BDAG - where are *-*?

bgreek at ntresources.com bgreek at ntresources.com
Tue Sep 17 12:15:26 EDT 2002


One further note re. BDAG--related particularly to the original query re. asterisk usage (or lack thereof). (Knew I had a note on this somewhere, but it took until now for it to surface.)

Danker claims that all but the most common words are cited exhaustively in the NT. I'm not sure what to make of such a claim in light of this fact: IDOU is used 200x in the NT, but only about half of these (105, to be precise) are cited by reference in BDAG. I don't know what the "threshold" is for complete citation. Apparently it's some number less than 200. I can understand hO and KAI not being cited (they occur 19,870 and 9,153 times respectively). But I can't imagine that it would be unhelpful or unduely burdensome to the editor (at least any more than editing a lexicon of the magnitude of BDAG already is!) to be more specific in this regard.

I certainly don't want to detract from the tremendously valuable tool that BDAG is. (I posted my review last year at <http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/bdag.htm>.) I'm painfully aware of the fact that, as Danker points out, "the publicaton of any new lexicon creates a crop of instant lexicographers" (foreword, p. vii). I don't pretend to be a lexicographer. But hopefully some constructive criticism can help future editions (though I don't expect Mrs. Danker to surrender her dining room table for that revision!). Whenever that time comes and whomever is charged with that gargantuan task, perhaps they will be able to add some of the oft-requested features such as this.

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Rodney J. Decker, Th.D., Associate Prof/NT
Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, PA, USA
NTResources.com  PURL: purl.oclc.org/NT_Resources/
Email: <rdecker> at <NTResources.com>
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