[B-Greek] Croy's textbook

Susan Jeffers susan at read-the-bible.org
Tue Mar 11 09:34:46 EDT 2008


Greetings b-greek folks --

I just want to put in a plug for Clayton Croy's "A Primer of Biblical 
Greek" ((Eerdmans) on strictly logistical/practical grounds -- it's 
available as a $13 add-on to the BibleWorks software, which provides 
full searchable text - a feature I use a LOT to find where, exactly, 
Croy discusses particular grammatical points. 

I teach Greek online, and always try to point students to the page and 
paragraph where the textbook discusses whatever it is they're needing to 
review.  I have the physical textbook in hand, but the search feature of 
the digital version is great.  So, for example, this morning a student 
posted a question about /epestrepsan / (EPESTREYAN) from some exercises 
in the 1st aorist lesson, not realizing it's a compound verb with 
augment.  Rather than thumbing through the book, I could just search the 
digital version and point him right to p. 54 at the bottom back in the 
imperfect tense lesson, where Croy succinctly explains how compound 
verbs augment, and also back to p. 50 where compound verbs are first 
introduced.

I recently switched from Mounce to Croy.  Trying to find where Mounce 
discussed grammatical details was often quite  a challenge, as Mounce's 
book squirreled many "fine points" away in footnotes in the textbook and 
workbook.  The longer I teach, the more I want to just blast through 
"first year" exposure to grammar so students can get on to working with 
real biblical texts having been exposed at least briefly to the full 
introductory grammar. My compromise with more modern teaching methods is 
to make a LOT of use of audio recordings and analysis of Greek 
NTpassages by clause, toward the end of blasting through the Greek I 
grammar text and then on into second year Greek.

I like Croy's book because it's so succinct, and now searchable.  Also 
I've come to value using made-up sentences over the actual biblical text 
in the beginning stages.  Croy provides plenty of made-up sentence 
exercises for each lesson, as well as LXX, NT, and English-to-Greek.  I 
liked Mounce for online teaching because of the wealth of explanation 
and of course the workbook and other array of materials Zondervan sells, 
but I'm finding Croy much more practical in my setting.  Not to mention 
smaller and much less expensive.

I would think that persons working their way through beginning Greek on 
their own would benefit from Croy's book being searchable, and succinct, 
just as I do teaching online.  The answers to the exercises are 
available, and the CD that accompanies the newer edition has lots more 
practice sentences, quizzes with answers and other materials as well.  
By the way, the actual text of the book is the same in the older and 
newer edition and the BibleWorks add-in -- the only difference in the 
newer edition is the CD, which contains just a big pdf with additional 
materials.  If any of you have attended Clayton Croy's presentations at 
SBL, the CD materials capture some of his innovative and light-hearted 
spirit, and his apparent joy in teaching and learning biblical Greek. 

End of commercial; I don't get any commissions or anything..... :-)

Susan Jeffers
Adjunct faculty teaching Greek online for several institutions




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