Customer Reviews

New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (4 Volume Set)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
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I hate to be the only one not giving this a 5 (but four means it's great). [NOTE: My rating was accidentally registered as a five] Others have already highlighted how great this is. In many respects, it is superior to Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (10 volumes). I've owned my set since 1980, when it was three volumes (the current fourth volume is an index). I can't give it five stars because 1) organizing by English words is very difficult and annoying for those of us who can look it up in Greek word order, like all the other Greek resources (20 minutes learning the Greek alphabet is all it would take for someone who doesn't read Greek). 2) Like so many other works geared to both those who read Greek and those who don't, it uses transliteration in the articles. I think that's the ONLY thing I like better about Kittel's - no transliteration! 3) This is not cost-effective compared to the absolutely outstanding and inexpensive "abridged" version of this set (see more below).

I've used DNTT for years. I always come away from reading articles quite edified. It's a tremendous resource. It's so good I overlook it's organizational faults.

However, consider the following:

Zondervan quietly put out an abridged version of this. Nothing important is missing! See my review of the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology - Abridged Edition here on Amazon for more details. That is only $23, while this four volume set is $93. That uses the odd English based organizing system, the abridged is easier to use and all words are listed in Greek word order. They crammed the information into one volume by shrinking the type (still plenty big), moving to a double column format, and making the book taller and deeper than the original size. Read more about it at my review.

If you are considering this set, you may want to consider the abridged instead. When I've used the abridged, I never feel cheated because they kept all the relevant stuff! I have all the major theological dictionaries of the NT (TDNT, DNTT, Exegetical Dictionary of the NT, and Spicq's TNLT) and I use them routinely. I'm telling you that the Abridged version of this is not a kiddie version. It's the real thing. It's the best kept secret in scholarly resources for the NT! Don't feel like you're slighting yourself by getting the abridged, you're not. Now the abridged Kittel's, by contrast, is a different story. That was a serious abridgement and a serious compromise of the original. I sold that on eBay. I retain and use the original.

A great supplement to this set (or the abridged version) is Spicq's Theological Lexicon of the New Testament. See my review of that. It is far more theologically refreshing and insightful than either this set or TDNT (EDNT is the most bland, but it has its strengths).

May God bless you in your pursuit of a greater understanding of Holy Scripture.

Colin Brown has put together one of the better New Testament Dictionaries available. This is a must have for serious students, Pastors, and those who love to study the New Testament. This series is great for word studies, syntactical studies, semantical studies, etc. Brown takes Greek words used throughout the NT and discusses their usages in context, in the LXX, in other Greek writings, etc. Brown gives a definition of the word/s and describes their various semantical features, cognates, synonyms, and such. Brown also sites where the words are used, how they are used, etc. Moreover, the reader does not need a background in the Greek language to understand this series - Brown has made it accessible for anyone to grasp!! Brown also discusses key terms used in the Greek, he has a great bibliography, a complete index (one whole volume of the series), and he discusses the major theological issues surrounding the grammar/semantics of the Greek and the Bible. Thus, making this set an invaluable tool for anyone interested in deeper NT studies. This is a must have set!!!

This four volume set is an indispensable resource every pastor and serious Bible student. I purchased my set in 1989 and it sits on a prominent place in my theological library, just behind my desk. Thoroughly scholarly, yet evangelical, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology offers in-depth insight into key New Treatment words. Best of all, one need not have a working knowledge of either Greek or Hebrew to use this resource; yet, at the same time it offers those who have a working knowledge of the original tongues tremendous insight as well.

There is enough in these volumes to irritate just about everyone who holds strict denominational beliefs. Neither Arminian, or Calvinistic, nor evangelical or charismatic, this dictionary gives the reader the best of evangelical scholarship. It has been fifteen years since I purchased by set, and I cannot imagine preparing sermons and Bible Studies without it.

This series is a must have for any serious biblicist. This series is useful for layman and ordained alike. Every word present in the New Testament is examined at length, delving into the Classical usages, LXX and Hebrew conter parts as well as Konic; giving the full literary history of the usage. Much care is taken in quotation and sources cited, letting the reader know if there are exceptions to the cited authors. Three volumes of exposition and a single volume of index, making finding the exact quote, word, or cite quickly accessible.

This set is one of my most valuable resources for understanding the bredth and depth of New Testament words. The use of the Hebrew background, the Septuagint translation, the secular Greek usage as well as the New Testament context give a broad and complete basis for forming a more legitimate exegesis. The information is presented with enough detail to satisfy those with some knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, but is not so detailed as to make it unavailable to those lacking that background.

The NI Dictionary of NT Theology is a well written reference on key topics of theology. The book refers back to the original Greek to begin his discussion and describes how the work was used in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and other Greek writings. The authors, although mentioning their personal theology, do not try to steer your thinking towards theirs. This allows the student to learn and build their own convictions. The only problem with this set is that some topics are hard to look up and are dispersed under other topics.

A must for any bible study. As Greek has been transliterated there is really no need to even know the original language. The articles are AMAZING!!! AMEN!!!

The transliteration of the Greek is the only draw-back to this work as personally I prefer the Greek terms and in the Greek word order.Allow me to explain why. I do not use the NIV, though I know it to be a trustworthy translation, thus I tend to come directly from the Greek text to this. Thus I usually find the term, I am searching, in the transliterated indexed 4th volume. So if this was in the Greek word order and untransliterated it would prove easier. But enough of my crying! It IS WORTHY TO BE PURCHASED!

I also supplement this set with 'Theological Lexicon of The New Testament' by Ceslas Spicq, which tends to develop words the NIDNNT and Kittle have omitted. The TLNT is in the Greek word order and untransliterated, so it may feel odd to some who are not yet aquainted with the Greek.

Without question purchase the NIDNNT prior to the TLNT by Spicq as you will gain far more use from it.

soli deo gloria

The index volume is excelent. Has sections for : english words, greek, bible - verses from Bible, hebrew words, extrabiblical literature.

The articles are clear, contains a lot of information, no homiletics, very well documented.
Also, the dictionary includes articles on other themes.

I was first acquainted with this work in college and have loved it ever since. The articles are thorough, but best of all, readable. I often pick up a volume looking up a specific word, then end up reading three or four articles because they are so interesting.

I purchased this four volume set when I was studying Greek at Denver Seminary, back in 1989 as it was highly recommend by my Greek professor. I used it quite a bit during seminary and even after that in my personal Bible studies, and more so when I started working on my Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament: Third Edition (ALT).

The arrangement of this set is by English not Greek words. But the fourth volume provides an index to where the discussion on Greek words can be found.

For each entry, the English word is given in bold, then the basic Greek word in a box. Then variant forms of the Greek word are given and synonymous Greek words, each with an English equivalent. Then the main article begins with a discussion of the use of the word(s) in classical literature. Then there's a discussion of the usages of the word(s) in the LXX translation of the Hebrew, OT, often indicating what Hebrew word the LXX was translating, and finally is the discussion of the usage on the NT.

So lots of information is presented, and if you read through the entire article for a word, you will definitely gain full knowledge of the history and usage of the word. However, the thoroughness of this set can sometimes be a drawback. It is just too much information and takes too long to read through. Most of the time when studying a word, you don't need that much background, so standard lexicons, like the ones on the BibleWorks 7 software program, provide sufficient info.

But that said, I am glad I purchased this set when I did. I didn't refer to it that often in my translation work, but on the occasions that I did, it helped to clarify how to translate a particular word.

For instance, some claim that "porneia" only refers to prostitution. The article in volume one of this set explains that this was originally the sense of the word. However, by the time of Christ, "porneia" referred to any kind of sexual intercourse outside of a Biblically lawful marriage (pp. 497-501). As such, I rendered this as word as "sexual sin" with the alternative translation of "fornication." I explain in more detail the reasons for these renderings in the Glossary contained in the Companion Volume to the Analytical-Literal Translation: Third Edition. The information for that glossary entry was mainly taken from the article in this set.

This set is also helpful when working on articles for my Web site. And it would be helpful in sermon preparation.

All that said, this volume is rather expensive. So only get it if you really think you will need in-depth word studies for transition work, sermon preparation, and the like. Less expensive lexicons and software programs will provide sufficient information for less serious Bible studies.