Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Yohanan bin-Dawidh wrote:
> Shoshanna,
>
> I would agree with Gary here, except for the idea that it was the lingua
> franca of the day, for outside of the NT there is no evidence of such per
> se. Actually, most honest Greek speakers would tell you that Koine is trash
> talk, gutter language, i.e. not good Greek, and the reason why is that it is
> as if a bunch of people who did not speak Greek took a dictionary, and tried
> to translate from their language into Greek without knowing the language to
> which were translating.
>   

HH: You should have stuck with simply agreeing with Gary. Here's some 
information about Koine Greek:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek

Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek", or ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, "the 
common dialect") is the popular form of Greek that emerged in 
post-classical antiquity (c.300 BC – AD 300), and marks the third period 
in the history of the Greek language. Other names are Alexandrian, 
Hellenistic, Common, or New Testament Greek. Koine Greek is important 
not only to the history of the Greeks for being their first common 
dialect and main ancestor of Demotic Greek, but it is also significant 
for its impact on Western Civilization as a lingua franca for the 
Mediterranean. Koine also was the original language of the New Testament 
of the Christian Bible as well as the medium for the teaching and 
spreading of Christianity. Koine Greek was unofficially a first or 
second language in the Roman Empire.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard