Great Online Tool for Getting a Quick Greek Overview of Certain Verses

I am pausing my clock for my online job to write this quick note. Bible Gateway has a translation available online that is a great tool for anyone that is not a Greek scholar but who wants to dig deeper into the meaning of God’s word (I am not a Greek scholar!). You can simply type in the book, chapter, and verse. Or, you can read chunks at a time or use this source to study. It is a translation provided by Bill Mounce, one of the most well-known and respected authorities on Koine Greek (as opposed to Classical Greek, Koine Greek was the common language with which the New Testament was originally written).

Let’s take John 3:16 for example. If you click here and then type “John 3:16,” the following will appear:

You can then click on each Greek word that is shown. Let’s say that you are interested in the type of love that is mentioned here. C.S. Lewis writes that there are four Greek words for love: storge, eros, philia, agape (see his book, The Four Loves). All you have to do is scroll the mouse over “loved” and click. The particular Greek word (with it’s particular tense in that passage) will then appear in the right-hand column. It looks like this:

As you can see, the transliterated word agapao is a different tense than the root, but it still gives a good indicaiton of what is meant here by the word “love” in John 3:16. This kind of love, God’s unconditional love, it not based upon the merit of the beloved. This is handy to know and is wonderful to grasp on a personal level.

So whether you are studying to teach or wanting to get a better idea on what a verse means, this is a great source. Also, I have found that Mounce’s English translation reads well and is therefore pleasurable to interact with. That being said, I still enjoy using the NIV on a personal level and the NRSV for more academic-related work, but this is a good source for anyone that is hungry to know and understand God’s word.

My prayer is that we will approach Scripture with a pure heart, truly longing to know what God is saying as opposed to what we want him to say.

Hope this helps.