[B-Greek] TDNT, TDNT abridged, or NIDNTT?
McCarthy, Brian S. UTRC
McCartBS at UTRCCT.res.utc.com
Tue Mar 11 17:44:30 EST 2003
I have in the "shipping soon" stage at Amazon.com something called the "NIV
Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words" which I'm guessing looks like
an abridgement of the NIDNTT. (Is this a good guess?)
On the Amazon.com preview page it says in part:
'OT In Aram. "abba" is originally, like the feminine equivalent "imma", a
word derived from baby language (like our "dada"). Already in the
pre-Christian era the word underwent a considerable extension of meaning,
replacing not only the older form of address common to biblical Heb. and
Aram., "abi", my father, but also the Aram. terms for "the father" and "my
father." In other words, "abba" as a form of address to one's father was
no longer restricted to children but was also used by adult sons and
daughter. The childish character of the word ("daddy") thus receded, and
"abba" acquired the warm familiar ring that we may feel in such an
expression as "dear father."'
I'm doubtful I could have figured that out myself in any reasonable amount
of time, especially given only the books in my house or my local state
college library. I'm guessing that the "NIV Theological Dictionary of New
Testament Words" will turn out to be USD 49.99 well spent. I'll let you
know once I've actually got it in my hands.
Brian McCarthy
mccartbs at utrc.utc.com
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