[B-Greek] A Couple of Questions Concerning Reference Works

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Wed Jul 16 23:21:09 EDT 2008


Robertson is indeed useful.  I find his comments on the history of the language quite interesting (It * IS * billed as "in the light of historical research").  I would also suggest Henry Weir Smyth _Greek Grammar_ (about the price of Wallace).  Even though it is designed for classical it is still quite useful for NT usage.  Wallace is useful for a "quick and dirty" view, but I would suggest that you use it for precisely that purpose -- quick and dirty.  BDF (Blass, Debrunner, Funk) is also useful even if a bit cryptic.  If you can some day swing the funds, Moulton - Howard - Turner is of worth.  Elizabeth Klein seems to like Cooper, and since I respect her opinion (not because I have any first-hand knowledge of it) I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
.
 george
gfsomsel


… search for truth, hear truth, 
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth, 
defend the truth till death.


- Jan Hus
_________



----- Original Message ----
From: Will Dilbeck <will.dilbeck at gmail.com>
To: Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
Cc: B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 11:01:05 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] A Couple of Questions Concerning Reference Works

I am not planning on selling my first born child for anything, but I do get
the point.

I feel that Robertson is very useful, and I have not used the digitized
version of his grammar, but I use his book almost every day. Obviously, with
any work, Robertson doesn't answer all my questions and I was hoping that
Wallace might fill in some of the blanks.

As for BDAG, I guess I will have to buy it. There is just no getting around
it.

Thanks again,
Will

On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 6:42 PM, Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com> wrote:

>
> On Jul 16, 2008, at 7:07 PM, Will Dilbeck wrote:
>
>  All,
>>
>> I would like to ask a couple of questions concerning reference works.
>> First
>> of all, I have Robertson's "Greek Grammar in Light of Historical Research"
>> and I was wondering if it would be worth getting Wallace's "Greek Grammar
>> Beyond the Basics." Wallace's volume is not that expensive, but my money
>> could be used more effectively if his book wouldn't really add a lot to
>> what
>> Robertson covers in his work.
>>
>
> "Everybody" will tell you that Robertson's work is dated and that Wallace
> is more useful (especially easy to consult in the digital version available
> through most Bible software programs). Robertson's work is hard to use --
> and it's becoming increasingly evident that the preparation of the digitized
> version could have undergone a MUCH more careful proofreading -- but I can't
> escape the powerful sense that, although Wallace is probably right about
> things more often than not, his grammatical categories and subcategories
> seem to me awfully idiosyncratic, while there's always something to be
> learned from Robertson, if you can find where he talks about what you want
> to know at some particular point.
>
> Secondly, I have Kittel's TDNT, and many other lexicons, but I do not have
>> Bauer and Danker's "Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T. and Other Christian
>> Literature." I realize this lexicon is preferred by many, but it is quite
>> expensive. Would it really give me information that I do not have in the
>> TDNT volumes and the other Lexicons (Thayer, Liddell & Scott, etc.)?
>>
>
> I really wouldn't go so far as selling a firstborn (or subsequent) child to
> buy BDAG, but it is a POLUTIMOS MARGARITHS to be sought after. An unabridged
> L&S is worth having too (the "Little Liddell" is not very useful for GNT).
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>
>
>
>
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