The New Testament was written in the language used in the Greek-speaking world from about 300 B.C. to A.D. 500. It was known as Koine or "common" Greek because it was street language—the language of the people—as opposed to the classical Greek of literature. Koine Greek was devised within the ranks of Alexander the Great army for one reason: to conquer the world. When Alexander first began pulling together an army from the Greek city-states over which he had won ascendancy, he found he had a serious problem. When his drill sergeants bellowed, "Left face, forward march," every soldier moved...
