[B-Greek] Question about the TNIGTC (The new international Greek testament commentary)

Steven Lo Vullo slovullo at mac.com
Sat Aug 7 15:17:30 EDT 2004


On Aug 7, 2004, at 7:40 AM, JMonte2000 at aol.com wrote:

> I have a question, I was looking for commentaries  or a series that is
> geared to the GNT. I found only one, it's called The new  
> international Greek
> testament commentary published by Eedmans. They are fairly  expensive 
> and the
> series only has approx. 7 - 10 books done so far, I'm not sure  of the 
> exact
> number. One is Hebrews another is the Pastoral epistles.  They are all 
> done by
> different commentators, I think anyhow. The one in Heb's is  done by 
> Paul
> Ellingworth, which also says translation consultant UBS. Has anyone  
> on the list
> bought any of these, and have they been a great help? Are they worth  
> buying?
> Heb's is approx. $45.00. I am just asking how these commentaries 
> helped  you with
> Greek as a Greek student, and has been a plus to buy for  you.

A couple of series I have found helpful (besides the older standbys) 
are the _Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament_ and _The 
Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary_. These are Evangelical in bent.

One of the things you may want to prepare yourself for is that you may 
not find commentaries in general as helpful in the study of Greek as 
you may have thought going in. Though I love commentaries, one of the 
frustrating things for me is that they will often focus most 
extensively on the Greek text of especially controversial verses and 
much less extensively on verses for which the meaning is less 
controversial or not controversial at all. The problem with this is 
that, at least in my opinion, some of the more interesting Greek 
constructions I have run into in the GNT are not found in especially 
controversial verses and thus receive less extensive treatment of the 
Greek text or even no treatment at all. Even in the more extensively 
treated verses there may be interesting aspects of the Greek that are 
not covered. In other words, commentaries do not offer a comprehensive 
study of the Greek text, nor do they intend to. Generally speaking, 
you'll probably always get more bang for your buck from lexicons and 
reference grammars when it comes to shear focus on the Greek.

Another resource you may want to consider is Robertson's _Word Pictures 
in the New Testament_. It is a verse-by-verse commentary on the Greek 
text, though there are some interpretational and applicational 
comments. Though it is uneven and sometimes dated, I think you will 
find it often helpful.
============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




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