Reading Passages: Biblical

Reading Passages

 

Assignment

1. Read the entire passage aloud in Greek.

2. Vocabulary and commentary is provided for each sentence. For words that do not appear in the vocabulary, please use your dictionary.

3. Translate the passage. As you translate the sentences, pay careful attention to words that go together, such as prepositional phrases and relative clauses. Breaking the sentences up into logical units is oftentimes a better first approach than attempting to translate all the words in succession.

To download this assignment as a pdf, click here: AGE Readings 10b.

 

Biblical Reading

From the history of Jerusalem, the kings Jehoiachin and Zedekiah and the loss of the city to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon:

Note: some verbs in the original passage in past tenses have been converted to present tense for this reading.

8. υἱὸς ὀκτωκαίδεκα ἐτῶν Ιωακιμ ἐν τῷ βασιλεύειν αὐτὸν καὶ τρίμηνον βασίλευει ἐν Ιερουσαλημ, καὶ ὄνομα τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ Νεσθα θυγάτηρ Ελλαναθαν ἐξ Ιερουσαλημ.

10. …ἀναβαίνει Ναβουχοδονοσορ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Ιερουσαλημ, καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ πόλις ἐν περιοχῇ.

11. καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Ναβουχοδονοσορ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ πολιορκοῦσιν ἐπ’ αὐτήν.

12. καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ιωακιμ βασιλεὺς Ιουδα ἐπὶ βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος, αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ εὐνοῦχοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ λαμβάνει αὐτὸν βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος ἐν ἔτει ὀγδόῳ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ. …

15. καὶ ἀποικεῖ τὸν Ιωακιμ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα καὶ τὴν μητέρα τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τοὺς εὐνούχους αὐτοῦ·… ἐξ Ιερουσαλημ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα

16. καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἄνδρας τῆς δυνάμεως … ἄγει αὐτοὺς βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος μετοικεσίαν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα.

17. καὶ βασίλευει βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος τὸν Μαθθανιαν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἀντ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιτίθησι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Σεδεκια.

18. υἱὸς εἴκοσι καὶ ἑνὸς ἐνιαυτοῦ Σεδεκιας ἐν τῷ βασιλεύειν αὐτὸν καὶ ἕνδεκα ἔτη βασίλευει ἐν Ιερουσαλημ, καὶ ὄνομα τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ Αμιταλ θυγάτηρ Ιερεμιου…

Zedekiah rebels against King Nebuchadnezzar.

25. 1. καὶ … ἦλθεν Ναβουχοδονοσορ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Ιερουσαλημ καὶ παρεμβάλλει ἐπ’ αὐτὴν καὶ οἰκοδομεῖ ἐπ’ αὐτὴν περίτειχος κύκλῳ.

2. καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ πόλις ἐν περιοχῇ ἕως τοῦ ἑνδεκάτου ἔτους τοῦ βασιλέως Σεδεκιου· …

4. καὶ ἐρράγη ἡ πόλις, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄνδρες τοῦ πολέμου ἐξῆλθον νυκτὸς ὁδὸν πύλης τῆς ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν τειχέων, …

5. καὶ διώκει ἡ δύναμις τῶν Χαλδαίων ὀπίσω τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ καταλαμβάνει αὐτὸν…

6. καὶ συλλαμβάνει τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ἄγει αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος …, καὶ λαλεῖ μετ’ αὐτοῦ κρίσιν…

LXX 2 Kings 24.8-25.6

 

ἀναβαίνω advance

ἀνὰ μέσον between

ἀποικέω settle, immigrate

βασιλείας (gen sg) ἡ rule, kingship

βασιλεύω be king, make king

δύναμις -εως ἡ power, force

εἴκοσι twenty

εἰσῆλθεν (3rd sg) entered

ἕνδεκα eleven

ἑνδεκάτου (gen sg) ὁ/τό eleventh

ἐνιαυτοῦ (gen sg) ὁ year

ἑνός (gen sg) ὁ one

ἐξῆλθεν (3rd sg) ἐξῆλθον (3rd pl) exited

ἐπιτίθημι put on, assume

ἐρράγη (3rd sg) was broken into

εὐνοῦχοι (nom pl) εὐνούχους (acc pl) ὁ eunuchs

ἕως until

ἦλθεν (3rd sg) came

καταλαμβάνω capture

κρίσις –εως ἡ judgment

κύκλῳ in a circle

μετοικεσίαν (acc sg) ἡ resettled

ὀγδόῳ eighth

ὁδὸν (acc sg) ἡ road

οικοδομέω build

ὀκτωκαίδεκα eighteen

ὀπίσω behind, after

πάντες (nom pl) πάντας (acc pl) ὁ all

παρεμβάλλω set up camp at

πᾶσα (nom sg) ἡ all

περιοχῇ (dat sg) ἡ section, domain

περίτειχος –ους τό siege works

πολέμου (gen sg) ὁ war

πολιορκέω mount an attack

πύλης (gen sg) ἡ gate

συλλαμβάνω take along

τρίμηνον three months

υἱός (nom sg) ὁ son

Χαλδαίων (gen pl) ὁ Chaldeans

 

Notes:

24. 8. ὀκτωκαίδεκα ἐτῶν: age expressed in the genitive case

ἐν τῷ βασιλεύειν αὐτὸν: “at the time he was ruling this (i.e. Jerusalem)”

18. εἴκοσι καὶ ἑνὸς ἐνιαυτοῦ: age expressed in the genitive case

25.  4. νυκτὸς: genitive of time within which

τῆς ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν τειχέων: τῆς modifies πύλης; ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν τειχέων describes the πύλης

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Ancient Greek for Everyone by Wilfred E. Major and Michael Laughy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.