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For some time Claims have been made that the Greek language of the New Testament confused many scholarsfor a period of time but this is not the case. It was , however, sufficiently different from Classical Greek that some hypothesized that it was a combination of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Others attempted An attempt was made to explain it as a "Holy Ghost spiritual language," assuming that perhaps God created a special language just for the [[Bible]]. But studies of [[Greek]] papyri found in [[Egypt]] over the past 120 years have shown that the Greek of the [[New Testament]] manuscripts was the "common" (koine) language of the everyday people - the same as that used in the writing of wills and private letters. In fact, Koine Greek was propagated through the centuries by the Eastern Orthodox Church and was the language common in the Byzantine Empire. Therefore, knowledge of the language was never lost nor was the meaning of any of the vocabulary in doubt when reformation scholars began to translate from the Textus Receptus.

Koine Greek had spread throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East as a result of the conquests of the Greek armies of Alexander the Great. It served as a second language for many people and had become the language of communication throughout much of the Roman Empire and beyond by the time of Jesus. It retained its role as the lingua franca until the Middle Ages. The New Testament being written in Greek instead of in [[Aramaic]] is sometimes used as ammunition by [[Atheism|Atheists]] against traditional authorship. However, writing in Aramaic would've likely been a poor choice for the writers of the New Testament since the language didn't have as widespread of an influence as Greek did. Aramaic was only spoken by Jews, but Greek had a large influence over people who were east of [[Greece]] while [[Latin]] had a larger influence over people west of Greece. The modern equivalent of Greek in the 1st century would be English in the 21st century as many of its speakers most likely learned it as their second language.

| beta || β || Β || b || spanish v/b Ha<u>b</u>anaeta

| gamma || γ || Γ || g || <u>g</u>amma, gh

| delta || δ || Δ || d || <u>d</u>elta, dh

| zêta || ζ || Ζ || ''z '' if first letter, otherwise ''dz'' || <u>z</u>êta ''or'' be<u>ds</u>

| omicron || ο || Ο || o || p<u>o</u>hnd

| rho || ρ || Ρ || r || <u>r</u>oho

| tau || τ || Τ || t || <u>t</u>avau

| upsilon || υ || Υ || u || French <u, German ue>oo</u>ps

| omega || ω || Ω || o || <u>o</u>hbey

=== Diphthongs and ι-subscripts ===

| like ε, 'eai' as in get aisle

| like ι, 'eeei' as in tree freight (not identical to 'Η''''*''')

| like Υ, French 'u' German 'ue', rounded 'ioi'as in oil

| approximately 'av' '''**''ow'as in sow

| 'ooe' as Υ or Υ + Ιin gooey

| approximately 'ev' '''**'''

: '''*''' 'ευ' is both hard and controversial. There is abundant some evidence to suggest that is was pronounced 'iew' (as in "spaghettiEw, that's gross!")or simply 'yu'. This entered the language shortly after the time of Alexander the Great and is seen everywhere in papyri What has been taught for ages, inscriptions and in ALL NT manuscriptshowever, even from the earliest papyri like p52. This is why Westcott and Hort spelled some famous names like Δαυειδ and Πειλατος'eh-oo', such were the spellings as sound not present in the old manuscriptsEnglish.

There are also version of several vowels with a small iota underneath (or beside in the case of capitols): ᾼ ᾳ, ῌ ῃ, ῼ ῳ. It is believed that these represent ancient diphthongs, but the pronunciation is not altered in the time of any Greek writing we can know.: ''We have chosen not to include ι-subscripts on '**''WikiChristian' 'αυ' and 'ευ' are controversial, partly because most browsers display them incorrectly. There is some evidence to suggest that is was pronounced 'ew' (as in "Ew, that's gross!") It was probably like α or ε + Spanish 'vh.

Over the initial syllable of word that begins with a vowel, there will always be either a rough (<big>‘</big>) or a smooth (<big>’</big>) breathing sign. Rough means a 'h' sound and smooth means a lack of extra sound. These were not written during Koine Greek times and there is evidence that many/most did not distinguish these in pronunciation. A 'Ρ' (Rho), in the initial position, also taking a breathing sign, typically the rough. How precisely this altered pronunciation is not known.  

==Quotes=Resources=== There a many resources available for the study of the Bible in Koine Greek. There are numerous ancient manuscripts containing parts or all of the New Testament. Not all of these manuscripts are identical for a variety of reasons. For example, sometimes a scribe copying an older manuscript would make a spelling or grammatical error. The German Bible Society produces a work that contains what a number of well known scholars believe is the most likely representation of the original New Testament, known as the NA27 or the UBS4 version.  The language itself is studied widely throughout theological colleges. Well known textbooks include the series by [[William Mounce]]. Numerous internet resources also exist.