[B-Greek] Zerwick's B-Greek & Grammatical Analysis

Jonathan Robie jonathan.robie at datadirect.com
Fri Sep 12 18:22:40 EDT 2003


At 05:18 PM 9/12/2003, Clayton Javurek wrote:

>Zerwick, IMHO, is a simplified version of an Analytical Greek Lexicon.
>It only offers grammatical information mostly.

Wow, I really disagree. I think that Zerwick does a good job of pointing 
out the nuances of language that you might miss, including the different 
usages that might be implied. This goes way beyond what an analytical 
lexicon gives you. And I also like the fact that it is keyed to an 
intermediate grammar that illustrates the usages he suggests are involved, 
and the grammar gives further examples of usage.

>However, the LINGUISTIC AND EXEGETICAL KEY TO THE NT
>by Cleon Rogers, redone in 1998, offers more
>historical, cultural, and theological info along
>with the grammatical.

This revision of the Linguistic Key is quite useful, much better than 
earlier editions. I don't think it's better than Zerwick for understanding 
the use of language, but it does get close. It certainly contains much more 
historical, cultural, and theological info - which is a strength and a 
weakness. Usually, when I read, I am trying to let the text speak. 
Surrounding the text with all these other things during my early stages of 
reading makes it harder for me to be receptive, it tends to help me force 
the text into my traditional Protestant background as I read it. So I tend 
not to use Rogers as frequently, but I do think it has excellent 
information, and if I didn't have Zerwick, I would certainly be using 
Rogers instead.

Also, Zerwick fits into my laptop case more easily.

>I will take Rogers over Zerwick any time. I can always go to the Analytical
>Greek Lexicon to get what Zerwick offers me.

If I want to focus on just understanding the Greek text, I prefer Zerwick. 
If I want a good overview of traditional Protestant understandings of the 
text, I think Rogers would be much more helpful. If what I wanted was an 
Analytical Greek lexicon, I would use that instead, but it's really a 
different tool - and one I don't use much, personally.

Jonathan  




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