NT Greek Resources

These are the books (tools) I have for the study of Koine (NT) Greek:

Bauer’s A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (University Of Chicago Press; 3 Sub edition, 2001). I got it when it first came out and was less than $100 at the time (before ebay and things). It’s the standard lexicon.

Machen’s New Testament Greek for Beginners (Prentice Hall, 1923). If I taught Greek I might use this one, though I really like Black’s too. I learned Greek from Machen and it is still my “baby Greek.” I would say Machen’s approach is more the “old style” but sometimes, older is better! Also, it has Greek to English and English to Greek sentences!

Black’s Learn to Read New Testament Greek (Revised edition, 2009).  Black approaches Greek from a linguistic perspective and is similar in lay out and approach to that seen in Machen.  There is also an accompanying workbook.   Also see here for some online resources that utlize Black’s Grammar.

Black’s It’s still Greek to Me: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Intermediate Greek (Baker 1998). More of a quick reference guide than Wallace – though very useful and funny!

Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Zondervan, 1997) (Green Cover). The standard Intermediate Grammar – no one should be without it – even if one does not always agree with his conclusions and slight tendency to over-categorize.

I would like to get Blass-Debrunner-Funk (BDF) Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature for serious grammar work.  It is the Scholar’s grammar.  Or even Dana and Mantey’s A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament.

Aland’s Text of the New Testament, Revised and Enlarged (Eerdmans 1995 Paperback edition translated by Erroll F. Rhodes). My prof at the time said this and Metzger’s 3rd edition were pretty much on the same level but I think I would have preferred him for us to get Metzger’s edition. This is thick heavy reading on textual criticism of the Greek NT.  This is a good one too!

Aland’s Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1996). A must for Gospel studies, especially the Greek edition – you simply cannot see the similarities and differences in the English edition. Also, consider Scot McKnight’s, Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Guides to New Testament Exegesis) for a decent color coding system when working in the Synopsis.

Rich Erickson’s A Beginner’s Guide to New Testament Exegesis: Taking the Fear out of Critical Method (IVP Academic, 2005). A must have for basic Greek exegesis (so you don’t exit Jesus from your exegesis!) Also good for diagramming and such.

Dean, Scott, and Sparks’ Reading New Testament Greek: Complete Word Lists and Reader’s Guide (Hendrickson, 1993). This is very useful for learning and building vocab.  Without a strong vocabulary you simply will not be able engage much of the Greek New Testament.

Bible Works 8.0, which has the BDAG/HALOT module, concordances, parsing tools and the like.

and of course the UBS 4th ed Greek NT and Nestle-Aland 27th ed Greek NT (one prof said the 25th is preferred) and Metzger’s Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed.

I was a biblical languages major more than anything else – so more or less I would do theology and biblical studies through the languages. As you can clearly see, I have a spread of “crutches” and actual tools and resources… I don’t use the crutches that much, honest! 

here are some vocabulary cards: http://jacobcerone.com/vocabulary/