From Mycenaean to Koine: Aspects of the Evolution of the Greek Language

Abstract

This paper gives a glimpse of the development of the Greek language from the Mycenaean to the Koine phase. The treatment of the matter is mostly of a general and introductory nature; it is neither comprehensive nor particularizing, getting into one or the other specifics, which would make a difference. Each sub-heading indicated here would require a longer, further and sharper deliberation. Every period of the development and evolution of this language distinguishes itself in numerous and varying ways. The differences between classical Greek and Koine are quite significant. The LXX has the features of an emerging and evolving Koine but is not without Semitic characteristics, being the translation a Hebrew work, whereas the New Testament is Koine proper. Since the Bible is the word of God expressed in the words of men and women (cf. Dei Verbum, 13)," naturally a thorough-going enquiry into the development of the language in which it was written is indispensable for its rightful understanding and interpretation. Hence it is imperative that the history and development of the Greek language, into which the Hebrew Old Testament was rendered and with which new works were produced (e.g., some of the Deutero-Canonicals, if not all) and in which the whole of New Testament was written, be studied diligently. It is through understanding such a delicate process that the exegesis of the longer Canon (Septuagint) and the New Testament are further sharpened and rightly accomplished.