[B-Greek] Machen, key to same

Chet Creider creider at uwo.ca
Wed Feb 18 08:19:39 EST 2004


>At 8:21 PM -0500 2/17/04, Terry and Gail Cook wrote:
> >Greetings,
> >I've seen the Machen book at Amazon and other places for between $50-$70
> >so when I found a 1923  printing for $6 at Half-Priced Books I thount I
> >had a bargain.
> >The book is small, about 287 pages and rather helpful, but, it does not
> >have an answer key to the end of chapters exercises!!
> >What (if any) is the difference between my $6 book and the $70 book (if
> >anyone knows)? Does anyone have an answer key they'd like to share with a
> >brother?

I believe there is no difference between the books except the price (I own 
the older version but a number of years ago saw the $60 version in a 
bookstore and it appeared to be a photographic reproduction of the 
original).  An answer key together with much additional discussion is 
available from Amazon:
David L. Thompson
New Testament Greek Beginnings
ISBN: 0024206504
Price: $27.80

The price is a little steep, and there are a moderate number of typos (but 
nothing major).  For self-study, it is ideal.

Carl Conrad wrote:
>The real question is whether Machen is a bargain at any price. It's not
>that one cannot learn Greek from it, but there are so many better print
>textbooks and now there are many more better ways to learn Greek from
>on-line resources. At this point, I wouldn't urge anyone to take the book
>as a gift.

I would like to disagree (respectfully -- this being one of the very fews 
when I do disagree with Carl).  As long as one realizes that the book is 
not more than it says it is, and that the format is very traditional, I 
think it is excellent.  Students are presented with the details of the 
language in small doses, there are almost no misprints, and the 
presentation is very uncluttered (unlike most modern texts).  I found the 
book very satisfying to work through and think it compares very favourably 
with its competitors (e.g. Wenham).  For many learners, it takes more than 
one textbook to become comfortable with NT Greek, and provided one treats 
Machen as only the first, I don't see any problem with using it.

A major (and deliberate on Machen's part) simplification Machen makes is in 
the interpretation of participles.  After you have worked through Machen, 
be sure to read another text's (Wenham is excellent here) presentation of 
participles.

Chet Creider




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