[B-Greek] Fw: B-Greek Digest, Vol 100, Issue 8 - review of Machen
Mark Lightman
lightmanmark at yahoo.com
Sat Apr 16 11:08:11 EDT 2011
Yes I agree the revision could have been better. You can get used copies of the
original for very cheap, though they tend to be pretty worn out.
One final point on Machen. A few months ago a guy on the Greek study list asked
about Machen. He said that he heard Machen was so good that he was considering
using him, even though he had no interest in Koine or the GNT. He said that he
had heard that Machen's systematic approach really helped people learn Greek
better than the stuff he had used up until that point.
I'm not making this up. Several people on this list will remember the exchange
we had. The point is, you never know what works for people.
Mark L
FWSFOROS MARKOS
________________________________
From: Barry H. <nebarry at verizon.net>
To: Mark Lightman <lightmanmark at yahoo.com>; Shirley Rollinson
<rollinsondr at yahoo.com>; b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Sat, April 16, 2011 8:45:08 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Fw: B-Greek Digest, Vol 100, Issue 8 - review of Machen
----- Original Message ----- From: Mark Lightman
To: Barry H. ; Shirley Rollinson ; b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2011 9:52 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Fw: B-Greek Digest, Vol 100, Issue 8 - review of Machen
> I've read his review twice, and each time, since I know that DOKEW is a
>contract verb, I read his sentence as "doesn't inform people that DOKEW IS a
>contract verb." But you are right, he writes "that DOKEW is not a contract
>verb" It appears to be a typo.
Ok, let he who is without typos cast the first keyboard... :)
> An irony, in a review which, in my opinion, nitpicks about the few mistakes in
>Machen. If this is what Vance means, it's funny, because lots of the more
>inductive text books which are preferred by some to Machen use contract verbs
>before even telling you what a contract verb is. Machen is actually very good
>at telling you everything you HAVE to know to read the Greek NT.
If Machen hadn't had certain strengths, it would not have been used. Personally,
I would have liked to see the exercises seriously revamped and a bit more on
aspect and other grammatical features, with clearer explanations, and see
below. However, my problem with Machen's explanations of the participles was
that it was too fulsome. Compare Crosby & Schaeffer, or Chase & Phillips,
standard classical grammars (C&S was published in '29, I think, don't have my
copy here). Simple explanations, along with some examples. However, I found
that I could fill in the gaps, often with printed supplements (I finally had an
inkjet printer that could handle beautifully the proprietary Greek fonts I used
with Word Perfect at that time).
> I also think that a review like this is less relevant in an age where you can
>read dozens of positive reviews of Machen by students on Amazon and elsewhere on
>line. (Usually, you can read these reviews long before a review comes out on
>SBL.) Students, not all, but some, have always liked Machen and always will.
>For what he does, present the basics of NT Greek is a concise, organized way,
>and give lots of simple exercises that drill the basics, he is unsurpassed.
>This does not mean that other texts can't do other things.
More connected prose, sentences in a style from the get-go better adapted from
the originals, challenging exercises that are not NT but have good syntax, style
and content...
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, semper melius Latine sonat...
Classics and Bible Instructor, TAA
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
(2010 Salvatori Excellence in Education Winner)
V-P of Academic Affairs, TNARS
bhofstetter at tnars.net
http://www.tnars.net
http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog
http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry
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