Blass, Debrunner and Funk
As might be expected, advanced grammars are more rare. My first one will be A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. The cover says, "A revision of F. Blass and A. Debrunner," with "supplementary notes by A. Debrunner," translated and edited by Robert W. Funk. It was published in 1961 by the University of Chicago Press. My copy was given to me by a kind and generous Greek scholar friend who had an extra copy.
There are 263 pages of text in two columns per page, but the book is letter sized, so there is more content there than the page numbers suggest. Even before the text content there are two informative prefaces and a huge bibliography, including many references to the papyri and other ancient Greek texts. (It is good to remember that this grammar includes things learned from the papyri.)
There are three good indexes: subject, "Greek words and forms" (not just words, so very helpful!), and references (not just Scripture, but the church fathers, the LXX, and other sources).
The content is pretty standard for an advanced grammar. It starts with a good section on koine Greek. Then comes phonology, then "Accidents and Word Formation," after which there is a long section on syntax, which is good. In that section, the five case system is used, and there are helpful sections on the usages of each case. Of course, that is where the verb system is explained. The syntax section finishes up with almost 8 pages on figures of speech, and that is very helpful. You can't properly exegete the Scriptures without a knowledge of figures of speech.
Concerning the verbs, the volume does have a helpful section discussing aktionsart and verbal aspect. It does use the old terminology and explanations, though: "punctiliar" for the aorist, for example. So, Wallace's big grammar, which is more recent (1996), is more up to date on verbal aspect.
All in all, this is an excellent resource for any teacher, scholar, or advanced student of koine Greek. By all means, get it if you can.
As might be expected, advanced grammars are more rare. My first one will be A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. The cover says, "A revision of F. Blass and A. Debrunner," with "supplementary notes by A. Debrunner," translated and edited by Robert W. Funk. It was published in 1961 by the University of Chicago Press. My copy was given to me by a kind and generous Greek scholar friend who had an extra copy.
There are 263 pages of text in two columns per page, but the book is letter sized, so there is more content there than the page numbers suggest. Even before the text content there are two informative prefaces and a huge bibliography, including many references to the papyri and other ancient Greek texts. (It is good to remember that this grammar includes things learned from the papyri.)
There are three good indexes: subject, "Greek words and forms" (not just words, so very helpful!), and references (not just Scripture, but the church fathers, the LXX, and other sources).
The content is pretty standard for an advanced grammar. It starts with a good section on koine Greek. Then comes phonology, then "Accidents and Word Formation," after which there is a long section on syntax, which is good. In that section, the five case system is used, and there are helpful sections on the usages of each case. Of course, that is where the verb system is explained. The syntax section finishes up with almost 8 pages on figures of speech, and that is very helpful. You can't properly exegete the Scriptures without a knowledge of figures of speech.
Concerning the verbs, the volume does have a helpful section discussing aktionsart and verbal aspect. It does use the old terminology and explanations, though: "punctiliar" for the aorist, for example. So, Wallace's big grammar, which is more recent (1996), is more up to date on verbal aspect.
All in all, this is an excellent resource for any teacher, scholar, or advanced student of koine Greek. By all means, get it if you can.
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