The Elements of New Testament Greek [Paperback]

Jeremy Duff (Author), David Wenham (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0521755514 | ISBN-13: 978-0521755511 | Edition: 3

Since 1914, C.U.P. has published The Elements of New Testament Greek, a best-selling textbook for scholars and students of the Bible. The original work by H.P.V. Nunn was succeeded in 1965 by J.W. Wenham's book of the same title and Jeremy Duff's new edition advances a long-established tradition into the twenty-first century. Lessons are organized so the most important aspects of Greek are learned as well as the most commonly occurring words in the New Testament. Hundreds of examples cover every book of the N.T. and almost every chapter includes a passage to translate from it. The book is accompanied by a CD ROM containing additional learning material; a vocabulary audio CD is also available.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Duff's book is an outstanding example of bringing forth treasure both old and new. Undoubtedly this will become the first choice textbook for those who are really serious about teaching Greek. This is a timely and much needed resource for those who teach biblical Greek.' Expository Times

Book Description

Learning Greek is a journey of many steps. In this book every one of these steps is explained clearly, and revised using exercises. Lessons are ordered so the most important aspects of Greek are learnt first and the vocabulary consists of the most commonly occurring words in the New Testament. Hundreds of examples cover every book of the New Testament and there is a passage to translate in almost every chapter. A CD ROM containing additional learning material and a vocabulary audio CD are also available to accompany this book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 3 edition (May 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521755514
• ISBN-13: 978-0521755511
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good approach, but needs a second, corrected printing to be issued soon, September 27, 2006

By 

a voice of reason (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Elements of New Testament Greek Paperback and Audio CD Pack (Paperback)

I'd like to be able to give this grammar a '5' rating, but that may have to wait until after the next printing. I have studied and taught foreign languages, and so I feel qualified to say that Duff's approach to teaching Koine Greek is sound. He presents the grammar in a logical order and builds concepts one upon another as a good grammar should do for the beginning student. Unfortunately, there are several problems with the book: 1) There are far too many errors, even for a first printing; vital items are at times omitted from some of the grammar charts, which obviously makes learning those concepts correctly a difficult task. I'm not saying that Duff is incorrect, but that the book was carelessly edited. 2) There are some things to which Duff does give short shrift (for example, he mentions 'attraction' with relative pronouns in a small footnote as if it were unusual; however, 'attraction' is actually the norm in such cases and is an important concept to understand). 3)the website with "useful helps" seems to have been abandoned; there are some useful PowerPoint slides which can be downloaded (and some links to other sites are given), but there are no additional exercises or other materials as promised on the back cover of the book. I can only assume that this book was rushed to print since there are so many editing errors and the website is incomplete. Still, in spite of my criticisms, I believe this could be a good beginning grammar; I hope to see the errors corrected and the website completed so that it will become just that.

Addendum: The accompanying CD's are excellent helps for the beginning student of Koine Greek; for any student who does purchase this book, I highly recommend buying the version of the book that comes with the CD's.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It would be better with the accents., April 30, 2007

By 

John-Allen Payne (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Elements of New Testament Greek Paperback and Audio CD Pack (Paperback)

(I cannot comment on the CD because I have not heard it; my review is on only the textbook)
Jeremy Duff's book is a good review for for people with some experience in reading Koiné Greek. But it would be somewhat terse for the absolute beginner. His method of presenting concepts in complete categories is quite engaging. For example, In his chapter on the subjunctive mood, he gives this overview with examples of the instances when Koiné writers used the subjunctive mood:

* Indefinite clauses: whoever, wherever, whenever...
* Purpose clauses: in order that...
* Exhortations: Let's...
* Deliberations: What shall I...?
* Prohibitions: Don't...!
* Emphatic negative future: I will never...

He discusses in a similar way participles, complex sentences, conjunctions, prepositions, the perfect tenses, and so forth. This is a smooth way of reviewing these topics. This book also offers copious sentence exercises for practicing these constructions.

The only part of his book that I do not approve of is the lack of written accents. In spite of the attractive way that this book presents Greek, A learner will have difficulty in pronouncing words because they carry no accent marks. Mr. Duff states that "the accents are not taught in this book for three important reasons:

* Accents were not present in written Greek in the New Testament period.
* The rules of accentuation are complicated, and you have enough to learn.
* Accents don't help you translate or understand Greek."

The accents are helpful to me personally for memorizing vocabulary because they indicate which syllable to stress. Knowing where to put the stress on a word is an aid to memorization because it helps me to give a rhythm and a pronunciation to the word. Knowing the stress is also important for conjugating verbs and for declining nouns because all verbs and many nouns change their stress as they are inflected. Moreover, I have never seen a Greek bible text without accents. New Testament and Septuagint texts always indicate accents. So also do the writings of the Christian fathers. I imagine that a neophyte to Koiné Greek may well experience some frustration while trying to learn Greek words without the accents.

Otherwise, Elements of New Testament Greek is an engaging read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delivers Promise, January 18, 2007

By 

Douglas M. Hein (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Elements of New Testament Greek Paperback and Audio CD Pack (Paperback)

As stated in the book on page 1, the aim of the book is "To help you learn enough Greek to read the New Testament." Without a teacher, I worked through the chapters and did the all of the "A" exercises at the end of each chapter. After completing all of the chapters, I am happy to say I can read the New Testament, not perfectly, mind you, but with the help of a dictionary and Duff's book I can get through just about any passage.

I found the explanations clear and consise and I never felt overwhelmed or lost as I have with some other texts.

Thanks, Jeremy