Here is another hymn from the Greek New Testament. This time, it’s Luke 2:29-32, the Nunc dimittis, which makes a fitting Christmas hymn when sung to the tune GREENSLEEVES (“What Child Is This?”):
νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου,
δέσποτα, κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου
ἐν εἰρήνῃ· ὅτι εἶδον οἱ
ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου,
ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ
πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν,
φῶς εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν
καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ.
It is pronounced approximately as follows:
Neen ah-poh-LEE-ees tohn DHOO-lohn soo,
DHESS-poh-tah, kah-TAH toh REE-mah soo
en ee-REE-nee; OH-tee EE-dhohn ee
ohf-thahl-MEE moo toh soh-TEE-ree-ohn soo
oh ee-TEE-mah-sahs kah-TAH
PROH-soh-pohn PAHN-dohn tohn lah-OHN,
fohs ees ah-poh-KAH-leep-seen eth-NOHN
keh DHOHK-sahn lah-OO soo ees-rah-EEL.
technorati tags: christmas, nunc dimittis
Of course, for those of us who were first taught Erasmian pronunciation (and have to work to get the modern Greek pronunciation), it’s harder to sing. But thanks for this, anyway.
Well, then sing it the Erasmian way!
If we can excuse each others bad theology, we can surely excuse each other’s outlandish pronunciation of Greek. 