• Hello All, I was was excited today as I completed the Biblical Greek Foundational Study Bundle and submitted my translation of John 1:1-18 to certificate@faithlife.com in an attempt to earn a certificate. I received a response indicating that the certificate program had been discontinued, which is disappointing. I've attached a copy of my translation here and I welcome any feedback. In addition to the Logos Mobile Ed courses, I also used the Mango Languages App, which has a lesson specifically for Koine Greek. This was extremely helpful to me.

    3. Way to go, Tommar! That is a big achievement. Working through the text is significant and now you are translating the NT. It sounds like Logos isn't continuing their certificate program. I am in the process of creating two or three courses out of the Mobile Ed continent for Redemption which will then be offered for graduate credit. These should come out in the summer of 2024.

    4. Congratulations on the accreditation for Redemption! That is huge news.

  • Hi everyone. I have a question on the pronunciation of the word "συναγωγή". In particularly the η. On Greek Alphabet Tutor it shows the pronunciation of the η is ā in both the Koine and Erasmian, but "i" as in machine in the modern pronunciation. But every Greek dictionary shows it is pronounced ē. Why is that? What is the correct pronunciation and of it is ē, why did the course say it is pronounced ā?

    1.  — Edited

      maybe you can help? I think it is pronounced "e" in the audio, but the text says "a as in late"

    2. May depend on text and which pronunciation you are going for: Erasmian, Koine, modern... I started with Mounce and that messed me up big time as it is Erasmian. Also, you can use Logos "pronunciation" and set it to the pronunciation you are trying to follow, then find the word and have Logos read it to you. That is how I find the answer :D According to Pronunciation via Logos: Modern has the "ee" sound as in meet Koine has the "ay" sound as does Erasmian as in late

  • Some disagreements with diphthongs. The textbook says that in English "..ou is a not a diphthong, though it is a digraph." p. 5. Although the following disagreement does not affect the Greek, it does affect the understanding of English. The statement itself has the seeds of the disagreement in the word "though". The status as a diphthong depends on where the ou is. - not a diphthong -- e.g. - short u - tough, slough (verb) - long u - through, croup, slough (noun) - short a or aw - thought, bought, ought, sought - a diphthong -- e.g. - ow as in owe - though - ow as in cow - thou, bough (My condolences to foreigners trying to learn English as a second language.)

    1.  — Edited

      "Listen and Learn :Greek" was a nice challenge, but I had to use it on the web app since it is (still) unusable in the Logos desktop on Windows (it drives CPU usage to almost 100%, and is unresponsive).

      1. I found the web app to work best on these as well. The courses need optimized to work in the app.

    2.  — Edited

      A couple of pronunciation questions for Dr. Schwandt: 1. Are the various plosive consonants (β, κ, π, τ) aspirated as in English, or are they unaspirated as in Spanish and Portugues (and indeed, in English after an 's')? 2. Is the Koine β pronounced as a labiodental (as in English v) or as a labial (as in the Spanish v, where both lips almost touch, but not quite)

      1. Great question, both are like Spanish.

      2. Thanks much! I learned some version of Erasmian pronunciation years ago, so I am trying to recalibrate my brain (and mouth) to the Koine. Hey, if it was good enough for the Apostle Paul, it's good enough for me!

      3. I know your pain. I have taught and produced works in multiple pronunciation systems. It takes a while to recalibrate, but it is totally possible. Keep up the good work!

    3. Hello to all the followers of this group. I recently purchased the Logos Platinum edition for the Orthodox tradition primarily for the purpose of working with the Greek texts of both the NT and the LXX. I just purchased/enrolled in the GK 101 program. I have been studying and reading biblical and classical Greek on and off now for over 30 years. It was one of my majors at Asbury College. I even taught full time all 4 levels of Greek there when my undergrad professor when on sabbatical. I have put it down for years at a time only to pick it up again. It is so rich and beautiful. I recently was asked and have just started teaching Greek to one of my priests and a fellow parishioner via Zoom. I purchased this course for the same reason I purchased other grammars. No one grammar will ever be sufficient. Thus, I like to review other grammars to gain additional means and insights that I can incorporate into my own teaching style. I look forward to working my way through this course and interacting with others in the group here. If I can be of any assistance, please let me know. May it be blessed. Doug aka Anatolius

      1. Here is my translation for the GK101 Biblical Languages-Foundational Certificate Program. I hope you like my style of translating. I liked the course very much!

        1. Where did you do this mark up?

        2. At home Benjamin. I printed the text, divided it into clauses, and did my translation clause by clause. Then, I did a scan of it and it was ready. I learned to do my morph analysis + translation that way in my Ph.D. classes in OT.

      2. GK101 has been eye-opening and helpful in beginning to make sense of basic elements of Greek that I've encountered for years using Logos, but have not delved into until now. While I'm incalculably indebted to the language tools Logos offers and to the commentaries written by faithful scholars, understanding the elements of the language is incredibly useful in taking those resources and being able to use them with greater facility and accuracy to what God wrote in His Word.  I wish I had known ahead of time that GK101 would use the Koine pronunciation system, because it would have changed which alphabet and pronunciation course I chose. As Dr. Schwandt explained in GK092 that the Erasmian system is used by most seminaries, I assumed (incorrectly) that this would be the system used in GK101. Having finished the Erasmian pronunciation course, moving to the Koine has been confusing at points, especially in Unit 1. What has begun to really be encouraging is recognizing the different elements of Greek verbs - roots, stems, and endings. Recognizing that each verb's root carries the meaning of the word enables me to make greater use of the Word Study tool in delving into key terms in a passage. Now I can see and greater appreciate the relationship of various words that all come from the same root. Stems are key to understanding the declension of the verb: first declension with alpha stems, second declension with omicron stems, and third declension with iota and upsilon stems. Dr. Schwandt's treatment of the elements of verb endings has been very helpful. I had no clue that verb endings communicated so much: (1) person; (2) voice; and (3) time. While I have found the different sounds and vocalic elements of the Greek alphabet to be somewhat tedious (e.g., the square of stops, dentals vs. gutturals vs. labials, etc.), the endings are easy to memorize and to usefully employ: [Sing.} -ω (1st) , -εις (2nd), -ει (3rd); [Plur.]-ομεν (1st), -ετε (2nd), -ουσι (3rd). I'm looking forward to getting into my next exegetical study to be able to make use of this as I connect the word data from the exegetical guide with the Greek text. Not surprisingly, given how much is communicated in verb endings, noun endings are equally useful in determining the meaning of words in their syntactical relationships. I had always heard that Greek word order was basically irrelevant, whereas English word order was paramount. For example, the sentence, "The woman rides a bike," makes no sense if it is re-written as, "A bike rides the woman." However, the Greek of either of these sentences would work equally. This is because of the significance of noun case endings. The declension of nouns is discernible by the type of stem along with the case ending. The first declension consists of Alpha-stems, the second declension consists of Omega-stems, and consonant stems form the third declension. There are five cases that can be paired with these stems - (1) nominative; (2) vocative; (3) accusative; (4) genitive; and (5) dative. The nominative and accusative case endings really unlock the meaning of a sentence by identifying the subject (nominative case) and the object of the action (accusative case). Regardless of where the subject and object are placed, their endings show what the meaning of the sentence is: The nominative noun always does the acting, and the accusative noun always is acted upon - is the subject of the action. The placement of the words in Greek has to do with what is being emphasized, not with who or what is the subject/object. Moreover, the verb(s) in a sentence will always agree with their subject(s) as to number and person. I am grateful for the clarity with which Dr. Schwandt explained that while definite articles are short, they can have a broad range of meanings. It is easy to make the exegetical mistake of thinking that a lack of a definite article (there is no indefinite article in Greek) means that the subject is not specific. For example, in John 1:1, theos at the end of the verse lacks an article, but this does not mean that the meaning "a god" - as Jehovah's Witnesses maintain - is the best interpretive option. Broader context makes it an impossible option, especially when understanding what all of Scripture says about the logos in this chapter, namely Christ. Sometimes the grammar demands there be no article, such as instances when the subject and predicate are placed in different places. Remembering this will be a helpful guard against misinterpretation.

        1. I'm honored and encouraged by this post. Thank you for your engagement. I'm looking forward to when we can add original language courses to the master's programs at Redemption Seminary. (www.redemptionseminary.org) Blessings on your studies!
          Redemption Seminary
          All of the required books for the entire program are included within your tuition. All of the books are digital books that can be accessed on any of your devices through the Logos app. In addition to the textbooks required for each course, you have access to a digital theological research library ($…
          www.redemptionseminary.org

        2. Thank you so much, Dr. Schwandt!

      3.  — Edited

        Questions regarding exercise 50. Can someone straighten me out on these? I have the translation exercise, the actual answer, and my question following: 7. ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐδόξαζον τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ κυρίου. In that day they were glorifying the wisdom of the Lord. My question: couldn't ἐδόξαζον be either he was glorifying or they were glorifying? Or did I miss some contextual clue? (In that day, is nom/fem/sig, doesn't seem to help; the direct object does not seem to give any clue, nor does the prepositional phrase of the Lord). 13. οὐ γὰρ κρίνομεν ταῦτα. For we do not judge these things. My question: Why is this "these things" as opposed to just "these"? Could the these refer to people as opposed to objects? Composing Exercises 3. Peace and truth are in the kingdom of God. ἡ εἰρήνη καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσίν. My question: why does εἰσί not go in between ἀλήθεια and the prepositional phrase?

        2. 7. My goodness. It is plural. I was treating it as if it were singular in my head. Careless mistake. 13. No context here it’s just an exercise. So could it have been translated as either these or these things? With only this sentence standing alone how does one choose/know? 3. So are you saying this would have been correct with εἰσί (ν) in either position?

        3. Not an expert here by any stretch of the imagination... Seems either position can be correct? But, having it at the end places emphasis on ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ - just a guess here.

        4. Great questions and great answers from the community. I would only add a couple comments. Regarding 13: The neuter would not refer to people, but it could refer to issues (which often gets to the same end as referring to people.) Regarding the composition sentence: You have the option to put the verb in several locations. Placing at the end may push the meaning toward focusing on the existence of grace and truth versus preceding the preposition would tend to push toward focusing on their place of residence. Word order doesn't absolutely determine issues like these but is another data point or tool for "shading" or directing focus.

      4. Does one "join" this group, or simply "follow"? Asking because the Lesson Syllabus says the following, and I am not finding where to download the Notes document? "To download a Notes document that highlights the readings for this course, join the GK101 Faithlife group: https://faithlife.com/gk101." John D. Schwandt, GK101 Introduction to Biblical Greek, Logos Mobile Education (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017). Thank you for any direction! :)
        1. Search on groups in the left sidebar and see if you can find it. I have downloaded the notes and am part of that group. I think you can hit the plus sign and it will pull up different groups?

        2. The files should be accessible to "Followers" of the group.

        3. It's under the menu > Bible study > Logos documents. However, they seem to no longer exist.