[B-Greek] 1 John 2:20
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Fri Feb 22 13:21:13 EST 2008
On Feb 22, 2008, at 12:56 PM, Sean Kelly wrote:
>> I find it hard to conceive of any half-way respectable lexicon that
>> would not include this usage. EVEN that perhaps-most-readily-
>> accessed-and-generally-useless glossary of Barclay Newman about
>> which I have vented ad nauseam ... Of course beginners need help,
>> beginning students of Biblical Greek no less than kids learning to
>> ride a bicycle. But training wheels and an older person's supporting
>> hands have to give way if one is ever to go forward with
>> self-sustained and steady momentum ... Nor is it enough to acquire
>> and
>> own a good lexicon; one needs to STUDY the entries for words...
>
> I must confess that the only lexicon I have can be found in the back
> of
> my Strong's Concordance. I imagine you might have equally glowing
> things
> to say about it as it generally tends to be very terse giving a two or
> three word definition and then a list of the ways it was translated in
> the NASB. How I would love to have a lexicon that would discuss the
> nuances
> that various case endings might bring to a noun or what weight the
> Present
> Active Subjunctive form adds to a particular verb. Or how context
> might
> lead to greater meaning, such as how Vine's describes the deeper
> meaning
> of ηκουσας in 2Tim2:2 because Timothy was to παραθου
> them to faithful men.
> TMI does not apply to Scripture as far as I am concerned. So all
> that said,
> as a man whose opinion on the matter I value greatly, is there a
> lexicon
> you would recommend?
Yes: BDAG (i.e. A Greek - English Lexicon of the New Testament and
other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition, revised and edited by
Fredrick William Danker. University of Chicago Press, Chicago,
Illinois © 1957, 1979, 2000 by The University of Chicago.)
It is by no mans perfect, but for the NT and related Greek early
Christian literature, there's nothing existing that's better.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list