Part Two · Reading the New Testament · Passages 70–95

John

26 passages in Greek and Latin, each with pronunciation, an English translation and a note on every word, then a practice set with answers.

Start with John 1:2 → Practice: John ▶ John in the video

Practice: John

25 questions · answers under each one

These questions use the twenty-six passages from John: the core words they introduce, forms to parse, places where the Latin differs from the Greek, and three verses to read at sight.

1. Match each Greek noun with its meaning.

  1. κόσμος
  2. λόγος
  3. ἁμαρτία
  4. εἰρήνη
  5. δόξα
  6. ὁδός
  7. ὕδωρ
  8. ἐντολή
  1. word, message
  2. way, road
  3. glory, honor
  4. water
  5. command, commandment
  6. peace
  7. sin
  8. world
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1–h, 2–a, 3–g, 4–f, 5–c, 6–b, 7–d, 8–e (κόσμος = world; λόγος = word, message; ἁμαρτία = sin; εἰρήνη = peace; δόξα = glory, honor; ὁδός = way, road; ὕδωρ = water; ἐντολή = command, commandment)

2. Match each Greek verb with its meaning.

  1. θέλω
  2. εὑρίσκω
  3. ἀγαπάω
  4. κρίνω
  5. τηρέω
  6. γράφω
  7. ἐσθίω
  8. περιπατέω
  1. to keep, guard
  2. to want, wish
  3. to judge
  4. to eat
  5. to love
  6. to walk, walk about
  7. to find
  8. to write
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1–b, 2–g, 3–e, 4–c, 5–a, 6–h, 7–d, 8–f (θέλω = to want, wish; εὑρίσκω = to find; ἀγαπάω = to love; κρίνω = to judge; τηρέω = to keep, guard; γράφω = to write; ἐσθίω = to eat; περιπατέω = to walk, walk about)

3. Match each Latin word with its meaning.

  1. mundus
  2. via
  3. aqua
  4. pāx
  5. peccātum
  6. glōria
  7. mandātum
  8. sermō
  1. sin
  2. peace
  3. way, road
  4. water
  5. word, speech
  6. world
  7. glory
  8. command, commandment
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1–f, 2–c, 3–d, 4–b, 5–a, 6–g, 7–h, 8–e (mundus = world; via = way, road; aqua = water; pāx = peace; peccātum = sin; glōria = glory; mandātum = command, commandment; sermō = word, speech)

4. Match each Greek word with the Latin word used for it in John.

  1. ἀγαπάω
  2. θέλω
  3. εὑρίσκω
  4. γράφω
  5. τηρέω
  6. νῦν
  7. ἤδη
  8. ποῦ
  1. jam
  2. ubi
  3. nunc
  4. servō
  5. scrībō
  6. dīligō
  7. inveniō
  8. volō
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1–f, 2–h, 3–g, 4–e, 5–d, 6–c, 7–a, 8–b (ἀγαπάω = dīligō; θέλω = volō; εὑρίσκω = inveniō; γράφω = scrībō; τηρέω = servō; νῦν = nunc; ἤδη = jam; ποῦ = ubi)

5. John 9:41: εἰ τυφλοὶ ἦτε, οὐκ ἂν εἴχετε ἁμαρτίαν. What does the little word ἄν do?

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(b) it marks the result as unreal: “you would have”ἄν has no English word of its own. With a past indicative it marks a condition contrary to fact. Latin leaves it out and uses the subjunctive (habērētis).

6. John 13:34: ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους. ἀλλήλους means:

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(b) one anotherἀλλήλων has no nominative, since “one another” is never a subject. Latin uses the adverb invicem.

7. Which Greek word points to “that (one)”, farther off, like Latin ille?

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(b) ἐκεῖνοςοὗτος = this (Latin hic); ἐκεῖνος = that (Latin ille), as in John 1:8, οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς / Nōn erat ille lūx.

8. Parse ἠθέλησεν (John 1:43): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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θέλω, “to want, wish”: aorist active indicative, 3rd person singularThe augment of θέλω is ἠ- (ἤθελον, ἠθέλησα); -σεν is the 3rd singular aorist ending.

9. Parse λύσατε (John 2:19): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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λύω, “to loose, destroy”: aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural-σατε = aorist σα + -τε, as in ἀκούσατε (Matthew 13:18). λύω, “loose, undo”, here means “tear down!”. Latin solvite.

10. Parse ἐγερῶ (John 2:19): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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ἐγείρω, “to raise, wake”: future active indicative, 1st person singularA liquid future: no σ, and a circumflex on the ending (ἐγερῶ, ἐγερεῖς, ἐγερεῖ). Latin excitābō.

11. Parse προσκυνήσετε (John 4:21): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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προσκυνέω, “to worship, bow down”: future active indicative, 2nd person plural-σετε: future σ plus the 2nd plural ending -ετε. The contract vowel ε lengthens to η before σ.

12. Parse φαγεῖν (John 4:33): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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ἐσθίω, “to eat”: aorist active infinitiveφαγ- is the second-aorist stem of ἐσθίω (ἔφαγον), another verb with two stems. -εῖν is the second-aorist infinitive ending.

13. Parse ἀγαπᾶτε (John 13:34): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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ἀγαπάω, “to love”: present active subjunctive, 2nd person plural (after ἵνα; the indicative would look the same)In -άω verbs the subjunctive (ἀγαπα-ητε) and the indicative (ἀγαπα-ετε) both contract to ἀγαπᾶτε; ἵνα, which takes the subjunctive, tells you which it is. Latin dīligātis is subjunctive too.

14. Parse ἠγάπησα (John 13:34): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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ἀγαπάω, “to love”: aorist active indicative, 1st person singularAugment ἠ-, stem vowel α lengthened to η before σ, and the ending -σα: “I loved”. Latin dīlēxī.

15. Parse γέγραφα (John 19:22): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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γράφω, “to write”: perfect active indicative, 1st person singularReduplication γε- and the ending -α mark the perfect: the writing is done and stands. Latin scrīpsī.

16. Parse ἡμέραις (John 2:19): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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ἡμέρα, “day”: noun, dative plural feminine-αις is the dative plural of the first declension. ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις = “in three days” (time within which).

17. Parse the Latin vidēbit (John 8:51): give its dictionary form and a full parse.

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videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsum, “to see”: future active indicative, 3rd person singular2nd-conjugation futures use -b-: vidēbō, vidēbis, vidēbit. Here it renders the strong Greek negation οὐ μὴ θεωρήσῃ.

18. John 1:2: Greek οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ, “this one (masculine) was in the beginning”. Latin has hoc erat in prīncipiō, with the neuter hoc. Why?

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“This” refers to the Word. In Greek, λόγος is masculine, so οὗτος; in Latin, verbum is neuter, so hoc. Each pronoun agrees with its own language’s noun.

19. John 1:43: Greek ἀκολούθει μοι, “follow me”, has μοι in the dative. Latin sequere mē has the accusative. Why?

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ἀκολουθέω takes the dative; Latin sequor takes the accusative. (Sequere is the imperative of the deponent sequor, passive in form but active in meaning.)

20. John 10:21: Greek ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα οὐκ ἔστιν … has a singular verb with a plural subject. Latin says haec verba nōn sunt … Why the difference?

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In Greek a neuter plural subject usually takes a singular verb (ἔστιν). Latin has no such rule, so the plural subject verba takes a plural verb (sunt).

21. John 8:51: Greek θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσῃ uses οὐ μή with an aorist subjunctive. Latin says mortem nōn vidēbit, with a future. Why?

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οὐ μή + aorist subjunctive is the strongest Greek denial of a future event: “he will never see”. Latin has no such idiom and uses a plain negative future, nōn vidēbit.

22. John 9:41: εἰ τυφλοὶ ἦτε, οὐκ ἂν εἴχετε ἁμαρτίαν becomes sī caecī essētis, nōn habērētis peccātum. How does each language mark the condition as unreal?

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Greek uses past tenses of the indicative (ἦτε, εἴχετε) plus ἄν in the result. Latin uses the imperfect subjunctive in both halves (essētis, habērētis).Both mean: “If you were blind (but you are not), you would not have sin.”

23. Sight reading (John 1:10, not one of the video passages). Translate the Greek and the Latin.

Greek: Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω.

Latin: In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit.

Help: δι’ = διά, through (with the genitive); ἐγένετο = came to be (aorist of γίνομαι); ἔγνω = knew (aorist of γινώσκω); factus est = came to be, was made; cognōvit = knew, recognized.

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Greek: “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, and the world did not know him.” Latin: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.”The subject “he” is inside the verbs ἦν / erat. Greek δι’ αὐτοῦ = Latin per ipsum, “through him”.

24. Sight reading (John 10:30, not one of the video passages). Translate the Greek and the Latin.

Greek: ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν.

Latin: Ego et Pater unum sumus.

Help: ἕν = one (neuter of εἷς); ūnum = one (neuter of ūnus).

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Greek and Latin: “I and the Father are one.”Both languages use the neuter, “one thing”, not the masculine “one person”: ἕν / ūnum. The verb is 1st person plural: ἐσμέν / sumus, “we are”.

25. Sight reading (John 13:17, not one of the video passages). Translate the Greek and the Latin.

Greek: εἰ ταῦτα οἴδατε, μακάριοί ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε αὐτά.

Latin: Si haec scitis, beati eritis si feceritis ea.

Help: οἴδατε = you know (οἶδα); scītis = you know (sciō); ποιῆτε = you do (present subjunctive of ποιέω after ἐάν); fēceritis = you will have done.

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Greek: “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Latin: “If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (word for word: “if you will have done them”).Latin looks forward: future eritis (“you will be”) and future perfect fēceritis, where Greek has the present ἐστε and ἐάν + present subjunctive. αὐτά and ea are both neuter plural: “them (these things)”.

In the PDF: passages from page 97, practice set on page 122. Open the PDF at the practice set.

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