2 Timothy 2:15 — “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
Use an interlinear to slow down, check each word, and learn to ‘handle’ the text with care.
Practice 1: SELF-ORGANISED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Access any passage in the Greek NT through Google. Insert the word “interlinear” after the reference tag (book, chapter, and verse) to reach the Bible Hub repository for self-organised learning. For example, type <John 1:1 interlinear> into the search engine and click the first link to access the available resources for that verse, both ancient and modern.
Example: John 1:1
| Greek (NA/Byz) | English (literal) |
|---|---|
| Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος | In the beginning was the Word |
| καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν | and the Word was with God |
| καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. | and the Word was God. |
Practice 2: TRANSLITERATION
Locate and identify the romanised version (in blue lettering) of each phrase, found immediately above the corresponding word-for-word text, following the Greek word order from left to right.
John 11:35 in Greek is Ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, transliterated Edákrysen ho Iēsoûs (“Jesus wept”).
Practice 3: PATTERN RECOGNITION
Recognise patterns in words occurring >x500, x201–500, x151–200, x101–150, etc., according to the frequency list supplied by Bruce Metzger (Lexical Aids for Students of NT Greek) : Word list
Practice 4: LINE BY LINE
Translate based on recognising root words and their corresponding morphology. For verbs and nouns in particular, notice how these “silk worms” produce different kinds of “threads” that indicate time, mood, action, etc.
λόγος (logos) is a noun, so it does not show time or mood (those are verb categories), but it does show “action” only in the limited sense of case (its syntactic role); for example: ὁ λόγος = nominative singular (“the Word” as subject), τὸν λόγον = accusative singular (“the Word” as object), τοῦ λόγου = genitive singular (“of the Word”), τῷ λόγῳ = dative singular (“to/for the Word”).
Example (verb showing time and mood):
λέγω (legō) is a verb, so it shows time (tense-form) and mood; for example: λέγω = present indicative 1st singular (“I say / I am saying”), ἔλεγον = imperfect indicative 1st singular (“I was saying”), εἴπω = aorist subjunctive 1st singular (“that I may say / I might say”).
Practice 5: PRECEPT BY PRECEPT
Organise revelation phrase by phrase, according to the breathing and punctuation marks supplied in the text itself, without commentary.
Matthew 6:33 (Greek → literal): ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν \[τοῦ θεοῦ\] καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ → “But seek first the kingdom \[of God\] and his righteousness,” then note phrase-by-phrase the key forms: ζητεῖτε (present imperative, “keep seeking”), πρῶτον (“first”), τὴν βασιλείαν (accusative object, “the kingdom”), τὴν δικαιοσύνην (accusative object, “the righteousness”), αὐτοῦ (genitive, “of him / his”).
Practice 6: ARTICULATION
Survey how biblical authors choose to articulate spoken revelation out loud, according to the modality, context, and idiolect of each contributor.
Practice 7: Words Occurring (Metzger’s List)
Consider making handwritten flashcards to support memory work, or use the digital ones provided here, according to frequency of use, with particular emphasis on metamorphosis from stem to root to the final form of the word as used in the text.