Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers [Paperback]

Rodney Decker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

Providing graded readings in Koine Greek from the New Testament, Septuagint, Apostolic Fathers, and early creeds, this unique text integrates the full range of materials needed by intermediate Greek students. Its many features include four helpful vocabulary lists, numerous references to other resources, assorted translation helps, a review of basic grammar and syntax, and an introduction to BDAG—the standard Greek lexicon.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Koine Greek Reader goes where other readers do not by providing graded readings from the New Testament, Septuagint, Apostolic Fathers, and early creeds. Its many features include four helpful vocabulary lists, numerous references to other resources, assorted translation helps, a review of basic grammar and syntax, and an introduction to BDAG. Professors looking for a new textbook will find that Koine Greek Reader integrates the full range of materials needed by intermediate students.

Praise for Koine Greek Reader

“Absolutely the best volume of its kind available today. It incorporates a wealth of valuable information for classroom use or for self-study . . . [and] has been carefully prepared and organized, tested and refined in the classroom over a number of years, and handsomely produced by the publisher. I recommend it enthusiastically!”

—BUIST M. FANNING III
Department Chair and Professor of New Testament
Dallas Theological Seminary

“This tool supplements traditional grammars and provides hands-on exposure to a variety of Koine texts. Particularly helpful are the readings from the Septuagint, the Apostolic Fathers, and the early creeds. . . . An excellent resource for intermediate and advanced college and seminary students.”

—MARK L. STRAUSS
Professor of New Testament,
Bethel Seminary, San Diego

“Intermediate students of New Testament Greek will be well served by this fine selection of readings. . . . Anyone willing to go through this material carefully and in sequence will notice a marked increase in proficiency.”

—MOISÉS SILVA
Former Professor of New Testament,
Westminster Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“The Koine Greek Reader is by far the best resource currently available for learning Koine Greek inductively at the intermediate level. I look forward to using it in my own teaching and expect that it will be used widely both as a classroom text and for independent study for years to come.”

—MARTIN M. CULY
Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek,
Briercrest College and Seminary

“It is hard to find something to criticize in this wonderful resource. The best recommendation that I can give is that I will be adopting it for my classes as soon as it becomes available!”

—WILLIAM VARNER
Professor of Greek,
The Masters College

“Rodney Decker’s Koine Greek Reader is a godsend to serious students and would-be scholars of New Testament Koine Greek who prefer a traditional pedagogical approach. . . . The breadth of resources made available in this reader leads the student directly into the maze and, rather than showing the way through it, develops the essential skills needed to find one’s own way through it.”

—CARL W. CONRAD
Associate Professor Emeritus
Washington University, St. Louis
Cochair, B-Greek Internet discussion list

“Rodney Decker’s Koine Greek Reader is a welcome addition to the growing number of resources available for intermediate level Greek courses. I have used the Koine Greek Reader in a second-year Greek class, and on the basis of my students’ enthusiastic response to it and their progress in their study of Greek, I enthusiastically recommend it.”

—W. EDWARD GLENNY
Professor of New Testament Studies and Greek,
Northwestern College, St. Paul, Minnesota

Rodney J. Decker (Th.D., Central Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of Greek and New Testament at Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous journal articles and a highly respected monograph on the gospel of Mark published in the Studies in Biblical Greek series edited by D. A. Carson. He edits the popular New Testament Resources Web site (http://www.ntresources.com).

About the Author

Rodney J. Decker (Th.D., Central Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament at Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous journal articles on linguistic, exegetical, and theological topics and a highly respected monograph on the gospel of Mark published in the Studies in Biblical Greek series edited by D. A. Carson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Academic & Professional (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825424429
• ISBN-13: 978-0825424427
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rodney J. Decker (b. 1952) grew up on a farm in NE Pennsylvania and having completed graduate study, including a ThD in New Testament, and pastoring for a dozen years, now teaches MDiv and PhD students at Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, PA. He is an "academic" author specializing in koine Greek. Several additional books are in process including a grammatical handbook on the Gospel of Mark (Baylor Univ Press).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best there is, December 2, 2007

By 

Anthony J. Smith "Bible Student" (FL, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers (Paperback)

This book is not only the only (so far as I know) true 'koine' reader, it is also among the best 'readers' available. Decker, along with Mounce BBG, has mastered the art of inductive language teaching. The student learns the material by immersing him/herself into it and appropriate help is given as need along the way. This allows the student to stretch his/her own knowledge and confirm or correct his/her current understanding of the grammar.

Several features make this book shine above the rest, though:
1) it is a true Koine reader, meaning the student will learn some NT text, some LXX text and some early christian texts. As someone said on the B-Greek forum, learning the span of koine, rather than simply translating the NT will make the student more adept at analyzing the language itself and less dependent on his/her background knowledge of english translations.

2) Vocab lists. This book is truly made for the student and the classroom. The various vocab assignments before each section will help the student incrementally develop his/her vocabulary beyond the 50x range. Especially helpful in this regard is appendix H which lists all the words that occur in the LXX more than 50x but less than 25x in the NT. By mastering this list, the student will be able to feel comfortable reading the LXX and becoming familiar with its lexical and grammatical features. To paraphrase what someone famous said "Sell every commentary you own if you have to in order to by a copy of the LXX and put it to use."

3) helpful grammar review. While Wallace's Grammar is superb and full of examples, the best way to master grammatical concepts is to read the text and see them in use. Decker does a masterful job of pointing out special grammatical notes concerning the NT, LXX and early christian writings, allowing the user to learn grammar through constant use.

4) using BDAG. Appendix A on using BDAG is a must read (this is available in some form on his website also). BDAG is worth its weight in gold for simple definitions and glosses, but very few know how to use this tome to its full potential. Decker does and he teaches the student how through a series of exercises in the greek text.

I believe that Decker's book should be required reading in all second year Greek courses so as to expose students to the wide range of koine texts, develop students as masters of the language not simply translation glosses, and refresh and sharpen grammatical learning in the context of exegesis/translation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pushy little thing - but, that's good, December 6, 2011

By 

Joel L. Watts "Joel Watts" (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers (Paperback)

Students of a foreign language need practice - and not just practice on the same author, but from different authors, different contexts, different texts. One has to mix it up a little to stretch and thereby learn more. Inside this book, you'll find a wide range of reading related to the study of New Testament Greek which enable a student in Koine Greek to do just that. This book is an inductive learning tool, geared to the intermediate, or second year, student, and should serve to help her to stretch her linguistic skills.

The student is met first with a quote from Ulrich Zwingli on the personal study of Greek. The tone is thus set in that Decker is not merely concocting a book on the study of the New Testament in its original languages, but is building a book to enable the student to actually read the Sacred Writings, as Zwingli puts it. To do so, the author has selected writings from the New Testament, covering the Gospels, several of the Epistles, and the book of Revelation, in the first part. Part II focuses on the Septuagint, the Apostolic Fathers and the Early Creeds. The Septuagint includes readings from the Torah with several readings from the Psalms, Histories and Prophets. The Apostolic Fathers includes samples from Ignatius, the Didache, 1 Clement and Hermes. The Creeds include the Apostles', Nicene and the Constantinoplitan, as well as the Chalcedonian. My only issue here, and it is a minute issue given the wide range of authors and (con)texts which Decker has made available to us, is that the Creeds do not include some of the pre-Nicene creeds, even as supplemental readings. Granted, this is only from someone interesting in the early theology of the Church, and not really as a critic overall. Along with these primary readings are, except with the Creeds, supplemental readings to test the student's growth.

The book opens with a preface and an introduction. Abbreviations, including grammatical abbreviations, as well as Appendices which include short introductions to such things as Using BDAG, Parsing Lists and Septuagint Vocabulary. For those who are intermediate students, the Greek words and passages in the lists and readings are met with English renderings. Of note, Strong's is not used, but the bibliography does note the outstanding sources which have been pooled for such a work. As far as translations, the ESV, HCSB, ISV, NASB, NET, NIV and the NRSV are used for the New Testament whereas the academic favorite, NETS, is used for the Septuagint. The second critique is, and again, not really a detracting issue, but while this book is geared to the intermediate student, it may have been made more accessible if a small section, which could have included the Greek alphabet and pronunciation help, was included. This would have allowed beginners and not-yet-intermediate students to make use of this outstanding work.

Now that I've given you the overview, I want to take you inside the chapter and to figure out how the book is supposed to work. In chapter 1, the reading is going to be from John 7.25-44. It begins with a Grammar Review on nouns and case usage, complete with recommended readings (see the Abbreviations list). Following this a Forms Review chart for the endings to the words which you are about to use. Connected to an appendix later in the book, the student then moves to the vocabulary notes and the new vocabulary which will greatly increase, by time the student has completed this book, her Greek knowledge. These lists are divided into words which appear over 100, 25-49, and less than 24 times. Following this, in chapter 1, is a reading of John 7.25-27 with what is essentially a commentary of sorts on the Greek. The Teacher's voice is there with the Student, pointing out what to look for while, but after, reading. This continues until the end of the passage which is then followed by the supplemental reading, which in this case, is John 7.1-24 first in Greek and then accompanied by the rendering found in the NASB.

The book has already been helpful to me, in testing my beginning knowledge of Greek. It will push those with such a knowledge, and for the intermediate student, will expand them and help them on their way. Decker has provided a tool which can be used in the classroom as well as in private study, not just to learn Greek, but to refresh oneself in the Sacred Languages of the early Church.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Reader, April 2, 2010

By 

Philip "The Switch" (Arden Hills, MN, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers (Paperback)

Dr. Ed Glenny (See recommendations above) used this text in my Intermediate Greek class, and it was extremely helpful. It has vocab to learn, readings to translate, and supplemental notes regarding the text being translated. There are writings from the New Testament (Part 1), the Septuagint (Part 2.1), the apostolic fathers (Part 2.2), and some early creeds (Part 2.3). This really is an amazing resource if you are a second year student or beyond. Honestly, I cannot wait to use this resource again.