Septuagint

The Book of Genesis and Matthew 1:1

The mystery and possible solutions to the first two words of the Book of Matthew.

grec 94 intro page and graphic book of Matthew
The beginning of the Book of Matthew in a 13th century manuscript. See below for more information.

The start of the Book of Matthew seems reasonable, but a closer look reveals some tension. In the English translation, it begins with, “A record of the genealogy. . .” which appears straightforward. The Greek is ambiguous. It has Βίβλος γενέσεως, which is very close to the words the Book of Genesis.

Garrick V. Allen, A New Testament Scholar at the University of Glasgow, recently brought up this discussion via Twitter (@Garrick_V_Allen, November 21, 2021). Did Matthew intend to start his book as the new age of Genesis with Christ being the new incarnation for humanity? Or is it just accidental?

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Greek, Hellenic Judaism and the problem tongues of Corinth

A look at the problem tongues of Corinth being an internal linguistic struggle between Doric, Aeolic, and Attic Greeks. This is part 2 of an 7 part series on the mystery tongues of Corinth. Part 1, The Role of Hebrew in the Jewish Aramaic World, covered how Hebrew became the language of religion and worship …

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The Language of Ecclesiastical Greek

This article is intended to help beginners in Ecclesiastical Greek develop a strategy to translate a wide range of Church writings.

The Church fathers used the common written language in use during their time. This was Attic Greek.

There are two caveats though: first there are many sub-dialects in Attic Greek that the translator has to be conscious of. Secondly, many manuscripts were modified by medieval copyists and are mixed-bag of old and newer constructs.

Greek in the ancient world was much like the contemporary English language. There is koine English, which is a base form of English which many countries and regions share very similar commonalities. For example the United States south, British, and Australians can communicate with only a few problems. However, each one does have some distinct words and pronunciations that each party quickly recognizes and makes adjustments. Ecclesiastical Greek has many authors that wrote in their own sub-dialect similar to the slight differences found between British, American and Australian literature.

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