Series: Eerdmans Language Resources

What did the apostles’ Greek sound like?

How would New Testament Greek have been pronounced? Often students are taught Erasmian pronunciation, which does not even reproduce Erasmus’s own pronunciation faithfully, let alone that of the New Testament authors. In his new book, Benjamin Kantor breaks a path toward an authentic pronunciation of Koine Greek at the time of the New Testament.

The first comprehensive phonological and orthographic study of Judeo-Palestinian Koine Greek, The Pronunciation of New Testament Greek surveys thousands of inscriptions and papyri to determine its historical pronunciation. Benjamin Kantor covers his cutting-edge methodology, the chosen sources, and their context before explaining the pronunciation of each Greek phoneme individually. Written for interested students and specialists alike, this guide includes both explicatory footnotes for novices and technical analysis for veterans.

Download A Sample: Complete Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

1. Phonology of Koine Greek in Modern Scholarship 
2. How Do We Know How Koine Greek Was Pronounced? 
3. Language and Society in Judea-Palestine 
4. The Authors of the Inscriptions and Documents 
5. How to Read (the Phonology Section of) This Book 
6. Judeo-Palestinian Koine in Time and Space 
7. Phonology: Consonants 
8. Phonology: Vowels and Diphthongs 
9. Accents: Regions, Registers, and Demographics 
10. Conclusions: Nature of Judeo-Palestinian Koine