Deissmann, and similarly well-known works by W.M. Deissmann, "Light from the Ancient East" by A. Milligan, the "Grammar of the New Testament Greek" by the former, and the book entitled "New Testament Documents" by the latter, "Bible Studies" by G.A. The fruit of these researches has been provided in such volumes as the "Vocabulary of the Greek Testament," by J.H. In its spoken form it was the everyday speech of millions of people throughout the Graeco-Roman world, and in the providence of God it was under these conditions and in this world-language that the New Testament was written.
In one form this language became the literary Koine, or Hellenistic, of such writers as Josephus. As the result of those conquests, the ancient Greek dialects became merged into one common speech, the Koine or 'common' Greek. Proof has thus been provided that the language of the New Testament was not a debased form of literary Greek corrupted by Hebrew idioms, but that in the main it was the vernacular, the speech of the everyday life of the people in the countries which came under Greek influence through the conquests of Alexander the Great. lies in the fact that they were written during the period in which the writers of the New Testament lived. The importance of the Egyptian papyri writings etc. The research work of the past fifty years, with the discovery of a large number of inscriptions and documents, and especially of the non-literary writings in the tombs and dust heaps of Egypt, has yielded much light upon the use and meaning of the language of the originals.
To ascertain the exact meaning of the words and phraseology of the originals of the Holy Scriptures is of great importance, particularly those which have a variety of meanings in English.
Preface to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words