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Over the past two and a half years, we have covered some of the elements of New Testament Greek and have laid a foundation for reading the Greek New Testament. As we end our study together in these pages, you should plan to continue to use the skills you have gained if you wish to retain them. Following are some resources that will help you do this. Most are standard texts that have served Greek students for several years. Some may only be available in libraries or used-book stores, but most are still in print.
Concordances
A concordance is an alphabetically arranged index of Scripture words. W. F. Moulton and A. S. Geden’s A Concordance to the Greek Testament, fifth edition (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1897), is still very useful, even though it is based on an outdated Greek text. Better still is the Konkordanz zum Novum Testamentum Graece, edited by H. Bachmann and W. A. Slaby (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1987), which includes a generous amount of text for each entry and is based on the Nestle-Aland 26th edition of the Greek New Testament and on the United Bible Societies third (corrected) edition (UBS3).
Lexicons and Translation Aids
For help with translation, every serious student of the New Testament should have W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BAGD), translated and adapted by W. F. Arndt and W. F. Gingrich, second edition revised and augmented by W. F. Gingrich and F. W. Danker (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1979). In addition to providing definitions, BAGD includes information on the history of words and suggests translations of difficult words. A user-friendly alternative to BAGD is G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, third edition (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1937), which provides corresponding Hebrew words and contains a helpful appendix of irregular verb forms.
For rapid reading, an excellent resource is F. Rienecker’s A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981). This book proceeds through the New Testament in canonical order, listing under the appropriate chapter and verse any difficult form or grammatical construction. It also includes references culled from the leading lexicons, grammars and commentaries.
Textual Criticism
We have said little about New Testament textual criticism, but not because this field is unimportant. The standard introduction to the principles and methods of textual criticism is still B. M. Metzger’s The Text of the New Testament, third edition (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1991), though D. A. Black’s less technical New Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, forthcoming) may also be consulted. If you want to understand why the UBS3 editors preferred one reading over another, Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York: United Bible Societies, 1975) is indispensable.
Grammars
As you continue to study New Testament Greek, you will find the following grammars helpful: H. E. Dana and J. R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the New Testament (New York: Macmillan, 1927); J. H. Greenlee, A Concise Exegetical Grammar of New Testament Greek, revised third edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1963); J. A. Brooks and C. L. Winbery, Syntax of New Testament Greek (Lanham, MD: Univ. Press of America, 1979); D. A. Black, Learn to Read New Testament Greek (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1993).
Linguistic Analysis
Several helpful works on New Testament Greek linguistics are available, including J. P. Louw, Semantics of New Testament Greek (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982); M. Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning: An Introduction to Lexical Semantics (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1983); D. A. Black, Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek: A Survey of Basic Concepts and Applications (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1988); P. Cotterell and M. Turner, Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1989). On the relatively new field of Greek discourse analysis, see J. Beekman and J. Callow, The Semantic Structure of Written Communication (Dallas: SIL, 1981) and, more recently, D. A. Black, editor, Linguistics and New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Discourse Analysis (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1992). The earlier work of J. P. Louw, “Discourse Analysis and the Greek New Testament,” The Bible Translator 24 (1973), pp. 101–118, is still useful.
New Testament Exegesis
On moving from text to sermon, the following works will be helpful: G. D. Fee, New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983); W. L. Liefeld, New Testament Exposition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984); N. Windham, New Testament Greek for Preachers and Teachers (Lanham, MD: Univ. Press of America, 1991); D. A. Black, Using New Testament Greek in Ministry: A Practical Guide for Students and Pastors (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1993). On the various methods employed in New Testament interpretation, see I. H. Marshall, editor, New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Principles and Methods (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977), and D. A. Black and D. S. Dockery, editors, New Testament Criticism and Interpretation: Essays on Methods and Issues (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991).
The History of Greek
On the nature of New Testament Greek and the history of the Greek language, see J. H. Greenlee, “The Language of the New Testament,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1979), volume 1, pp. 409–416, and D. J. A. Clines, “The Language of the New Testament,” in The International Bible Commentary, editor F. F. Bruce (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1986), pp. 1012–1018.
Other Useful Works
On verbal aspect: S. Porter, Verbal Aspect in the Greek of the New Testament (New York: Lang, 1989); and B. M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1990). On Greek word order: G. Hill, editor, The Discovery Bible (Chicago: Moody, 1989), pp. 549–554; and I. Larsen, “Word Order and Relative 063Prominence in New Testament Greek,” Notes on Translation 5 (1991), pp. 29–34. On the Semitic coloring of New Testament Greek: C. F. D. Moule, An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1963), pp. 171–191; and D. A. Black, “New Testament Semitisms,” The Bible Translator 39 (1988), pp. 215–223. On Greek word study: J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, two volumes (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988); G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, editors, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, translated and edited by G. W. Bromiley, ten volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–1976); and C. Brown, editor, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, four volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975–1986).
At this point I will say goodbye to you as you set out on an adventure that never ends. Your progress has brought you to the gateway of the challenging yet rewarding world of reading the New Testament in the original Greek. Enjoy it!
Over the past two and a half years, we have covered some of the elements of New Testament Greek and have laid a foundation for reading the Greek New Testament. As we end our study together in these pages, you should plan to continue to use the skills you have gained if you wish to retain them. Following are some resources that will help you do this. Most are standard texts that have served Greek students for several years. Some may only be available in libraries or used-book stores, but most are still in print. Concordances A concordance is […]
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