to know that your not shying away from the modern pronunciation of Greek had everything to do with my decision on purchasing your first three volumes. As someone living in Europe, actually baptized Greek Orthodox, with Greek family who I’m likely to speak more Greek with in the future, the pronunciation will matter for me. I also love visiting Greece as well, so there’s that. 🙂
Please pardon my rambling. I just thought those things might be helpful feedback for you.
In any case, I’m very excited and looking forward to more learning.
Hi Ken! Thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, I am also quite attached to the modern Greek pronunciation. When I was first teaching myself (Homeric) Greek, I used the Erasmian, because I thought – well, that’s just what you do. But later my interest turned to modern Greek, and afterwards to koine. To my ear, the modern Greek pronunciation sounds more natural.
I hope the books are helpful. I wrote them because I find workbooks – with immediate feedback – both useful and fun. 🙂