Re: Help with Greek was Re: Babel Text in Obrenje

Peter Clark scripsit:

> 'Course, this means I need to brush up on my Greek.
Koine (common) Greek arose as a fusion of dialects (mostly Attic
and Ionic, with contributions from other dialects) around Alexander's time,
and was substantially complete by about the year +300.  It is the immediate
ancestor of today's spoken and written Greek.  However, because of the
prestige of Classical Attic, the Koine was rarely represented in writing.
The Bible is an exception because it was meant to be accessible to
everyone, not just the educated.

Note that in Classical times different dialects were used for different
literary purposes.

>         Here are some questions I have:
>         1. What "flavor" of Greek is the LXX? I assume that, since it is a
> translation, it would be translated into Classical Greek, being more
> literary, as opposed to Koine Greek.
Not at all.  Don't be deceived by the flavor of the KJV: back in 1611,
it was a fairly modern translation, with even some resemblance to
Basic English (only about 8000 distinct words, IIRC).

>         2. Is Byzantine Greek (let's say the Greek that was spoken in Constantinople
> from the third to the tenth century) Koine Greek?
Spoken yes, written no.

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_

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