[B-Greek] Very interesting GNT, _A Readers Greek New Testament_

Brent Hudson brent at riveroflifembchurch.com
Fri Apr 30 08:11:08 EDT 2004


In terms of studying Greek, I have been unconvinced by the arguments against
the RGNT.  The fact that vocabulary on the bottom of the page has been
called a "minimal benefit" indicates to me that some professors are teaching
a different class of human beings than I am.  Vocabulary for words under 30x
is the great help to students I deal with and even for pastors who want to
maintain their Greek but find it difficult.  These are real people who are
losing their Greek or in danger of losing it.  

People have been using the UBS4/NA27 computer texts for years and while the
apparatus would be great, no one has stopped using it because of this
deficiency.  Perhaps the UBS text is the new TR after all.  It seems that as
long as the UBS text is untouched, it is okay not to have an apparatus;
however, the RGNT which has 231 clearly marked textual differences is
criticized for not having a full textual apparatus on these items.  To
criticize the RGNT for not having an textual apparatus is to criticize a
hammer for not doing the work of a saw.  It's purpose is to help beginning
readers and others who do not have their entire vocabulary memorized. . . I
still can't believe that was called a "minimal benefit".  Anyhow, to each
his/her own. I have my copy and have recommended it to friends and students
who know their paradigms and want to red the GNT, but struggle with looking
up the vocab.  

IMO, the beginning student is better served by the RGNT than a fully parsed
UBS computer text since ONLY vocab is given and students will still need to
look up difficult constructions and forms.  RGNT tries to strike a balance
between giving the student too much of what they should already know
(Perschbacher) and helping with the material they need to learn (Kubo).

Brent Hudson
Moncton, NB





> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org 
> [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of 
> bertdehaan at gosympatico.ca
> Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 8:25 PM
> To: Jonathan Ferguson
> Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: Re: [B-Greek] Very interesting GNT,_A Readers 
> Greek New Testament_
> 
>   Jonathan Ferguson <notchking at yahoo.com> wrote on
>   Wed, 28 Apr 2004 08:31:55 -0700 (PDT)
>    
> 
> >       I just thought I'd make a few comments.  Learning New 
> Testament Greek isn't a task to be taken lightly.  I think a 
> person who doesn't want to invest just $50-60 for a Greek New 
> Testament may not have the right view of the subject.
> ...<snip>...
>     I'm not saying this to discourage the person just now 
> getting into Koine Greek, however I think if you're going to 
> invest so much time in lea
> >  rning
> >  paradigms, vocabulary, rules, etc., then the money side of 
> it shouldn't be such a major part of it.  
> ...<snip>...
> 
> I can't make any comments about the validity of the text of 
> the UBS 4 or the RGNT.  Judging by some of the comments made, 
> there are no major differences. If this is true then I think 
> that the difference between $50 and $20 is substantial enough 
> for me to consider buying the $20 one.
> (I bought my UBS 3 for under a dollar at a used book store) 
> It is a fact that making the financial ends meet is a major 
> part of live for a lot of people, and being hesitant about 
> spending $50 does NOT have to indicate a wrong view of the subject.
> For instance, I have not seen my way clear yet to purchase 
> BDAG but this does not mean that I do not take the study of 
> NT Greek serious. 
> 
> Bert de Haan. 
>  
> 
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek B-Greek 
> mailing list B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org 
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> 




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