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Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek: A Survey of Basic Concepts and Applications
Introduces Greek students to the field of linguistics and shows how its findings can increase their understanding of the New Testament.
236 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 16, 2017
A useful, if imperfect, resource for students and teachers of Koine Greek
If you are an intermediate or advanced student of New Testament (Koine) Greek, or especially if you are a teacher of NT Greek, then this book is definitely worth having in your personal library. I wouldn't recommend it for beginning students, since it presupposes that the reader is familiar with the basics of the language; but once you've mastered the fundamentals, this book can certainly add something of value to your understanding of Koine Greek.
However, the book has at least a few major flaws which prevent me from giving it a wholehearted "five star" recommendation. These flaws are mainly due to when this book was published—at least some of the information it contains is outdated, since both the field of linguistics and the field of Koine Greek studies have evolved quite a bit over the past two decades. The main problems come in the chapter on phonetics. There are two major problems: First, the terminology that the author uses for describing the sounds of spoken Greek is a bit out of date—the terms that linguists now prefer to use for describing these sounds are at least slightly different from those used in this book. It's not that the author is wrong—the terms that he uses were in vogue at one time—it's just that the terminology used in any field of study will tend to change over time, and so a book that is more than 20 years old will almost certainly include at least some outdated terms. This is not a problem if you don't care about how up-to-date the terminology is, but you at least need to know that the way the author describes certain speech sounds is not the way that most linguists would describe those sounds today.
The second major problem in the chapter on phonetics—and the more important of the two, at least in my opinion—is the author's uncritical use of the traditional Erasmian pronunciation, which we now know to be entirely artificial. Originally devised in the early 16th century by the scholar Desiderius Erasmus, and tweaked in various ways over the following centuries, this method of pronouncing Ancient Greek does not accurately reflect how the language actually sounded at any single point in its history. It uses some of the sounds of Classical (Attic) Greek—i.e. the Greek of Plato and Aristotle—and some of the sounds of Koine Greek, but a time traveler who knew only the Erasmian pronunciation would have difficulty making himself understood by Greek speakers in 5th century BC Athens, 2nd century BC Alexandria, or 1st century AD Antioch. I'm not really sure exactly when scholars first became aware that the Erasmian pronunciation was flawed or when they first reconstructed how the ancient language was actually pronounced at various points in its history, so I don't want to fault the author too much here—when he wrote the book in the mid-1990s, the problems with the Erasmian pronunciation might not have been well understood, and more authentic pronunciation schemes might not have yet become available. Nonetheless, his chapter on phonetics makes no mention of the fact that the pronunciation system he uses is artificial, nor does it mention the existence of alternative methods of pronunciation. It simply presents the Erasmian pronunciation as if that is how Koine Greek actually sounded when the New Testament was written. Because this error has such a powerful potential to mislead students, I am unable to give this book a "five star" recommendation.
If you are an intermediate or advanced student of New Testament (Koine) Greek, or especially if you are a teacher of NT Greek, then this book is definitely worth having in your personal library. I wouldn't recommend it for beginning students, since it presupposes that the reader is familiar with the basics of the language; but once you've mastered the fundamentals, this book can certainly add something of value to your understanding of Koine Greek.
However, the book has at least a few major flaws which prevent me from giving it a wholehearted "five star" recommendation. These flaws are mainly due to when this book was published—at least some of the information it contains is outdated, since both the field of linguistics and the field of Koine Greek studies have evolved quite a bit over the past two decades. The main problems come in the chapter on phonetics. There are two major problems: First, the terminology that the author uses for describing the sounds of spoken Greek is a bit out of date—the terms that linguists now prefer to use for describing these sounds are at least slightly different from those used in this book. It's not that the author is wrong—the terms that he uses were in vogue at one time—it's just that the terminology used in any field of study will tend to change over time, and so a book that is more than 20 years old will almost certainly include at least some outdated terms. This is not a problem if you don't care about how up-to-date the terminology is, but you at least need to know that the way the author describes certain speech sounds is not the way that most linguists would describe those sounds today.
The second major problem in the chapter on phonetics—and the more important of the two, at least in my opinion—is the author's uncritical use of the traditional Erasmian pronunciation, which we now know to be entirely artificial. Originally devised in the early 16th century by the scholar Desiderius Erasmus, and tweaked in various ways over the following centuries, this method of pronouncing Ancient Greek does not accurately reflect how the language actually sounded at any single point in its history. It uses some of the sounds of Classical (Attic) Greek—i.e. the Greek of Plato and Aristotle—and some of the sounds of Koine Greek, but a time traveler who knew only the Erasmian pronunciation would have difficulty making himself understood by Greek speakers in 5th century BC Athens, 2nd century BC Alexandria, or 1st century AD Antioch. I'm not really sure exactly when scholars first became aware that the Erasmian pronunciation was flawed or when they first reconstructed how the ancient language was actually pronounced at various points in its history, so I don't want to fault the author too much here—when he wrote the book in the mid-1990s, the problems with the Erasmian pronunciation might not have been well understood, and more authentic pronunciation schemes might not have yet become available. Nonetheless, his chapter on phonetics makes no mention of the fact that the pronunciation system he uses is artificial, nor does it mention the existence of alternative methods of pronunciation. It simply presents the Erasmian pronunciation as if that is how Koine Greek actually sounded when the New Testament was written. Because this error has such a powerful potential to mislead students, I am unable to give this book a "five star" recommendation.
March 24, 2017
Very well structured and logically contented.
Black has structured his book in a way that makes it easy to read and understand. The sequence he followed works as a mental guide for the reader. This is a feature that I think helped him to achieve his goal in this book of showing the logical and cohesive nature of the New Testament Greek. Through this emphasis, he managed to move from simple to complex aspects of different branches of linguistics, such as: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
The presentation of linguistic concepts is complete and essential. Any person without previous knowledge on this area will immediately understand the importance of the study of linguistics. He uses examples in every chapter which are a great tool to support his arguments. Black connects the concepts of linguistics with New Testament Greek. Therefore, his approach to conclusions are based on linguistic concepts.
Black explains the structure of the Greek sentences. He begins the structure and content of words unveiling different components, such as, verbs, noun and verb phrases. He describes different patterns of sentence formation with intransitive, transitive and linking verbs. Also, the expansion of noun and verb phrases. At the end of this chapter the reader get a big picture that will star creating a mental pattern to foster a better understanding of New Testament Greek in the reader.
This book is an essential tool for students of New Testament Greek. Black has done an exhaustive research and his arguments are strong enough to demonstrate the importance of the study of linguistics for New Testament Greek. This book integrates the concepts of linguistics and New Testament Greek providing a comprehensible manual to study Greek in research or at school.
Black has structured his book in a way that makes it easy to read and understand. The sequence he followed works as a mental guide for the reader. This is a feature that I think helped him to achieve his goal in this book of showing the logical and cohesive nature of the New Testament Greek. Through this emphasis, he managed to move from simple to complex aspects of different branches of linguistics, such as: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
The presentation of linguistic concepts is complete and essential. Any person without previous knowledge on this area will immediately understand the importance of the study of linguistics. He uses examples in every chapter which are a great tool to support his arguments. Black connects the concepts of linguistics with New Testament Greek. Therefore, his approach to conclusions are based on linguistic concepts.
Black explains the structure of the Greek sentences. He begins the structure and content of words unveiling different components, such as, verbs, noun and verb phrases. He describes different patterns of sentence formation with intransitive, transitive and linking verbs. Also, the expansion of noun and verb phrases. At the end of this chapter the reader get a big picture that will star creating a mental pattern to foster a better understanding of New Testament Greek in the reader.
This book is an essential tool for students of New Testament Greek. Black has done an exhaustive research and his arguments are strong enough to demonstrate the importance of the study of linguistics for New Testament Greek. This book integrates the concepts of linguistics and New Testament Greek providing a comprehensible manual to study Greek in research or at school.
May 23, 2024
Very helpful introduction to linguistics while also applying it to exegesis immediately. No wasted time.
I especially like the final chapter where Black applied the principles taught to a study of Philippians. It was very helpful to see how linguistics can help with discourse analysis and to see how important discourse analysis is to discerning the author's intent. I intend to return to this final chapter often as a good example of what needs to be sought out in the text to discern the author's thesis.
I especially like the final chapter where Black applied the principles taught to a study of Philippians. It was very helpful to see how linguistics can help with discourse analysis and to see how important discourse analysis is to discerning the author's intent. I intend to return to this final chapter often as a good example of what needs to be sought out in the text to discern the author's thesis.
October 12, 2020
An excellent but short introduction to linguistics as it relates to Biblical Greek.
March 3, 2017
There are some topics we enjoy, and there are others that we study because we know they're probably important. This book is certainly the latter. Framed as an introduction to linguistics, many of the chapters are very interesting and helpful to a Greek student. However, many other chapters reach so far beyond an introduction that they become overwhelming. I was able to glean some good insights from the book, but I wish the insights had been communicated a little clearer (and perhaps slower).
November 30, 2011
This is an excellent book. I believe that any Christian who desires to rightly divide the Word of God, and yet desires not to be dependent upon the crumbs from their pastor's table, ought to read this book. I don't mean to say that the pastor's crumbs are worthless. μη γενοιτο! Absolutely not! But many Christians are satisfied receiving teachings from a pastor and yet do not study the Bible for themselves. This book, I believe, is an excellent introductory book for those who desire to study the Bible more in depth. Knowledge of Greek is most definitely an advantage, but perhaps not necessary to anyone with a thinking mind.
October 14, 2012
Essentially an introductory text to linguistics that uses Koine Greek for its examples. The book is helpful to the reader by giving a sense of how language in general works rather than specifically Greek.
September 26, 2014
Not easy, but worth working through.
November 18, 2015
Very scholarly work. Especially likes the sections on linguistic analysis and the application of this discipline to biblical studies.
March 2, 2020
Excellent book for study of intermediate Greek!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews