[B-Greek] Thayer's Lexicon for Logos
Mark Lightman
lightmanmark at yahoo.com
Sun Oct 4 20:28:07 EDT 2009
--- On Sat, 10/3/09, Michael Aubrey <mga318 at yahoo.com> wrote:
<Even if BDAG isn't six times better, I would still definitely hold that BAGD or even BAG is superior to Thayer - either of which you can purchase online used for a price roughly equivalent to Thayer.. So, again, *why* get Thayer at all when you can get a superior lexicon for just about the same price?>
Hi, Mike,
Not to be argumentative, but a used third edition of BDAG
will still cost you $100.00, while you can get a used Thayer
for $3.50. You can get a used SECOND edition of BDAG for
$25.00, but then you are back to the old format and type face
which is notoriously hard to follow--the third edition corrects this
and you pay through the nose for it, even for used copies.
But as to your general point, I would agree that a used BAG for
$15.00 is a good deal and would make more sense than buying
a Thayer because Bauer really is good for the Apostolic Fathers
and the Apostolic Fathers are really good for NT Greek learners.
ERRWSO
Mark L
FWSFOROS
Carl wrote:
<We've had this discussion on the
utility of this old classic before; I
don't really want to start it all over again.>
What do you mean by "really?"
The two best NT Greek Lexicons in English
are BDAG ($115.35) and Thayer ($18.21.)
BDAG ($115.35) is a better resource; there is
no doubt about that. BDAG ($115.35) is excellent
for the Apostolic Fathers. When I look up a NT
word, I sometimes look it up in Thayer ($18.21)
and I sometimes look it up in BDAG ($115.35)
and I sometimes look it up in both. I would say
that the entry in BDAG ($115.35) is a little better
about two thirds of the time. Quite often, Thayer’s
($18.21) entry is better because it gives you the
Hebrew equivalent and the Greek root, and gets
to the heart of the matter more concisely.. Sometimes
Thayer’s ($18.21) entries are longer and give you
more information. If you compare a given entry in
Thayer ($18.21) and BDAG ($115.35) you will find
that 90% of the time, both entries pretty much give you
the same information. I don’t think one’s NT Greek
would be any better using one over the other.
Most people on this list disagree with me.
They think there is absolutely no comparison
between the two. They think BDAG ($115.35)
is six times better than Thayer ($18.21.) They think
people who learn NT Greek using Thayer ($18.21)
understand the Greek NT 16% as well as people
who use BDAG ($115.35.) They think some Egyptian
tax receipts have fundamentally altered our understanding
of NT Greek words, but they can’t give you any examples of this.
If you are in the market for a NT Greek lexicon, you do
what you want. You can spend $115.35 on a BDAG
if you want to. Or, you can get a Thayer for $18.21
and still have enough money left over to buy an Intermediate
Liddell and Scott ($35.98) and a Moulton and Milligan ($26.37
—so much for the papyri) AND Kohlenberger’s Exhaustive
Concordance to the Greek New Testament ($27.29.)
Thayer ($18.21) is an excellent NT Greek resource
at an excellent price. BDAG ($115.35) is by far the
most over-rated and over-priced resource discussed on this list.
Remember, I did not bring this up.
Mark L
FWSFOROS MARKOS
--- On Fri, 10/2/09, Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com> wrote:
From: Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
Subject: [B-Greek] Thayer's Lexicon for Logos
To: "B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Friday, October 2, 2009, 5:23 AM
Here's another item of some ἀμφισβητῆσις: Logos software
announced this week that it is preparing an electronic version of the
1889 edition of Thayer's Lexicon. Some (I won't name names) have
heralded this. My own sense is that buttered toast has been around
longer than Thayer's Lexicon and that is because it remains relevant
to our daily existence. I was wondering whether I was all alone in
this feeling when, lo and behold, Mark Hoffman has a blog entry
questioning the move:
http://bibleandtech.blogspot.com/2009/10/thayers-lexicon-for-logos.html
We've had this discussion on the utility of this old classic before; I
don't really want to start it all over again. But I would echo MGVH's
advice: "If asked, I guess I would tell my students that it is helpful
if used judiciously, but they would be better off saving up their
money to get BDAG or the Exegetical Dictionary of the NT."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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