Beginning with New Testament Greek: An Introductory Study of the Grammar and Syntax of the New Testament

by Benjamin L. Merkle, Robert L. Plummer

From their decades of combined teaching experience, Benjamin L. Merkle and Robert L. Plummer have produced an ideal resource for novice Greek students to not only learn the language but also kindle a passion for reading the Greek New Testament. Designed for those new to Greek, Beginning with New Testament Greek is a user-friendly textbook for elementary Greek courses at the college or seminary level.  

Genres: Christian, Theology, Language, Textbooks, New Testament

401 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2020

About the author

Benjamin L. Merkle (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Matthew Bloomquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely the most confusing book I’ve read. Not a great plot. Zero character development. Except for me. Definitely developed my character.


On a more serious note, highly recommend this intro to Greek Textbook. Plummer pedagogical skills are incredible making this a lot easier to go through and understand.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful introductory Koine Greek grammar . It provides plenty of depth without overwhelming you with unnecessary details for gaining the basics of the language.

[Kaitlyn Pindak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never knew I could learn about 350 Greek words in about 16 weeks but I basically have!

Incredible! And an incredible author/teacher in Dr. Plummer! So thankful for this book and this class that has taught me much faster than I ever thought I could learn!

5/5 🌟

[Mike Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started working through this before I had even started my Greek class, and I feel like this book is user-friendly enough for someone to learn the language without a class. To help, the book has its own website with many videos and resources to accompany it. I highly recommend the flashcards and laminated charts you can buy that match the book.

[Grant Carter]

Hebrew is better

[Matthew Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewing a text-book is hard, especially when you're just a student. Let me try and assess this from a students perspective writing to other prospective students.

Intro

This beginning grammar is easy to follow, broken down into well designed chapters, and supported by online video lecture for each lesson through the DailyDoseofGreek website. This website also includes a daily video where Dr Plummer walks you through a verse of NT Greek; you can view all the old videos on there, so it's a great resource if you are trying to work you way through the NT.

Structure

Previously, I taught myself Greek from two sets of textbooks, both of which I have also reviewed: Messiah's alphabet, and Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek. The latter is most comparable to this, with Beginning Greek establishing itself as a well designed and researched comprehensive grammar. In comparison to my study through Mounce's grammar, I found this to be much more approachable, intuitive, and better explained. One of my gripes with Mounce was his continuous inclusion of facts well above your current understanding which often left me perplexed looking at the book wondering why Aorist participles didn't use augments, when I was just learning about what the present aspect was. I would recommend this book to anyone getting started in Greek. The structure is also more well designed, as I find myself much more quickly diving into understanding verbs and sentence structure rather than spending hours just learning and declining verbs.

Takeaways

I may be biased, because I already had sat through one Greek textbook, but I do feel like I have such a firmer grasp of Greek language because of this study. Whereas Mounce left be dazed, Plummer and Merkle have left me excited to grab a copy of their second book and dive into the move advanced Greek grammar. They explain topics so clearly, using mnemonics and visual aids for different types of learners, and provide vocabulary lists as you would expect of a comprehensive book like this. And perhaps what I love most is that this book, with its online lectures, supports the home-learner and the independent-studier. You are so well equipped to dive into your Greek studies and remain there, and for that, I think these authors should be congratulated.

[Nathan Leopard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book plus the free online lectures are a great cheap start for anyone wanting to learn Greek.

[Emma Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

had to add this to the goodreads lol- officially completed our greek textbook 💪🏻

[Chase Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Plumdog millionaire. Best teacher of the New Testament greek. You could buy this book and teach yourself greek and do pretty well on your own. Very approachable book to learn

[Bfleegs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Built on the work of previous scholars, most notably William Mounce's "Basics of Biblical Greek" and "Morphology of Biblical Greek," Merkle and Plummer's book takes a more reserved approach to teaching forms, giving the necessary basics and simplifying overwhelming concepts for first-time language learners.

Specifically, they delay concepts like the third declension, adjectives, and liquid verbs until the student has a grasp of the 4 main tenses (present, imperfect, aorist, future). They also teach the first aorist prior to the second and cover the pluperfect and optative in the main sections of the chapters, albeit in a truncated form.

In my perspective as a teacher of first-year Greek to college freshmen, this book seems more manageable for a younger target audience, while Mounce may be better-suited for a seminary-level introductory Greek class.

[Matthew McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a pleasure to learn Greek for the first time from this book. I took two semesters of Greek (currently in my second semester) and we just completed the last chapter of BNTG. Plummer’s chapter Introductory videos linked in the footnotes at the beginning of each chapter are phenomenal (and hilarious, too). The material in the book, even being Greek, was engaging and explained in ways that were easy to understand. Merkle and Plummer have accomplished well their purpose of making reading the Greek New Testament something that someone who studies out of their textbook loves.

[Yitbarek Yigezu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most fundamental resources for studying ancient bible times Greek. The approach and structure of the book encourages someone to read it comfortably and with confidence. It has links to other online resources supplemental to the book. I highly recommend this book to whomever planning to study new testament in Greek or what to have an in depth understanding of it.

[Gavin Huse]

Have a feeling I haven’t seen the last of this guy…

[Wilson Porte Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tive alegria de ser revisor desta obra na parte do grego. Quanto publicada, será a melhor gramática grega em português.

[Austin Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. Links to video lectures from SBTS in the footnotes for when I don’t understand my professor.

Good but brutal

[Alex Dunkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone can make learning a dead language engaging and fun, it’s Robert Plummer. That guy is the man. If you’re taking Greek, take Plummer.

[Josef Muench · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a nice resource and pretty user-friendly for beginning students. The authors make a conscious effort to present only the necessary material, leaving more detailed explanations for more advanced grammars. The various excurses on text criticism, various options for Greek New Testaments, and online resources are helpful. I do wish they had just left out the “Significance” section of each chapter. I don’t think it’s that motivating for students anyway, and most of the ones in this book had nothing to do with the chapter anyway. For example, the “significance” of the last chapter on -μι verbs is that the same Greek word can legitimately be translated with several different English words. That’s a fine point, but it has nothing to do with-μι verbs, and I’d rather just get to the content of the chapter!

[James Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having formally studied New Testament Greek many years ago and failing to regularly read the Greek New Testament, I decided to rekindle my knowledge and skills. The use of this excellent grammar with the videos available on the Daily Dose of Greek website has me reading Greek better than ever before. I have been working on this task for about 4 years, and I still have a lot of room for growth. Nevertheless, I am delighted with my progress thus far. If you are interested in studying New Testament Greek or refreshing your past skills, I strongly urge you to peruse Dailydoseofgreek.com.

[Jarod Grubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is the only Greek grammar I’ve read, I can’t imagine one being better than this. The authors make the material easy to learn in a well thought out order. I highly recommend this grammar if you are seeking to learn New Testament Greek. I also read this book while taking Dr. Plummer’s Elementary Greek seminary course.

[Keegan Stussy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book to learn biblical Greek

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best beginner Koine Greek grammar I'm aware of.

B. Grizenko

[Samuel Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was used for my Greek 1 class by Dr Plummer. I may be biased, but Plummer is one of the greatest professors I have had so far, and this textbook made it enjoyable and possible to learn the basics of greek in just one semester. This book takes you through different aspects of the greek language introducing them and then helping you apply it in translating actual verses from the Bible. Being able to translate the Bible slowly was a great encouragement to keep on studying the Vocabulary and the different charts. I am looking forward to reading book 2 and going to start translating as soon as this semester is over!

[Josh G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I would read a textbook on Biblical Greek. But now I have and Im glad. Dr. Plummer is an amazing professor and this textbook is a great resource for his course. Although at times I would’ve rather been hit in the face with a golf shoe, I feel like this book was the Sam to my Frodo — guiding me through the trenches and up the mountain to make sure I throw the ring in the fire. In truth, however, this is more like a successful battle in Helms Deep. There’s still more work to do. Now on to Greek 2 🥴

[Nathaniel Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merkle and Plummer have written an excellent introductory grammar of the Greek New Testament. Their explanations are clear, the content is well organized, and the length is perfect for classroom use. They emphasize morphological approach similar to Mounce, but are also informed by current research on linguistics and verbal aspect. I highly recommend Beginning with New Testament Greek for classroom or personal use.

[Nickolas Wingholt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best. I don't believe that any first-year grammar can make learning a biblical language easy, but Plummer and Merkle make it fun. This textbook was excellent at helping me understand what I needed to comprehend about Koine, and left the rote memorization at the barest minimum possible. Despite the complexities of the language, this grammar was clear, cohesive, and personal. I honestly felt like I was being pastored through Greek. 1st time read. 5/5.

[Nicholas Pokorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an introductory grammar for anyone interested in getting into biblical Greek. The authors have updated with the times to introduce the language of the NT in a way that is understandable to today's audience.

[Wim Otte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bevlogen, didactisch zeer sterk en wetenschappelijk bij de tijd. In combinatie met de online lessen (website: Daily Dose of Greek) een feest om (opnieuw) te stoeien met het Grieks van het nieuwe testament.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with a view to teaching others, and although I'm grateful for the many things I learned with Mounce when I took up Greek, I think there are many things that this textbook does better, for a beginner.

[Conner Hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Greek texts books any student who is taking greek or someone who desires to learn. Dr. Merkle and Plummer do an amazing job in presenting the information in a way that sticks and is retainable.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does some things well, but overall I liked Mounce’s approach better. This will be a personal decision for the reader, but my brain works better with how Mounce explains things.