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GP2109 GREEK I-II (A.Y. 2025/2026)
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Accademic Unit
Biblical Faculty
To be admitted to the Licentiate program a candidate must ei‧ther pass the qualifying examinations in Greek and Hebrew (see pag. 28) or successfully complete both semesters of the introductory courses in those languages offered by instructors of the Pon‧tifical Biblical Institute. The purpose of the Introductory Hebrew and Greek is to prepare the student to take Greek A-B and Hebrew A-B-C and exegesis courses in New and Old Testa‧ment at the Biblical Institute.
The specific goals of the Greek course are as follows:
1. Mastery of the basic morphology of NT Greek.
2. Command of a fundamental vocabulary.
3. Knowledge of the more important points of syntax.
4. Ability to translate simple sentences from Greek and into Greek.
5. Facility in reading Greek out loud.
These specific goals are designed to result in the ability to read and un‧derstand the Greek text of the Gospels.
Course program:
· Greek I-II (1st sem.) :
– A complete overview of the grammar of the New Testament Greek.
· Greek III-IV (2nd sem.) :
– Reading and translation of the Gospels of Mark and John.
Evaluation:
– During the course of each semester, there will be periodic quizzes, which will account for 20% of the final grade.
– The first semester exam will include all the grammar taught during the semester.
– The second semester exam will include translation of a text from Mark and John without the use of a dictionary and translation of a text from another book of the New Testament with the use of a dictionary.
Exams and calendar
The introductory courses are yearlong, although for administrative reasons they are divided into two semesters. Thus it is not possible to take only a part of the courses in separate years.
For each of the introductory courses there are two official examinations: one at the end of the first semester and one at the end of the second semester (there are also several smaller tests in the course of the semester). If a student does not pass the first semester examination he or she may enroll in the second semester course but must repeat the first semester examination during the session immediately following before taking the second semester examination. The examination calendar will provide for this possibility. In any event, both examinations must be taken by the October session at the latest.
If a student fails to pass an examination twice, it is possible, with the Dean’s permission, to take the qualifying examination (cf. supra , pp. 28ff).
Those who pass the examinations in only one of the lan‧guages must pass the other within 18 months.
Classes meet five times a week (Thursday excluded). Please note that the introductory courses do not always follow the calen‧dar of the regular licentiate courses. A schedule of the classes and examinations will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Class preparation is always required. Two or three hours of prepa‧ration for each Greek class, and three or four for
Information
- Semester: 1° Semestre
- ECTS: 15
Teachers
Clifard Sunil RANJAR
Lesson schedule/Room
Lessons schedule not available
Necessary books
1. Ranjar, C. S., Grammar of New Testament Greek . An Introductory Manual (2nd edition) (Subsidia Biblica 60; Leuven: Peeters 2025) = Gramática del griego del Nuevo Testamento. Manual introductorio (Subsidia Biblica 61; Leuven: Peeters 2025).
2. An edition of the Greek New Testament. The recom‧mended text is Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece (Stutt‧gart: Deutsche Bibelge‧sellschaft, 282012). Any critical edition of the New Testa‧ment is permit‧ted provid‧ed there is no translation in a modern lan‧guage accom‧pa‧nying it.
Recommended books:
1. Lexicon
Bauer , W.– Arndt , W. F. – Gingrich , F. W. – Danker , F. W. (BDAG), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (Chicago – London 32000).
For translating the Greek text during Greek I-IV a small dictionary such as the one accompanying the Novum Testamentum Graece is sufficient. The above-mentioned Lexicon will, however, be indispensable for the advanced courses at the Institute.
2. Grammars and grammatical reference tools:
An up-to-date modern grammar is D. B. Wallace , Greek Gram‧mar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testa‧ment (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996)
The best referential grammar of the NT is: Blass, F. – D ebrun‧ner, A. – Funk, R. W., A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago 1961).
N.B.: The students of the introductory courses may not require the above-mentioned grammars. However, they will be indispensable for the advanced courses in Greek.
The best verse by verse resource for reading and translation of the Greek text of Mark and John during the second semester is: M. Zerwick – M. Grosvenor , A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament , 2nd reprint of the 5th edition (Subsidia Biblica 39; Rome: G&B Press, 2010) with its com‧pan‧ion vol‧ume: M. Zer‧wick , Biblical Greek illustrated by exam‧ples (English edition adapted from the fourth Latin edition by J. Smith; Subsidia Biblica 41; Rome: G&B Press, 1963, ninth reprint 2011).
A useful reference book for morphology is C.S. Ranjar , Morphological Analysis of New Testament Greek. A Handbook for Students (Subsidia Biblica 55; Rome: G&B Press, 2021).
A handy reference book for the syntax is D.P. Béchard , Syntax of the New Testament Greek. A Student’s Manual (Subsidia Biblica 49; Rome: G&B Press, 2018).