Monday, March 30, 2020

LEARNING NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: RESOURCES

Being able to read the New Testament in Greek has a large array of important uses for the apologist (and even more importantly for every believer who wants to understand God's Word at a deeper level). And once you have learned that, you can also begin learning to read the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) and the works of the early church fathers that are in Greek.

And, although it is ideal to take a college or seminary class with a good prof, there are tons of excellent FREE resources to learn on your own. These resources can also be helpful to use as prep before taking a formal class, helps while taking a formal class, or review if you are getting rusty.

It is a lot of work, but it will be the best investment of time you can make. You will never regret it!

And there are an incredible number of resources available for you to use...tons of them FREE.

WATCH THIS VIDEO FIRST
*"Learn biblical Greek FREE: The best resources (in 2020) and why they are NOT enough" at the Master New Testament Greek YouTube channel. Some excellent advice and encouragement to get you oriented before you get started.

FREE CLASSES

  1. Mastering New Testament Greek by Ted Hildebrandt: This is an amazing page filled with every resource imaginable for learning Greek....and it's all FREE (including the textbook).
  2. Norlan De Groot has a 2-part Introduction to Biblical Greek that can be taken for FREE (see instructions at the top of the page linked to) and you can get the textbook for FREE also: New Testament Greek for Beginners by Gresham Machen. Might find it cheaper at Ebay or AddallFREE here or here. Charts for the various declension charts can be found beginning on p.225. So you can take this course completely FREE. 
  3. FREE CLASS options that use David Alan Black's textbook: Learn to Read New Testament Greekwhich you might find cheaper (about $8 including shipping right now) at Ebay or Addall"Daily Dose of Greek" by Dr. Rob Plummer is surely the best of these.
  4. Biblical Training: Three different classes available for FREE. But you must buy the textbook for one.
  5. Morling College. FREE CLASS but you must buy The Elements of New Testament Greek by Jeremy Duff
  6. Introduction to New Testament Textual Criticism by James Snapp. FREE series of lectures with FREE downloads of resources in comments at YouTube.


PAID ONLINE CLASS
*Bruce W. Gore Online School of Christian Studies.$80 for a full year of New Testament Greek using video and a whole set of resources. The course uses: New Testament Greek for Beginners by Gresham Machen. You might find it cheaper at Ebay or Addall. It is FREE here or here. Charts for the various declension charts can be found beginning on p.225.


Greek Texts
*SBL Greek New Testament: the electronic version is FREE. Also, go to Google Play to get the excellent SBL app for your Android devices. More download options here.
*The Greek-English New Testament: UBS 5th Revised Edition and NIV (UBS5). Produced by United Bible Societies, this is my favorite of the two standard editions of the Greek texts. I find the critical apparatus to be much more intuitive. It does come in other formats than the one linked to here, so you may want to shop around.
*Greek-English New Testament: Nestle-Aland 28th Edition and English Standard Version (NA28). This is the other standard Greek text.
*The Greek-English New Testament: Tyndale House, Cambridge Edition and English Standard Version: Tyndale House, Cambridge Edition and English Standard Version. A new and highly acclaimed edition of the Greek text.


Greek Grammars
*Mastering New Testament Greek by Ted Hildebrandt. FREE and comes with lots of FREE resources.
*A Concise Exegetical Grammar of New Testament Greek by Harold Greenlee. FREE! Published by First Fruits, "The Academic Open Press of Asbury Seminary"
*Elementary New Testament Greek by Joseph R. Dongell. FREE! Published by First Fruits, "The Academic Open Press of Asbury Seminary"
*New Testament Greek for Beginners by Gresham Machen. Might find it cheaper at Ebay or Addall. FREE here or here. Charts for the various declension charts can be found beginning on p.225.
*Learning New Testament Greek by David Black. You can find information at DAVID BLACK'S NEW TESTAMENT GREEK PORTAL where you will also find tons of FREE well organized resources that accompany the text!
*"New Testament Greek Grammar Books" is an excellent guide to the many choices of Greek grammars and other resources.
*"Beginning Greek Grammar Guide" is another excellent guide that reviews Greek grammars.


Free Learning Aids
*Greek Alphabet Song. Note that there are different pronunciation schemes for learning Koine Greek: modern pronuciation (which may serve more useful if you hope to speak Greek with people who speak Greek) or seminary pronunciation (which allows for more distinction between different letters and makes it easier to remember). So you will want to figure out which style is being used by the course that you choose before choosing an alphabet song (if you choose to use an alphabet song).
*GREEK CHARTS: 56-page PDF made available for FREE.
*ELECTRONIC FLASHCARDS for learning Greek by Ted Hildebrandt on Quizlet
*478 ELECTRONIC FLASHCARDS for Greek Vocabulary on Quizlet
*AUDIO READING of the 1907 Westcott & Hort Greek New Testament
*"29 Chants for First Year Greek Grammar" by Ted Hildebrandt on YouTube. Three versions: With Explanations (61 minutes), 3x (26 minutes), Quick Review (11 minutes).

*New Testament Greek for Beginners by Gresham Machen. Charts for the various declension charts can be found beginning on p.225.
*DAVID BLACK'S NEW TESTAMENT GREEK PORTALWow! Tons of FREE well organized resources!


Lexicons and Dictionaries for the Greek New Testament
*A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition by Walter Bauer and revised and edited by Frederick William Danker. This is considered the standard lexicon for the Greek New Testament.
*New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (5 volumes) edited by Moises Silva. This is a relatively recent and highly acclaimed set that is probably the first thing you should spend your money on when you are ready to invest in something more in depth than Bauer (above).
*Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (10 volumes) by Gerhard Kittel and translated by Gerhard Friedrich. A classic work that was probably the standard before the set by Silva (immediately above).
*Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged) by Gerhard Kittel and translated by Gerhard Friedrich. The abridged version of the above, often called "the little Kittel." If you don't have a lot of money or shelf space, this is a good compromise. It is also a a much quicker read. 
*Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (3 volumes) by Ceslas Spicq  
*Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (3 volumes) by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider.
*The New International Dictionary Of New Testament Theology (4 volumes) edited by Colin Brown. This is the set that was replaced by the set edited by Silva (above). You can "borrow" for 14 days at Internet Archive.
*The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testamentl: Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Often very helpful. And it is FREE at Internet Archive
*Greek-English Lexicon by by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott. Many different versions available of this old standard lexicon. And it is FREE at Internet Archive
*Biblio-theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek by Hermann Cremer. This is an excellent lexicon that is unfortunately out of print. It is more limited in scope than most but it often has real gems. It is fortuantely available for FREE at Google Books and Internet Archive. Stay away from the facsimile at Amazon. It is apparently a mess. Only buy the print version if you can find an antique copy.
*Synonyms of the New Testament by Richard Chenevix Trench. A FREE PDF is availabel from Gordon College thanks to the work of Ted Hildebrandt.
*Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament WordsPDF download.

*Berry's Synonyms of the New Testament
*Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains edited by Johannes Louw and Eugene A. Nida. Available online for FREE here.
*Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament by Fritz Rienecker and Cleon Rogers. A very handy verse-by-verse resource that gives a very quick synopsis of key issues in the text. When working through a text, this is one of the first resources I turn to. It has been significantly revised as The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament.
*A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament by Maximilian Zerwick and Mary Grosvenor
*The New American Standard New Testament Greek Lexicon: Based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary, plus others. Keyed to Strong's and to the 10-volume Kittel & the 

"Little Kittel" (abridged one-volume edition).


Other Books for Studying the Greek New Testament
*An Introduction to the Greek New Testament by Dirk Jongkind. "Jongkind describes not only how the Tyndale House Edition came to be but also how any critical edition of the Greek New Testament came to be. Jongkind does a superb job explaining very technical topics related to manuscripts, textual variants, the Textus Receptus, and more, and explaining why it matters." - excerpted from Michael Bird's review as it appears at Amazon
*The analytical Greek lexicon: FREE. Analyzes every word of the Greek New Testament and parses it out. There are many different editions available if you want a print copy. Alternatively, there are many online resources and apps that do the same thing. Blue Letter Bible is my personal favorite. It's FREE and you can use it on your PC browser or use their app on your devices. Scroll down their home page (at link given) and you will find a video tutorial for using this excellent study resource.
*Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum: A Greek harmony of the four Gospels in parallel columns with notes for comparing quotes from the early church fathers and apocrypha. Every serious student of the New Testament should have this in their library once they can read Greek.
*A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger. Explains the decisions made in compiling the Greek New Testament Text by the United Bible Societies when choosing between the different readings of the ancient manuscripts.


Other Online Resources
*STEP Bible integrates Bill Mounce's Teknia Greek Dictionary and Liddell, Scott and Jones' Greek Lexicon (LSJ)  
*Blue Letter Bible integrates Strong's definitions and Thayer's Greek Lexicon
*Greek Word Studies at Precept Austin
*Resources for Greek Word Studies at Precept Austin. Step-by-step guidance on doing word studies and then walks you through the many Greek resources available.
*Master New Testament Greek YouTube Channel. This is an excellent YT channel with excellent advice about important resources and issues for studying New Testament Greek.


Articles
*"How to Learn New Testament Greek | Tips for Teaching Yourself Koine"
*"5 Best Koine Greek Textbooks That Every Theology Student Should Own" by Donovan Nagel. Concise but helpful reviews.
*J. Harold Greenlee Bibliography with many articles hosted as PDFs.


OTHER RESOURCE PAGES:
*DAVID BLACK'S NEW TESTAMENT GREEK PORTAL: Wow! Tons of well organized resources!
*LEARNING NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: A nicely organized site with a range of helps.
*GREEK NT GATEWAY: You will need to scroll down a little bit to find the menu on the left, where you will find several more pages of resources for Biblical Greek.
*NT RESOURCES: Lots of excellent resources for Greek here, including a page of resources for Septuagint Greek.
*FREEBIES FOR STUDENTS OF NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: Tons more FREE resources here.
*"WANT TO LEARN NT GREEK?": A page of resources at the excellent blog of my friend James Snapp, Jr.
*BIBLICAL GREEK RESOURCES by Carl W. Conrad
*NT Greek Studies has more links. Excellent selection and well organized.
*Bibtheo.com: "Biblical (Koine) Greek"
*Greek-Language.com


*Gegraptai has more links.



*from New Testament Greek for Beginners by Gresham Machen, 1923, 1951. Public Domain.











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