[B-Greek] biblical Greek dictionaries
Chet A. Creider
creider at uwo.ca
Thu Dec 29 21:24:27 EST 2005
Although I agree that BDAG is well worth owning and using, it is not a
convenient dictionary to use because it is so large and heavy. It is
also useful to have smaller dictionaries at hand just as one will for
most purposes find the Concise Oxford Dictionary (or whatever its
American equivalent is) suffices and reserve the heavy and cumbersome
OED or Webster for special occasions. As a good medium-size dictionary
(i.e. comparable to the COD), I recommend Abbott-Smith's _Manual Greek
Lexicon of the New Testament_. It is still in print and has a number
of useful features in its entries plus a couple of useful appendices
for irregular aorists and the like. As a pocket dictionary to have
while travelling or even for very simple ordinary usage, I recommend
Alexander Souter's _A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament_.
Published by Oxford University Press and reprinted many times, I don't
think it is in print any longer, but used copies are easy to come by.
I like it because the definitions are very precise and vivid -- Souter
was exceptionally talented in this regard. Be warned, however, that
the book contains next to nothing regarding morphology so it is not
really a beginner's dictionary (for that I would recommend Newman's
little dictionary).
Although I own BDAG and have used it many times, it is the other two
dictionaries that I use on a daily basis. Souter is very inexpensive
(I remember because I recently bought a second copy), but I can't
remember the price of Abbott-Smith. I suspect it is not cheap
new, but if you can't afford it, a used copy should be relatively
easy to find.
Chet Creider
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