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Greek Grammars and Helps
- Thread starter John of Japan
- Start date
Hopefully they picked up some grammar on the way through it!
What about the Intermediate Grammar by Dr wallace then?
I'll get there in a couple of posts. I do have that one.
Well, since Yeshua1 brought it up, I'll go ahead and review Dr. Wallace's intermediate grammar, though I was planning to do Dr. Black's next, because it's such fun!
Anyway, Daniel Wallace's intermediate grammar is The Basics of New Testament Syntax, with this sentence on the cover: "The Abridgment of Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics," which is his advanced grammar. For anyone who does not know, syntax is the grammatical study of how sentences are constructed, so some intermediate grammars use the word in their titles.
This is an excellent intermediate grammar, and is being used all over the country for second year Greek, including at our college. At 321 pages (plus an index, but no appendices) for the body of the text, it's longer than the usual intermediate grammar, which I think is a good thing. The complete coverage gives the prof some leeway in emphasizing what he thinks is important.
The writing style is somewhat dry, but is augmented by 81 charts, figures and diagrams. This is very helpful.
All in all, this is an excellent textbook and resource. However, it is definitely not for the beginner or someone who doesn't know Greek at all.
Anyway, Daniel Wallace's intermediate grammar is The Basics of New Testament Syntax, with this sentence on the cover: "The Abridgment of Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics," which is his advanced grammar. For anyone who does not know, syntax is the grammatical study of how sentences are constructed, so some intermediate grammars use the word in their titles.
This is an excellent intermediate grammar, and is being used all over the country for second year Greek, including at our college. At 321 pages (plus an index, but no appendices) for the body of the text, it's longer than the usual intermediate grammar, which I think is a good thing. The complete coverage gives the prof some leeway in emphasizing what he thinks is important.
The writing style is somewhat dry, but is augmented by 81 charts, figures and diagrams. This is very helpful.
All in all, this is an excellent textbook and resource. However, it is definitely not for the beginner or someone who doesn't know Greek at all.
The thread is titled Greek Grammar and Helps.
The Greek is 'Greek to me'!
Here are Paradigm charts for Hebrew and Greek [LINK].
Rob
The Greek is 'Greek to me'!
Here are Paradigm charts for Hebrew and Greek [LINK].
Rob
Dr. David Alan Black's intermediate grammar is entitled, It's Still Greek to Me, and is excellent. It's shorter than I would like at 157 pages, but it has a key to the exercises and two appendices after that, taking it to 182 pages. It then has three indexes: subject, Greek words and Scripture references. (By the way, the exercises are a good idea, seldom included in intermediate grammars.)
The first appendix gives conjugations to all the omega verbs, which is good to have as a handy reference, even in an intermediate grammar. The second gives the "Principle Parts of Selected Verbs," another handy reference.
All of this is in Dr. Black's very readable style, something that is welcome in Greek grammars, believe me! His sense of humor also comes through quite often, as with his great chart on the prepositions. The usual chart (including mine in Japanese) just has a box with arrows and prepositions in various positions. Dr. Black's has little mice going in and out and up and down and on top of a big piece of cheese. I love it! Again, his chapter titles are great. I love Ch. 3 on the cases, "Just in Case," with a subtitle, "Overcoming Declension Apprehension."
So, all in all I highly recommend this intermediate grammar. In Japan I recommended it to my last student when he got to the intermediate stage, and he loved it, even though his English was not that fluent.
The first appendix gives conjugations to all the omega verbs, which is good to have as a handy reference, even in an intermediate grammar. The second gives the "Principle Parts of Selected Verbs," another handy reference.
All of this is in Dr. Black's very readable style, something that is welcome in Greek grammars, believe me! His sense of humor also comes through quite often, as with his great chart on the prepositions. The usual chart (including mine in Japanese) just has a box with arrows and prepositions in various positions. Dr. Black's has little mice going in and out and up and down and on top of a big piece of cheese. I love it! Again, his chapter titles are great. I love Ch. 3 on the cases, "Just in Case," with a subtitle, "Overcoming Declension Apprehension."
So, all in all I highly recommend this intermediate grammar. In Japan I recommended it to my last student when he got to the intermediate stage, and he loved it, even though his English was not that fluent.
The most popular advanced grammar nowadays is Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, by Daniel B. Wallace, and for good reasons. (1) Dr. Wallace is one of the premier Greek scholars of the day. (2) The book is very complete, 725 pages of grammar plus: Syntax Summaries (pp. 726-764), a "Cheat Sheet" (765-769), a detailed subject index, a Greek word index, and a Scripture index. These last two are very needed since a vast number of Greek words and Scripture references are used.
I've consulted this work often, but it is not one to read straight through unless you are completely captivated by Greek grammar! I have read through the occasional intermediate grammar, but don't think I'll ever tackle this one. But its value to the Greek prof, student, translator and scholar is incalculable.
A number of other facts are worth noting. First of all, as Dr. Wallace points out in his preface, this work was developed in and for the classroom. This makes it very practical. Secondly, since it is copyright 1996, it is up to date with virtually all recent discoveries in lexicography and grammar from the papyri and other sources. Indeed, the list of abbreviations (for Bibles, Greek NTs, periodicals and other works) is 7 pages long, showing that Dr. Wallace has kept up with (and produced) a great volume of work.
Therefore, I recommend this volume heartily--but not for the faint of grammar. Sneaky
I've consulted this work often, but it is not one to read straight through unless you are completely captivated by Greek grammar! I have read through the occasional intermediate grammar, but don't think I'll ever tackle this one. But its value to the Greek prof, student, translator and scholar is incalculable.
A number of other facts are worth noting. First of all, as Dr. Wallace points out in his preface, this work was developed in and for the classroom. This makes it very practical. Secondly, since it is copyright 1996, it is up to date with virtually all recent discoveries in lexicography and grammar from the papyri and other sources. Indeed, the list of abbreviations (for Bibles, Greek NTs, periodicals and other works) is 7 pages long, showing that Dr. Wallace has kept up with (and produced) a great volume of work.
Therefore, I recommend this volume heartily--but not for the faint of grammar. Sneaky
The last grammar I'll mention is the monumental work by the great A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek new Testament in the Light of Historical Research. Though it was copyrighted way back in 1934, this is still 1221 pages (including "Additional Notes") of pure Greek gold!
This is obviously an advanced Greek grammar, and not for the first year student, maybe not even for the second year student. But translators, profs, textual critics and other pros need this .I have consulted it often while doing translation work.
At the end of the text there is a general index, then one for Greek words, then one for quotations: NT, OT, Greek literature, and even a few Latin quotes. As if this wasn't enough, there are a "Addendas" with added notes on various subjects for the 2nd and 3rd editions, and then indexes to those
This grammar is an absolute "must have" for all advanced students of Greek.
This is obviously an advanced Greek grammar, and not for the first year student, maybe not even for the second year student. But translators, profs, textual critics and other pros need this .I have consulted it often while doing translation work.
At the end of the text there is a general index, then one for Greek words, then one for quotations: NT, OT, Greek literature, and even a few Latin quotes. As if this wasn't enough, there are a "Addendas" with added notes on various subjects for the 2nd and 3rd editions, and then indexes to those
This grammar is an absolute "must have" for all advanced students of Greek.
The works by Dr Wallace, his full size intermediate tome, and this big Greek Grammar are pretty much all that would be required by someone who is quite fluent in the biblical greek grammar i would think!
I have Dr Wallace on DVD, and find it helpful ito use with the UBS Greek text on same disk...
I have Dr Wallace on DVD, and find it helpful ito use with the UBS Greek text on same disk...
Sometimes Robertson has something Wallace does not, and vice versa.
By DVD do you mean software? Or video? I know he has a video version of his basic grammar.
I have one more Greek book by Dr. David Alan Black, Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek (2nd ed.). This is not a grammar, but still excellent help for students. Unfortunately, some have criticized the application of modern linguistic principles to ancient Greek, but this is a poorly thought out position. Chief among the critics might be Robert L. Thomas in his book, Evangelical Hermeneutics. Chapter 8 of that book is "Modern Linguistics and Hermeneutics, and it's a dilly. Overall this is a helpful book, but Thomas simply misses understanding the subject in question.
My son, mentored by Dr. Black for his PhD, is less complimentary than I am on this! Please note that Dr. Black is very conservative theologically, and his books have not the slightest hint of liberalism in them.
To continue, I've read quite a few books on linguistics, but this one helped me greatly. A lot of it is just basic stuff: phonology, morphology, etc. It is when the book enters the area of semantics. Following Barr (who I don't like) and Silva in this area, Black's discussion in ch. 5 is very helpful: "Semantics: Determining Meaning."
The last chapter is "Discourse Analysis: Getting the Big Picture." This is an area I'm familiar with, having discussed it in my contribution to the festschrift of Dr. Maurice Robinson. Overall Dr. Black does a good job here, but it is important to comment that discourse analysis is many different things to many different people. Regardless, this chapter is also helpful.
My son, mentored by Dr. Black for his PhD, is less complimentary than I am on this! Please note that Dr. Black is very conservative theologically, and his books have not the slightest hint of liberalism in them.
To continue, I've read quite a few books on linguistics, but this one helped me greatly. A lot of it is just basic stuff: phonology, morphology, etc. It is when the book enters the area of semantics. Following Barr (who I don't like) and Silva in this area, Black's discussion in ch. 5 is very helpful: "Semantics: Determining Meaning."
The last chapter is "Discourse Analysis: Getting the Big Picture." This is an area I'm familiar with, having discussed it in my contribution to the festschrift of Dr. Maurice Robinson. Overall Dr. Black does a good job here, but it is important to comment that discourse analysis is many different things to many different people. Regardless, this chapter is also helpful.
There is a handy paperback book by Bruce Metzger entitled, Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek. No one but a Greek geek will be interested in this one, I'm sure, but if you are one of us you will like it. It is available quite cheaply on Amazon new or second-hand.
Part I is "Words Classified According to their Frequency," and it is fun. After a brief intro, it lists words under how many times they occur in the NT, starting with 500 times or more, listing then by increments of one or two (22 times, for example), going right down to 10 times.
Part II is "Words Classified According to their Root." Not so fun as Part I, but very useful.
There are then 5 technical Appendices, starting with "The Indo-European Family of Languages," then going on with "Prepositions in Composition with Verses," etc.
Part I is "Words Classified According to their Frequency," and it is fun. After a brief intro, it lists words under how many times they occur in the NT, starting with 500 times or more, listing then by increments of one or two (22 times, for example), going right down to 10 times.
Part II is "Words Classified According to their Root." Not so fun as Part I, but very useful.
There are then 5 technical Appendices, starting with "The Indo-European Family of Languages," then going on with "Prepositions in Composition with Verses," etc.
New Testament Word Lists (subtitle: For Rapid Reading of the Greek Testament), by Clinton Morrison and David H. Barnes, is an excellent little book for just what the subtitle says. It consists of the Greek words and their glosses (brief definitions) of the whole NT. So, you can turn to Eph. 5 in the book and see all of the Greek words there and their meanings. This is quite handy for a quick translation for, say, your morning devotions.
There are a few drawbacks to the approach of this book, though. First of all, the Synoptic Gospels are done together, with just section numbers for most of it, so it is hard to tell where you are in the Synoptics. There is a listing of the passages of the sections at the beginning, so you are not totally left in the dark, but it is a bothersome system.
Again, the grammatical forms of the words in the NT are not given, just the dictionary form. So you need an analytical lexicon if you are working on the grammar of a passage.
All in all, this is a good little book to have. You can buy it second hand very cheaply on Amazon, and there are several similar books there: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ists&sprefix=New+Testament+Word+Lists,aps,179
There are a few drawbacks to the approach of this book, though. First of all, the Synoptic Gospels are done together, with just section numbers for most of it, so it is hard to tell where you are in the Synoptics. There is a listing of the passages of the sections at the beginning, so you are not totally left in the dark, but it is a bothersome system.
Again, the grammatical forms of the words in the NT are not given, just the dictionary form. So you need an analytical lexicon if you are working on the grammar of a passage.
All in all, this is a good little book to have. You can buy it second hand very cheaply on Amazon, and there are several similar books there: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ists&sprefix=New+Testament+Word+Lists,aps,179
Software, as it has both his grammar and the Ubs Greek NT 4th edition on it....
Greektim
Well-Known Member
I have his book but have yet to read through it.
My fear is that it won't be used very much since Dr. Decker's passing. It will be hard for it to gain popularity unless it has someone championing it. If the author isn't doing that, then who will? His students? Name one.
That aside, I cut my teeth on Mounce, studied under Dr. Black, blended approach w/ Buth's living language approach along w/ a grammatical explanation, and now not sure what I would recommend.
I'll try to give Dr. Decker's grammar some sifting in the near future. But I have quite a bit on my plate so no promises.
walkinspirit
Member
Hi John,
Can you list the best NT greek grammar according to your opinion for beginners, intermediate and advanced students? I know you mentioned different grammars for different levels but which one would be the best for each level?
And also the best NT Greek lexicon accordig to your opinion that is unbiased and is faithful to the meaning or definition NT Greek words and terms?
I speak four foreign languages but they are all modern languages, learning koine Greek of NT is on my list and I know by experience that methods of learning of new foreign language are not the same and some are more effective than the others. Thx for your advise.
Blessings,
Hi, Walkinspirit.
Welcome to the BB. I would be happy to list my best choices.
Best basic grammar: Learn to Read NT Greek, by David Alan Black.
Best intermediate grammar: The Basics of NT Syntax, by Daniel Wallace (though I love Black's It's Still Greek to Me, and you might want it instead if you are self-teaching Greek, since it is briefer)
Best advanced grammar: Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, by Daniel Wallace.
As for lexicons, the best and most up to date is A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature, by Bauer, Danker, Ginrich and Arndt. This is in the 3rd ed. now, but I only have the 2nd--it's very expensive.
However, thinking of teaching one's self Greek, I would recommend you start with a lexicon not so expensive but more helpful, such as Analytical Lexicon of NT Greek, by Maurice Robinson and Mark House (I use this), or the similar one by Tim and Barbara Friberg and Neva Miller, which has excellent definitions.
I don't know of any language other than NT Greek that has analytical lexicons, so you probably did not run into them in your previous language study. An analytical simply lists every single form of a word found in the Greek NT, telling the grammar of that form. Since Greek verbs can be dicey from form to form (different stems in different tenses), this can be quite helpful.
Enjoy your pursuit of Greek! Smile
