Learn Greek

In one sentence: the New Testament was written in Greek, and its 24 letters are enough to start reading the names it gives the Holy Spirit.

The apostles wrote in Koine, the common Greek of the first-century Roman world. Many of its letters are already familiar from mathematics and from the capitals of the English alphabet. Learn the table below, then read the Names of the Holy Spirit word cards, which add the letters a few at a time. Learn Hebrew does the same for the Old Testament.

The alphabet

The sounds are the ones taught for reading the New Testament, which this site's transliterations follow (the SBL Handbook of Style).

Capital	Small	Name	Written	Sound
Α	α	alpha	a	a in father
Β	β	beta	b	b
Γ	γ	gamma	g	hard g in go; before γ, κ, ξ or χ it is n: ἄγγελος, angelos
Δ	δ	delta	d	d
Ε	ε	epsilon	e	e in get
Ζ	ζ	zeta	z	z, or dz
Η	η	eta	ē	e in they
Θ	θ	theta	th	th in thin
Ι	ι	iota	i	i in machine, or in sit
Κ	κ	kappa	k	k
Λ	λ	lambda	l	l
Μ	μ	mu	m	m
Ν	ν	nu	n	n
Ξ	ξ	xi	x	x in box
Ο	ο	omicron	o	o in not
Π	π	pi	p	p
Ρ	ρ	rho	r	r; at the start of a word rh
Σ	σ, ς	sigma	s	s; written ς at the end of a word
Τ	τ	tau	t	t
Υ	υ	upsilon	y	French u; in a diphthong u
Φ	φ	phi	ph	f
Χ	χ	chi	ch	ch in Scottish loch
Ψ	ψ	psi	ps	ps in lapse
Ω	ω	omega	ō	o in tone

Two vowels together often make one sound, a diphthong: αι (ai, as in aisle), ει (ei, as in eight), οι (oi, as in oil), ου (ou, as in soup), αυ (au, as in house) and ευ (eu). A mark like a reversed apostrophe over an opening vowel, the rough breathing, adds an h: ἅγιον is hagion, "holy". The accents (´ ` ˜) mark the stressed syllable.

Modern Greek is pronounced differently: β is v, δ is th as in this, and η, ι, υ, ει and οι are all ee. So πνεῦμα is pneuma in the classroom and pnevma in Athens. The cards give the classroom reading, and a line on each says what the word means in Greek today.

The capitals of the manuscripts

The oldest copies of the New Testament were written in capitals only, with no spaces between words and no accents: the uncial script. Their sigma was the round lunate sigma, Ϲ. So John 3:8's πνεῦμα appears as ΠΝΕΥΜΑ. The scribes also wrote sacred names short, with a line over them: ΘϹ for θεός (God, G2316), ΙϹ for Ἰησοῦς (Jesus, G2424), and ΠΝΑ for πνεῦμα when it means the Spirit. The word cards show each word in uncial capitals beneath the modern print.

Word cards

The Names of the Holy Spirit: Greek Word Cards. Sixteen printable flashcards, from πνεῦμα to "not to men but to God", in an order that brings in all 24 letters.

Keep going: a free Greek course

Lingua Deo Gloria teaches Koine Greek free of charge, by stories, pictures and conversation, the way Aleph with Beth teaches Hebrew. Level 1 of its online course assumes no Greek, and its illustrated readers, free to read, include Colossians, Philemon, Jude and 1 John as visual readers. It also runs free live online classes taught mostly in Greek, and a Greek handwriting workbook is on its resources page.