The Greek Leak Repair Kit:
A Guide to Keep Your Greek Airtight This Summer
Grace Bible Institute
Summer, 2015
Stephen Samec
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS
2
INTRODUCTION
3
Week #1: The Basics of Nouns and Pronouncing Greek Words (BBG 3-5)
4
Week #2: The Cases (BBG 6-7)
5
Week #3: Prepositions and Adjectives (BBG 8-9)
6
Week #4: The 3rd Declension and Personal Pronouns (BBG 10-11)
7
Week #5: Ἀυτός and the Demonstrative Pronouns (BBG 12-13)
8
Week #6: Relative Pronouns (BBG 14)
9
Week #7: Introduction to Verbs (BBG 15)
10
Week #8: Present Indicative (BBG 16, 18)
11
Week #9: Contract Verbs (BBG 17)
12
Week #10: Future Active/Middle Indicative (BBG 19)
13
Appendix A: Carver's Keys to the Third Declension
14
Appendix B: The Declension Charts
15
Appendix C: The Pane
16
Appendix D: Recommended Resources
17
2
ABBREVIATIONS
BBG
Basics of Biblical Greek, William D. Mounce.
BDAG
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature, Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W.
Danker.
LXX
The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (ca. thirdsecond centuries BC)
MBG
Morphology of Biblical Greek, William D. Mounce.
NIDNTT
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Colin Brown
NT
New Testament
TDNT
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, G. Friedrich and G. Kittel
TNT
These Necessary Things, Robert W. Carver
3
INTRODUCTION
I recently experienced what motorists dread most. As I hit the pavement in my truck, I
heard a "tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink, tink" noise. It turns out that a roofing nail decided to make
friends with my rear, driver-side tire. I arrived at home to check out the damage. It appeared as
though the tread prevented it from puncturing all the way through the tire. But it was time to
reconcile my optimism with reality. So I pulled it out. Much to my delight, I heard no leak. On
the next day, much to my chagrin, it turns out that there was a slow leak. This one was tricky
because it was undetectable by ear. Without fail, the tire's condition would land me at the gas
station's air compressor every other week.
Language leaks. Linguistic patches and plugs are only temporary. If you're reading this,
that means you probably just finished your first academic year of Koinē Greek study.
Approximately 3 months separate you from reimplementation of formal study. Much of what
you have labored so diligently to obtain will disappear this summer if you don't have some type
of routine that keeps Greek on your radar, especially this early in the race. The primary purpose
of this guide is to aid you in establishing such a routine. This guide aims to keep your Greek
"airtight." It has a secondary goal of introducing you to some of the important tools for using
Greek more effectively for exegesis and lesson/sermon preparation.
You will find a very simple layout here. It is a 10-week guide that reviews BBG chapters
3-19. Each week has 4 sections. (1) Reading/Review: this section simply has you reading 1-6
pages of TNT, reviewing respective vocabulary in BBG, and answering a simple grammar
question. (2) Parsing: here you will parse about 3 words found in the translation section. (3)
Translation: this section has you translating 1-2 sentences from the NT or LXX. (4)
Grammatical/Exegetical Implications: I recommend that you provide written answers in this
section, but what's most important is that you think through these questions. They will help you
learn to use the recommended resources and cause you to think about the text beyond your
provisional parsing and translation work. I also recommend that you record the amount of time
you spend with Greek each week. This will help you see how much time is actually required for
you to keep your Greek fresh. I predict that this guide will take no more than 30 minutes per
week. In this respect, I suggest that you supplement it in other areas (bringing your Greek
Testament to church, reading through 1 John, using another summer Greek resource,1 etc.).
This guide will not earn you any credits. It is strictly voluntary. You really can use it
however you see fit. But I do have some suggestions for you. (1) Work in groups, or at least find
one other person with whom you can meet each week. (2) Complete each week in one sitting. If
that doesn't work for you, (3) pick 4 days out of the week and do 1 section each day. (4) Please
feel free to submit your work to me. I would be happy to offer suggestions. I would also be
happy to work with you (or y'all) in person. (5) Purchase a decent lexicon (see Appendix D).
There are several unfamiliar words which I intentionally did not footnote, so that you will start
making judicious use of lexicons. Enjoy!
1
E.g., Richard J. Goodrich and David Diewert, A Summer Greek Reader: A Workbook for Maintaining
Your Biblical Greek (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001). I have not personally used this one. It's 112 pages. I have
intentionally left The Greek Leak Repair Kit very brief—18 pages total.
4
Week #1: The Basics of Nouns and Pronouncing Greek Words (BBG 3-5)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 4-8.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 16-17.
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood Lexical
Translation
καλόν
ἄνθρωπον
3. Translation
Καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεός, Οὐ καλὸν εἶναι2 τὸν ἄνθρωπον μόνον
(Gen 2.18 LXX).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. What part of speech is μόνον here? How is it functioning in this context?
4.2. There are two clauses in this verse. How is the first clause functioning? What about
the second?
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
2
to be
5
Week #2: The Cases (BBG 6-7)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 9-11.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 39 and 50-51.
1.3. Try to write out the 2-1-2 declension chart from memory. Use the space provided for
you in Appendix B.
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
ἐξουσίαν
ἁμαρτίας
ἔχει
3. Translation
ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀφιέναι3 ἁμαρτίας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (Mk 2.10).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. How might the α-η shift rule help you discern how ἁμαρτίας is functioning
grammatically?
4.2. Is ἐξουσία used with reference to Jesus anywhere else in the four Gospels? Use a
Greek concordance to find the answer.
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
3
to forgive
6
Week #3: Prepositions and Adjectives (BBG 8-9)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 12-17.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 61-62 and 70-71.
1.3. What are the three uses of the adjective?
_______________, __________________, ________________
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
ἡμέραις
Ἰορδάνην
3. Translation
Καὶ ἐγένετο4 ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις ἦλθεν5 Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας
καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη6 εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου (Mk 1.9).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. Mark uses the preposition εἰς with the verb βαπτίζω (see also Mt 3.13-17). Could you
make a case for baptism by immersion without appealing to the prepositions?7
4.2. Matthew and Luke also contain the account of Jesus' baptism. If you were to preach
a sermon on this account, where would you preach it from? Matthew, Mark, or Luke?
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
4
it came about. This word occurs like this frequently in narrative contexts that it's simpler to just memorize
ἐγένετο as a vocab word. (It's 3S Aor Act Ind from γίνομαι.)
5
he/she/it went
6
he/she/it was baptized
7
Cf. Murray J. Harris, Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament: An Essential Resource for
Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 84, 230. This work was previously published in NIDNTT 3:1171ff.
7
Week #4: The 3rd Declension and Personal Pronouns (BBG 10-11)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 18-22
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 88-89 and 96-98.
1.3. Look at Appendix A for a reminder of the importance of the genitive singular
in 3rd declension words.
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood Lexical
Translation
θελήματος
πατρός
ὅλῃ
3. Translation
Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφὸς τῇ
ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ οὔσῃ8 ἐν Κορίνθῳ σὺν τοῖς ἁγίοις πᾶσιν τοῖς οὖσιν9 ἐν ὅλῃ
τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ, χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
(II Cor 1.1-2).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. Where is the main verb in these verses?
4.2. Is ὅλος being used as an adjective or adverb here (cf. BBG pg. 165)?
4.3. Look back at the text and circle all of the personal pronouns.
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
8
9
which is
who are
8
Week #5: Ἀυτός and the Demonstrative Pronouns (BBG 12-13)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 23-27.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 104-105 and 111-112.
1.3. Are there any differences between the 2-1-2 noun chart, αὐτός chart, and οὕτος or
ἐκεῖνος chart?
2. Parsing
Inflected
Pers/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
παράκλητος
ὃ
πέμψει
διδάξει
3. Translation
ὁ δὲ παράκλητος, τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὃ πέμψει ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου,
ἐκεῖνος ὑμᾶς διδάξει πάντα καὶ ὑπομνήσει10 ὑμᾶς πάντα ἃ εἶπον11 ὑμῖν [ἐγώ]
(Jn 14.26).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. What does ἐκεῖνος modify?
4.2. What is the subject of the verb πέμψει?
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
10
11
he/she/it will remind
I said
9
Week #6: Relative Pronouns (BBG 14)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT page 28.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 117-118.
1.3. How does the relative pronoun chart compare with the 2-1-2 noun chart?
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
γράφω
φαίνει
3. Translation
Ἀγαπητοί, οὐκ ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν ἀλλʼ ἐντολὴν παλαιὰν ἣν εἴχετε12 ἀπʼ
ἀρχῆς· ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά ἐστιν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἠκούσατε.13 πάλιν ἐντολὴν καινὴν
γράφω ὑμῖν, ὅ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία παράγεται14 καὶ τὸ
φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἤδη φαίνει (I Jn 2.7-8).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. What use of the adjective does καινήν and παλαιά employ?
4.2. Look back at these verses and circle any relative pronouns.
4.3. Now underline all of the relative clauses.
4.4. If you were to preach this passage, what would the main point of your sermon be?
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
Imperfect of ἔχω, had/were having. The personal ending will give you the rest.
y o u heard
14
he/she/it departs
12
13
10
Week #7: Introduction to Verbs (BBG 15)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT page 29.
1.2. Work backwards and indicate how the inflected form λύομεν ended up the way it is.
Stem
Connecting Vowel
Personal Ending
Inflected Form
λύομεν
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
πιστεύουσίν
ποιήσω
3. Translation
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν Ἕως τίνος παροξύνει15 με ὁ λαὸς οὗτος καὶ ἕως
τίνος οὐ πιστεύουσίν μοι ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς σημείοις, οἷς ἐποίησα16 ἐν αὐτοῖς; πατάξω17
αὐτοὺς θανάτῳ καὶ ἀπολῶ18 αὐτοὺς καὶ ποιήσω σὲ καὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός σου
εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦτο (Num 14.11-12 LXX).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. ἕως is used to introduce a question in this passage. How might you translate it to
reflect that particular function?
4.2. For μέγα καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ, do you remember the different degrees of adjectives?
4.3. πιστεύω is a significant word in New Testament theology. Check out a thorough
study on this word and its cognates in TDNT VI:174-228.
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
From παροξύνω, I anger; I urge.
I did
17
I will beat
18
I will slay
15
16
11
Week #8: Present Indicative (BBG 16, 18)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 30-31 and 34-35.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 137 and 154-155.
1.3. Try to fill out the Primary Active and Passive quadrants on "The Pane" from
memory (see Appendix C).
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
ἔρχεται
συνέρχεται
δύνασθαι
3. Translation
Καὶ ἔρχεται εἰς οἶκον· καὶ συνέρχεται πάλιν [ὁ] ὄχλος, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς
μηδὲ ἄρτον φαγεῖν19 (Mk 3.20).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. Do you see any flexibility in how you might translate some of these present tense
forms? How would you categorize such usage(s)?
4.2. Students often memorize ἄρτος as "bread." Does it have any other lexical
possibilities?
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
19
to eat
12
Week #9: Contract Verbs (BBG 17)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages
1.3. Contract verbs have stems that end in:
_______, _______, ________.
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
καλῶ
καλέσω
Ἄκουέ20 μου, Ιακωβ καὶ Ισραηλ ὃν ἐγὼ καλῶ, ἐγώ εἰμι πρῶτος, καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι εἰς
τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ἡ χείρ μου ἐθεμελίωσεν21 τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἡ δεξιά μου ἐστερέωσεν22
τὸν οὐρανόν, καλέσω αὐτούς, καὶ στήσονται23 ἅμα (Isaiah 48.12-13 LXX).
3. Translation
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. Why does the text use χείρ and δεξιά? Is there any semantic distinction between the
two?
4.2. The phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα is idiomatic; "forever" is the idea.
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
20
Hear!
he/she/it founded or laid the foundation
22
he/she/it established
23
they will stand
21
13
Week #10: Future Active/Middle Indicative (BBG 19)
1. Reading/Review
1.1. Read TNT pages 36-37.
1.2. Review vocab in BBG pages 164-166.
2. Parsing
Inflected
Person/Case Number
Tense/Gender Voice
Mood
Lexical
Translation
ἔσται
γενέσει
χαρήσονται
3. Translation
καὶ ἔσται χαρά σοι καὶ ἀγαλλίασις καὶ πολλοὶ ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει αὐτοῦ χαρήσονται (Lk
1.14).
4. Grammatical/Exegetical Implications
4.1. What do you make of the morphology of χαρήσονται? What person and number is it?
What is its location on The Pane? Do you see anything besides the personal ending and
the stem? What's the lexical form? Check it out in Gingrich's Shorter Lexicon or
BDAG.24
4.2. Who is the speaker in this verse? To whom is he/she speaking?
4.3. For γενέσει, there are a lot of words in the lexicon that begin with γεν-. How do you
know you've selected the right lexical form?
Time spent on Greek this week: ______________
24
Cf. MBG 302 for more discussion.
14
Appendix A: "Carver's Keys to the Third Declension"
1. Learn the basic endings for masc. and fem. 3rd declension nouns as two words:
ς /ος /ι /α ες/ων/σι/ας
2. The neuter endings will be the same as the above except for adjustments in accordance
with noun rules 2 and 3.
3. The nominative singular form (i.e., lexical form) will indicate what the dative plural form
will look like (which will end in an ι and may have a moveable ν).
4. Review the Square of Stops + σ chart.
The most important step to take for mastering the 3rd declension, however, is
memorizing the genitive singular with your vocabulary. Why? Removing the case ending of the
genitive singular will reveal the stem of the word! Once you know the stem of the word, you can
predict how it will decline in the other cases in both the singular and plural.
Illustration: This is how your 3rd declension vocab cards should look.
Front of card
πούς,
ποδός,
ὁ
Back of card
foot
15
Appendix B: The Declension Charts
2
1
Masc.
Ns
Gs
Ds
As
Np
Gp
Dp
Ap
Fem.
2
Fem.
3
Neut.
Masc/Fem
3
Neut
16
Appendix C: The Pane
PRIMARY
Sing.
Active
1
2
3
Passive
1
2
3
SECONDARY
Plur.
Sing.
Plur.
17
Appendix D: Recommended Resources ( = available in church library)
Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian
Literature (BDAG), 3rd ed. Edited Frederick William Danker. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 2000.
This one is definitely worth purchasing. Used copies are available on amazon.com. New
copies are in stock on cbd.com. Make sure you are ordering the 3rd edition.
 2nd edition.
 Brown, Colin ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 3 vols.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979.
Burer, Michael H. and Jeffrey E. Miller, A New Reader's Lexicon of the Greek New Testament
(Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008).
Campbell, Constantine R. Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2008.
———. Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.
 Friedrich, G. and G. Kittel, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. 10 vols.
Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1967.
 Gingrich, F. Wilbur and Frederick W. Danker. Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament,
2nd ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1983).
 Moulton, W. F. and A. S. Geden. A Concordance to the Greek Testament (T&T Clark
Publishers, 1978).
Mounce, William D. Biblical Greek: A Compact Guide. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.
———. Free audio lectures online at Biblical Training
(https://www.biblicaltraining.org/biblical-greek/william-mounce),
———. The Morphology of Biblical Greek: A Companion to Basics of Biblical Greek and The
Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
Vance, Laurence M. Greek Verbs in the New Testament and Their Principle Parts (Pensacola:
Vance Publications, 2006).
Wigram, George V. The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament (Peabody:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1996).