32.232 Proper Names

Make sure you read Croy section 232 on proper names carefully. Proper names include the names of people, nations, and places. In Greek, these names are usually capitalized as in English (but remember, this is a modern printing convention: in ancient times all writing was done with capital letters only). Unlike English, Greek often uses a definite article with proper names.

Many names in Biblical Greek are not actually Greek in origin. This means they do not fall conveniently into one of the standard noun declensions. These names are therefore "indeclinable," which means they do not change their form based on their function in the sentence. However, the definite article does decline, so you can often use the definite article to give you a clue about the case of a name, even when the name itself does not decline.

Some Biblical names, even though they are not of Greek origin, do decline into different case forms. Make sure you study the examples provided by Croy for the names Jesus, John, and Moses. You should be able to recognize the different forms of these names.