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Mounce

-Compact Guide
-Morphology of Biblical Greek
Wallace
-Greek Grammar, Beyond the Basics
-New Testament Syntax
Kostenberger
-Going Deeper in Greek
Robinson,House
-Analytical Lexicon of NT Greek
Taylor
-Analytical Lexicon of the LXX
Runge
-Discourse Grammar of the Greek NT
Burer
-A New Reader's Lexicon of the Greek NT
Porter
-Linguistic Analysis of the Greek NT
Black
-Learn to read NT Greek
-Linuistics for students of NTG
-Still Greek to me
Young
-Intermediate NT Greek
Whitacre
-Patristric Greek Reader
Bateman
-Workbook for Intermediate Greek
Sumney
-Philippians
Bauer
-Greek English Lexicon of the NT
Rahlfs - LXX
Lust, Eynikel
-Greek-English Lexicon
Campbell
-Keep your Greek
Goodrich
-Summer Greek Reader

Hebrew
-Biblia Hebraica
-Pelt Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Workbook
Graded Reader of Biblical Hebrew
Waltke -Intro to Hebrew
Davidson- analytical hebrew
Hackett intro
Duane Garrett
Vance Stuttgartensia
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew
Francis Brown
Harris- Theological Wordbook
VanGemeren-New Inter. Dictionary
Holladay Hebrew ad Aramaic Lexicon
Armstrong, Hebrew-English lexicon
A reader's Hebrew and Greek bible
Decker-Reading Koine Greek
Zerwick's Grammatical Analysis simplifies
New Testament Greek: a beginning and intermediate grammar, James Allen Hewitt
UBS
NA
A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament based on semantic domains, Johannes
P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida
A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literatur
e, Walter Bauer, William Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, Frederick Danker
A Greek-English lexicon, Liddell, Scott, and Jones. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New
York: Oxford University Press
Greek Grammar, Herbert Weir Smyth, revised by Gordon M. Messing. Harvard Univers
ity Press, 1984.
A Grammar of the New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, A. T. Robert
son, Broadman-Holmann
Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, Friedrich Blass, Albert Debrunner,
und Friedrich Rehkopf
A Greek grammar of the New Testament and other early Christian literature Friedr
ich Blass, Albert Debrunner, and Robert Funk.
Biblical Greek Illustrated By Examples, Maximilian Zerwick, S.J., translated fro
m the Latin by Joseph Smith, S.J.. Roma
A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament, Max Zerwick and Mary Grosveno
r. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1981
Word Pictures in the New Testament, A.T.Robertson. Sunday School Board of the So
uthern Baptist Convention,
A Parsing Guide to the Greek New Testament Nathan Han. Herald Press, Scottdale P
a., 1971. ISBN: 0-8361-1653-4.
"New Testament Greek for Beginners" by J.Gresham Machen
An Introductory Grammar of New Testament Greek" by Paul L. Kaufman
The Student's Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament" by Warren C.
Trenchard is
The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament" by William D. Mounce.
Morphology of Biblical Greek" by William D. Mounce
"Grammar of New Testament Greek" (four volumes) by J.H.Moulton, (W.F.Howard, and
N.Turner). Volume 4 (Style) provides a great comparison of the Greek writing st
yle of the different New Testament authors.
"Idioms of the Greek New Testament" by Stanley E. Porter.
"A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature" by F
.Blass and A.Debrunner, Translated and Edited by R.W.Funk.
"An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek" by C.F.D. Moule.
"Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek" by Ernest De Witt Burton
.
restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Ten Best Books for Studying New Testament Greek


David Alan Black
For what it's worth, I offer here a list of a few of my favorite books on New Te
stament Greek grammar. I hope this listing may stir some reader to an ambition t
o learn the language and learn it well. I fully realize that this catalog will b
e outdated as soon as it is published. I also exclude from it my own publication
s in the field, not because I believe them to be badly written, but because thei
r author is hopelessly biased.
On, then, to the Ten Best Books for Studying New Testament Greek (in no particul
ar order):
1. William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek.
Mounce's beginning grammar remains perhaps the most widely used introductory tex
tbook of New Testament Greek. Speaking as an author of a beginning Greek textboo
k, I am glad that Mounce's grammar has had the recognition it so richly deserves
and offer my best wishes for its continuance, since the book is a great service
to students everywhere. No matter which beginning textbook you used, you will n
eed to own this grammar as well.
2. Dan Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics.
Wallace's intermediate grammar is a tour de force. It is absolutely impossible t
o describe the profundity of this book. I prefer to recommend it to you and then
let you discover its treasures. The pedagogical implications, however, are such
that I cannot agree to them without compromising what is dearest to me as a tea
cher -- simplicity. It would do good service if one day the book could be rewrit
ten and placed on a slightly lower shelf. Oh wait -- this has already been done!
3. A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Histori
cal Research.
I seldom felt so pitifully incompetent as when I first picked up this book. It a
lmost counts as a "mental autobiography." Robertson tried to show the effect, up
on a growing new science, of the profound transformation that modern linguistics
had brought in the way scholars approached the Greek of the New Testament. Most
modern teachers of Greek give the book faint praise, then promptly ignore it. I
n my opinion, that is a huge mistake. I require the book in my Advanced Greek Gr
ammar course, but even intermediate level students who are willing to work will
benefit from it.
4. Robert Funk, Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Lit
erature.
At the Amazon site, Dan Wallace writes:
BDF is still the standard Greek grammar of the New Testament even after four dec
ades. It is in the process of being revised (by a revision committee of eight me
mbers), but the revision will take several more years to complete. We felt it ne
eded revision because BDF presupposes that the average reader has had much expos
ure to classical Greek prior to working in the New Testament. This is part of th
e reason that BDF is so hard to use: most NT students have not had exposure to c
lassical Greek nowadays. Another reason is its cryptic nature, Teutonic abbrevia
tions, and omission of 'normal' grammar. Nevertheless, even with these shortcomi
ngs, every responsible exegete of the New Testament must own a copy of this gold
mine of information.
Enough said.
5. Peter Cotterell and Max Turner, Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. In a
sense this book could be called a popularization. It seeks to bring linguistics
within the grasp of educated people in general rather than leave it in the poss
ession of a closed and mysterious community. The authors have selected the think
ers in the field who have good judgment, and their own comments are accurate and
clear as well.
6. Moiss Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning. This book is a retreat from the
radicalism of an earlier generation of New Testament teachers that believed in
"Holy Ghost" Greek. Silva's exegetical acumen fitted him well for writing a book
on lexicography. This book inveighed me into actually delving into linguistics
myself, and when eventually I produced my own book on linguistics it was Silva w
ho agreed to write the preface.
7. Stanley Porter, Verbal Aspect in the Greek of the New Testament, with Referen
ce to Tense and Mood. This book, which suffers from gigantism, deserves a promin
ent place in my list because it opened an important can of worms known today as
the verbal aspect debate. You mustn't expect clarity from Dr. Porter, but you mu
st read this book. Porter impresses me as one who has his finger on the heartbea
t of the problem, though I disagree with many of his conclusions.
8. Maximilian Zerwick, Biblical Greek. When I was in seminary I was introduced t
o this book and lived with it night and day. Despite its recklessly ambitious pr
eface the book largely accomplishes what it sets out to do: introduce the reader
to all the categories of New Testament Greek grammar in an understandable way.
It really is a first-rate piece of work.
9. Neal Windham, New Testament Greek for Preachers and Teachers. What a pleasant
surprise when I first laid eyes on this book! It covers six different areas of r
eading one's Greek New Testament, including morphology and the Greek cases. Why
it has not attracted more attention is beyond me. I feel it is one of the most u
nderrated books of our generation, and I'd dearly like to see it read by every s
tudent of New Testament Greek.
10. Rodney Decker, Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septua
gint, and Early Christian Writers. Having taught Greek for 34 years I can say wi
th conviction that nothing is more important to the mastery of New Testament Gre
ek than keeping our students in the text. Decker's book is simply the best reade
r available today. The readings are all engaging, and the notes are both accurat
e and helpful. Decker will stretch your students without breaking them. The book
is also very user-friendly for the independent learner.
Obviously, by composing this list of what I believe to be essential books for st
udents of New Testament Greek grammar, I have no intention of imposing upon them
harsh punishment. I can only speak personally, and -- speaking personally -- I
have found each of these books to be a fascinating and helpful read. I surmise y
ou will too. Like all books, they contain unforgivable omissions, and many pay f
ar too little attention to English style. But they all have one thing in common:
they will destroy your smugness. The sin of many seminarians is what the ancien
t Greeks called hubris -- arrogance in the midst of prosperity. I am partly to b
lame if my students graduate with a head full of knowledge and a heart full of p
ride. I know of nothing that will dispel our inflated egos quite like seeing how
much we don't know. We are all imperfect teachers, but we may be forgiven if we
have at least tried to warn our students against self-satisfied complacency.
At any rate: Happy Reading!
November 24, 2010
David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.
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