[B-Greek] RE: Trench's Synonyms

Barry Hofstetter nebarry at earthlink.net
Wed Feb 19 09:51:13 EST 2003


----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
To: "'Biblical Greek'" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 7:50 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] RE: Trench's Synonyms


> If you really think you are going to reach the point where you are no
> longer "dependent on <re>sources such as commentaries, lexicons,etc.," I
> can only say: "Lots of luck!" I've been working away at Greek for 52 years
> now and I don't believe that I'll ever--in this life--feel that I can
> dispense with major reference works in Greek. Different persons will have
> different judgments about which reference works are most important, but I
> have and use on a regular basis BDAG, LSJ, L&N, BDF, ATR's big grammar,
> Smyth, and, to a considerably lesser extent, Wallace GGBB. I've never used
> Trench, Moulton & Milligan, or some other resources that many deem very
> valuable, but I cannot imagine serious work in ancient Greek texts without
> access and utilization of these resources.

I know "amen" posts are frowned upon, but I can't help myself -- excellent
observations.

Even as native speakers of English (with all due respect to those on the list
for whom English is a second language, but the comments still apply to your
first language) we sometimes need to consult dictionaries or other reference
works.  How much more so ancient Greek, millenia removed from our current
context?  I have only been doing Greek for a paltry 25 years.  I have gotten to
the point where I can pick up practically any page of the NT and read it with
what most people would consider a correct translation.  Extra-biblical
literature requires a bit more work, however, and I always double check my
readings against the appropriate reference works before using them in an any
public context.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Professor of Theological and Biblical Studies
    The Center for Urban Theological Studies, Philadelphia, PA
http://home.earthlink.net/~nebarry



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