Greek Grammars and Helps

[walkinspirit]

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

Hi John of Japan,

Thank you for your input and advise, I appreciate it, as soon as I can I will start learning NT Greek this year, it will be a challenge since I have to teach myself NT Greek but at the positive side I love to learn it and it will be quiet an adventure, even though its grammar and lexicons its so different from living languages with Latin origine or Anglo Saxon, still it's worth learning it, to better understand the NT in its original language.

 

[Craigbythesea]

I am surprised to not find in this thread the four-volume A Grammar of New Testament Greek by James Hope Moulton, published by T. & T. Clark from 1906-1976.

Volume I, Prolegomena by James Hope Moulton
First Edition, 1906
Second Edition, 1906
Third Edition, 1908

Volume II, Accidence and Word-formation by James Hope Moulton and Wilbert Francis Howard
1920

Volume III, Syntax by Nigel Turner
1963

Volume IV, Style by Nigel Turner
1976

I am also surprised to not find A Greek Grammar for Colleges by Herbert Weir Smyth
First Edition, 1920
Revised Edition, 1956, with the new title, Greek Grammar

I also have in my personal library an old, 532 page introduction to New Testament Greek grammar, Introductory New Testament Greek Method by William Rainey Harper and Revere Franklin Weidner, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888.

 

[Craigbythesea]

Hi, Walkinspirit.


Welcome to the BB.

Amen!

As for lexicons, the best and most up to date isA 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 asAnalytical 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.

Please pardon me for jumping in here, but I must disagree a bit. The best and most up to date Greek-English lexicon is the third edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature revised and edited by Frederic William Danker (the BDAG). The publisher’s price is $165.00, but it can be purchased new from a major retailer for $140.43 with FREE shipping! Compared with the paperback edition of Cranfield’s commentary on Romans in the I.C. C. series with the publisher’s price of $185.00, it is far too good of a bargain to pass up (even if it means skipping some meals to buy it)!


By the early 1900’s, the new studies in the lexicography of Koine Greek had become so great in number and significance that Erwin Preuschen published his Greek-German lexicon in 1910. Upon his death in 1920, the revision of his lexicon was entrusted to Walter Bauer and this revision was published in 1928 as the second edition. In 1930, James Hope Mouton and George Milligan independently published The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament. A thoroughly revised edition of the Preuschen lexicon was published in 1937 with only Bauer’s name on the title page. Bauer realized, however, that his lexicon, although a huge improvement over Thayer’s in terms of accuracy and completeness, needed to be thoroughly revised and updated and therefore undertook a thorough search of all Greek literature down to the Byzantine times to determine more precisely the meaning of the words found in the New Testament. This resulted in the publication of the monumental work, Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur in 1949-1952. An English translation (by William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich) of this lexicon was published by the University of Chicago in 1957 with the title, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature and became widely known as the “Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich Lexicon.” A second edition was published by the University of Chicago in 1979. A thorough revision by Frederick William Danker was published by the University of Chicago in 2000. It is very commonly referred to simply as the “BDAG” and this name appears on the title page in parenthesis below the full title.

 

[John of Japan]

I am surprised to not find in this thread the four-volume A Grammar of New Testament Greek by James Hope Moulton, published by T. & T. Clark from 1906-1976.

Volume I, Prolegomena by James Hope Moulton
First Edition, 1906
Second Edition, 1906
Third Edition, 1908

Volume II, Accidence and Word-formation by James Hope Moulton and Wilbert Francis Howard
1920

Volume III, Syntax by Nigel Turner
1963

Volume IV, Style by Nigel Turner
1976

Never could afford Moulton, not to mention I'm a big fan of A. T. Robertson, my goto grammar.

I am also surprised to not find A Greek Grammar for Colleges by Herbert Weir Smyth
First Edition, 1920
Revised Edition, 1956, with the new title, Greek Grammar

I never studied from this one and don't have it, though I think I heard of it years ago. Care to do a review for us?

I also have in my personal library an old, 532 page introduction to New Testament Greek grammar, Introductory New Testament Greek Method by William Rainey Harper and Revere Franklin Weidner, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888.

I don't have this one either. Care to write a brief review? Is it worth having, even though it is from before most papyri were discovered?

 

[John of Japan]

Amen!


Please pardon me for jumping in here, but I must disagree a bit. The best and most up to date Greek-English lexicon is the third edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature revised and edited by Frederic William Danker (the BDAG). The publisher’s price is $165.00, but it can be purchased new from a major retailer for $140.43 with FREE shipping! Compared with the paperback edition of Cranfield’s commentary on Romans in the I.C. C. series with the publisher’s price of $185.00, it is far too good of a bargain to pass up (even if it means skipping some meals to buy it)!

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with here. I said that it was the most up-to-date and is now in the 3rd ed. I guess you are disagreeing with me that I can't afford the 3rd ed.

By the early 1900’s, the new studies in the lexicography of Koine Greek had become so great in number and significance that Erwin Preuschen published his Greek-German lexicon in 1910. Upon his death in 1920, the revision of his lexicon was entrusted to Walter Bauer and this revision was published in 1928 as the second edition. In 1930, James Hope Mouton and George Milligan independently published The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament. A thoroughly revised edition of the Preuschen lexicon was published in 1937 with only Bauer’s name on the title page. Bauer realized, however, that his lexicon, although a huge improvement over Thayer’s in terms of accuracy and completeness, needed to be thoroughly revised and updated and therefore undertook a thorough search of all Greek literature down to the Byzantine times to determine more precisely the meaning of the words found in the New Testament. This resulted in the publication of the monumental work, Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur in 1949-1952. An English translation (by William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich) of this lexicon was published by the University of Chicago in 1957 with the title, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature and became widely known as the “Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich Lexicon.” A second edition was published by the University of Chicago in 1979. A thorough revision by Frederick William Danker was published by the University of Chicago in 2000. It is very commonly referred to simply as the “BDAG” and this name appears on the title page in parenthesis below the full title.

Thanks for the history. Just one mild correction: The 2nd ed. is referred to as BAGD and the 3rd as BDAG. At least I think that's it. I get them mixed up. See: https://community.logos.com/forums/t/7385.aspx

 

[Craigbythesea]

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with here. I said that it was the most up-to-date and is now in the 3rd ed. I guess you are disagreeing with me that I can't afford the 3rd ed.[img width="18" height="18" src="file:///C:/Users/CRAIGB~1/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.gif"

No, I am disagreeing with your comment that the best and most up-to-date lexicon “is A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature, by Bauer, Danker, Ginrich [Gingrich] and Arndt. This is in the 3rd ed. Now….” The first edition was “A translation and adaptation of the fourth revised and augmented edition” (1952) of Walter Bauer’s lexicon performed by William F. Arndt and F. Wilber Gingrich. The second edition was a revision, by the same two men, of the first edition, with minor changes. The third edition is a thorough revision by Frederick William Danker and bears little resemblance to the first and second editions. This third edition has eclipsed the first two, and is now the best and most up-to-date Greek-English lexicon.

Thanks for the history. Just one mild correction: The 2nd ed. is referred to as BAGD and the 3rd as BDAG. At least I think that's it. I get them mixed up. See:https://community.logos.com/forums/t/7385.aspx

Most of the posts to which you provided the above link are incorrect, and I have provided the correct information which I took directly from the title pages of the first, second, and third edition—which I have right here in front of me. Danker was NOT one of the translators or revisers of the second edition; therefore its correct acronym is BAG. The correct and routinely used acronym for the third edition is, as I correctly posted above, BDAG.

 

[John of Japan]

No, I am disagreeing with your comment that the best and most up-to-date lexicon “is A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and Other Early Christian Literature, by Bauer, Danker, Ginrich [Gingrich] and Arndt. This is in the 3rd ed. Now….” The first edition was “A translation and adaptation of the fourth revised and augmented edition” (1952) of Walter Bauer’s lexicon performed by William F. Arndt and F. Wilber Gingrich. The second edition was a revision, by the same two men, of the first edition, with minor changes. The third edition is a thorough revision by Frederick William Danker and bears little resemblance to the first and second editions. This third edition has eclipsed the first two, and is now the best and most up-to-date Greek-English lexicon.

If I understand you, you are saying that the 3 editions are actually different lexicons, and #3 is the best. Doesn't seem that different from what I said, except that I think you are saying I have the authors wrong.

Most of the posts to which you provided the above link are incorrect, and I have provided the correct information which I took directly from the title pages of the first, second, and third edition—which I have right here in front of me. Danker was NOT one of the translators or revisers of the second edition; therefore its correct acronym is BAG. The correct and routinely used acronym for the third edition is, as I correctly posted above, BDAG.

Um, my 2nd edition says on the title page, "Revised and Augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker from Walter Bauer's Fifth Edition, 1958."

 

[Craigbythesea]

If I understand you, you are saying that the 3 editions are actually different lexicons, and #3 is the best. Doesn't seem that different from what I said, except that I think you are saying I have the authors wrong.

I am saying the second edition of the BAG was a minor revision of the first edition of the BAG, but the third edition of the lexicon is a major revision “Based upon Walter Bauer’s Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Literatur, sixth edition, ed. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, with Viktor Reichmann and on previous English editions by W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich, and F. W. Danker.”

Um, my 2nd edition says on the title page, "Revised and Augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker from Walter Bauer's Fifteh Edition, 1958."

I apologize. The second edition was revised and augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker, but the revision was not a major one, and Danker is not included in the acronym used for the second edition. Indeed, the third edition, the BDAG, refers to both the first and the second edition as the BAG in the foreword, pp. vi-vii. The acronym BDAG appears on both the title page and the dust jacket of the third edition.

 

[John of Japan]

I am saying the second edition of the BAG was a minor revision of the first edition of the BAG, but the third edition of the lexicon is a major revision “Based upon Walter Bauer’s Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Literatur, sixth edition, ed. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, with Viktor Reichmann and on previous English editions by W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich, and F. W. Danker.”

Okay, thanks.

I apologize.

Not a problem.

The second edition was revised and augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker, but the revision was not a major one, and Danker is not included in the acronym used for the second edition. Indeed, the third edition, the BDAG, refers to both the first and the second edition as the BAG in the foreword, pp. vi-vii. The acronym BDAG appears on both the title page and the dust jacket of the third edition.

In the circles I run in we say BAGD about the 2nd, so I'm sure you won't mind if I simply continue to do so. (This includes my son, who graded and subbed for Maurice Robinson while getting his PhD under David Alan Black. He and I teach together.)

 

[Craigbythesea]

In the circles I run in we say BAGD about the 2nd, so I'm sure you won't mind if I simply continue to do so.(This includes my son, who graded and subbed for Maurice Robinson while getting his PhD under David Alan Black. He and I teach together.)

I don’t run around in circles because when people do, they get confused—especially regarding the BAG and the BDAG (as has been seen in some of the posts in this thread and the posts linked to by you from another site). Therefore, I stick with the acronyms used by the editors of the BDAG. However, if you enjoy running around in circles and getting some exercise, I have no strong objections.

 

[John of Japan]

I don’t run around in circles because when people do, they get confused—especially regarding the BAG and the BDAG (as has been seen in some of the posts in this thread and the posts linked to by you from another site). Therefore, I stick with the acronyms used by the editors of the BDAG. However, if you enjoy running around in circles and getting some exercise, I have no strong objections.

Well I do run around in circles. Other parts to my exercise program: sidestepping responsibility, backing off from controversy and jumping to conclusions.

 

[Yeshua1]

Some have had issues with the newest edition though, it tends to in some points seem to be agreeing with "political correctness views" and as in some ways gone back on what was done in prior editions!

 

[Yeshua1]

If I understand you, you are saying that the 3 editions are actually different lexicons, and #3 is the best. Doesn't seem that different from what I said, except that I think you are saying I have the authors wrong.
Um, my 2nd edition says on the title page, "Revised and Augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker from Walter Bauer's Fifth Edition, 1958."

Some have had issues with the newest edition though, it tends to in some points seem to be agreeing with "political correctness views" and as in some ways gone back on what was done in prior editions!

 

[John of Japan]

Some have had issues with the newest edition though, it tends to in some points seem to be agreeing with "political correctness views" and as in some ways gone back on what was done in prior editions!

I did speak to this in my thread on lexicons.

 

[Greektim]

I did speak to this in my thread on lexicons.

Unrelated to grammars and more to lexicons (feel free to resurrect that thread if you like).

CBD.com has a great deal on Kittel's TDNT (go here). What is your opinion of this series. I know it is a bit dated and linguistics have advanced since this time. But is there still enough positives in this series to make it a worthwhile purchase of $90?

What is your feelings on Silva's NIDNTT (go here)? Worth it for $150?

 

[John of Japan]

Unrelated to grammars and more to lexicons (feel free to resurrect that thread if you like).

CBD.com has a great deal on Kittel's TDNT (go here). What is your opinion of this series. I know it is a bit dated and linguistics have advanced since this time. But is there still enough positives in this series to make it a worthwhile purchase of $90?

What is your feelings on Silva's NIDNTT (go here)? Worth it for $150?

I've occasionally used TDNT and found it useful, but I think it does go too far in trusting etymology for meaning, as the critics say.

If I had the money I'd go for Silva before Kittel (don't have either). I have Silva's book, Biblical Words and their Meaning, which helped overcome my outdated thinking on linguistics in hermeneutics, and I think he "gets it" better than Kittel.

 

[Yeshua1]

I did speak to this in my thread on lexicons.

I did speak to this in my thread on lexicons.

You did also have some problems with newest edition, correct?

 

[Yeshua1]

I've occasionally used TDNT and found it useful, but I think it does go too far in trusting etymology for meaning, as the critics say.

If I had the money I'd go for Silva before Kittel (don't have either). I have Silva's book, Biblical Words and their Meaning, which helped overcome my outdated thinking on linguistics in hermeneutics, and I think he "gets it" better than Kittel.

Would say go for the abridged Kittle, and there has been enough change in NIDNTT, that it really is a new edition....

 

[John of Japan]

You did also have some problems with newest edition, correct?

Only from what I've read and friends have told me.

 

[Craigbythesea]

I have in my personal library four additional Greek Grammars that have not been mentioned in this thread but are significantly important enough to include them in this thread. One is the 325 page, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by Friedrich Blass and Albert Debrunner published in 1961. This work is sill in print with a list price of $67.00.

From the publisher, The University of Chicago Press:

This work was created by Friedrich Blass, professor of classical philology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, and was continued after his death by Albert Debrunner, professor of Indo-European and classical philology at the University of Bern until his retirement in 1954. The grammar has passed through ten editions from 1896 to 1960.

Robert W. Funk, in translating this long-established classic, has also revised it and, in doing so, has incorporated the notes which Professor Debrunner had prepared for a new German edition on which he was working at the time of his death in 1958. Dr. Funk has also had the co-operation of leading British, Continental, and American scholars. The translation places in the hands of English-speaking students a book that belongs in their libraries and in the libraries of every theologian, philologist and pastor alongside the Gingrich-Danker Greek-English Lexicon.

This grammar sets the Greek of the New Testament in the context of Hellenistic Greek and compares and contrasts it with the classical norms. It relates to the New Testament language to its Semitic background, to Greek dialects, and to Latin and has been kept fully abreast of latest developments and manuscript discoveries. It is at no point exclusively dependent on modern editions of the Greek New Testament text but considers variant readings wherever they are significant. It is designed to compress the greatest amount of information into the smallest amount of space consistent with clarity. There are subsections discussing difficult or disputed points and copious citations of primary texts in addition to generous bibliographies for those who wish to pursue specific items further.​

The second is the 742 (lxxxii. 660) page, The Greek Particles, Second Edition, by J. D. [John Dewar] Denniston. This second edition was completed in September, 1950, and published by Oxford at the Clarendon Press in 1954. The first edition was competed on May 9, 1934 and published the same year. Denniston died in 1949 having left behind notes regarding additions and corrections which were incorporated in the second edition edited by Kenneth James Dover. A very recent reprint (published April 1st, 2013, by Bristol Classical Press) is currently available in a hardcover edition for $108.95.

The third is the 215 page, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek, Third Edition, by Ernest DeWitt Burton. This third edition was completed in June, 1898, and published by The University of Chicago Press in 1900. Burton was Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The University of Chicago, and also authored A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians published by T. & T. Clark in 1921—the fruit of 25 years of labor devoted to that epistle. (lxxxix, 541 pages)

The fourth is the 456 page, A Grammatical Aid to the Greek New Testament by Robert Hanna. This grammar, published in 1983 by Baker Book House Company, is very different from other intermediate and advanced grammars in that it is arranged in “verse-by-verse order” rather than by topics. From the dust jacket:

The grammars from which the author draws are those of Blass/Debrunner, Robertson, and Moulton/Howard/Turner; and turner’s Grammatical Insight into the New Testament, Burrton’s Moods and Tenses of New Testament Greek, and Moule’s An Idiom book of New Testament Greek. ​