Customer Reviews

New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament, The

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This is an English version of Fritz Rienecker's "Sprachlicher Schluessel zum Griechischen Neuen Testament." It claims to be a translation of Rienecker with revised and more current references for the English-speaking user. Actually, Rogers goes beyond that to change Rienecker's frequent insightful comments on the meaning of the text to give a very Baptist interpretation of the text. This is particularly evident in passges which deal with baptism and the Lord's Supper. The information on the grammar and parsing of words in the Greek text is the same as Rienecker's, and very helpful to the average reader of the Greek New Testament. Rogers is to be commended for making Rienecker's helps for students of Greek available in English, but anyone who can use the German language would be better served by procurring a copy of Rienecker's orginal work. Check Amazon.de to see if it is still available there, or shop the net for dealers in used theological books. If you do use Roger's "revision" be aware that the theological comments are not what the preface portrays them to be. Also check a similar work in English by Grosvenor and Zerwick called "Analysis of the Greek New Testament." The latter work is similar, but is a bit more extensive. It is thicker and a bit more expensive.

I have both editions of Linguisitc Key. The "New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek NT" (NLEKGNT) is not necessarily a better tool for Bible exposition. The older edition "Linguistic Key to the Greek NT" (LKGNT) has been more effective tool for me.
(a). I found LKGNT more accurate and to the point. You will note that other reviewers echo the same.
(b). The size of the older edition is more desirable (it is truly handy and portable), I like to take my LKGNT to the library and its small and handy size matters when you travel. The newer edition is unnecessarily big and heavy.
(c). Also Zondervan tries to market NLEKGNT for NIV readers as well, NLEKGNT includes annoying GK number (Goodrick-Kohlenberger) based on NIV Exhaustive Concordance (likened to Strong's number) after each Greek word.
In sum, I still use the older edition regularly but the new edition has been a disppointment. But if you cannot obtain the older edition, the new edition is still useful, if you don't mind its size, format and some inaccuracy.

This is a work meant to be able to be used while you have the Greek text in hand. It is functional. Unfortuantely, one can scarcely go two pages without a debatable/obscure term being used, or an outright error. With this kind of work, the reader should not have to check his grammars and lexicons to verify that they checked the grammars and lexicons. The idea is to give the reader a "one-stop" reference for verb forms and idioms that may not be recognized. thus accuracy is essential, and consistency is valuable.

But the authors change their terminology often, and without explanation as to why. They say they are utilizing Wallace's Greek grammar, but the terminology often differs from Wallace, so what category they're trying to show is often difficult to prove.

The work is truly lackluster in infinitives. Far too many infinitives are written off as "complementary." The question has to be asked, "complementary to WHAT?" An infinitive can operate with either verbs or nouns. And they use he term with BOTH, but according to Wallace, when it refers to a noun, it is technically "epexegetical" not complementary. And complementary to a verb is only supposed to be used if it completes the verbal idea. Instead it seems to be a real catch-all drip pan usage.

This is the best work of its kind one can find. And one should obtain it. But use it with a hefty load of salt. Because if you trust it too much, you'll get burned by it.

I am a biblical languages student and have found this book to be most helpful in my translation work. However, my classmates and I have come across an alarming (but not overwhelming) amount of errors, especially in the parsing of verbs. Interestingly, one of my professors has an older edition of the book (sorry, I don't know which one) and it seems to not have the mistakes that occur in the newer version. In spite of the occasional errors, I would still recommend this book, especially to beginning students. I would also recommend having a lexicon on hand as well to make sure Rogers and Rogers has gotten it right. Also, if you can find an older edition of the book, I would suggest going with that.

Cleon Roger's "New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament" is a very useful tool for getting out of pinches while doing quick translation work. I use it in combination with a similar book by Max Zerwick.

Roger's and Zerwick's books both have there biases (though Roger's is probably my favorite of the two); but I have found that when used in combination, they can provide excellent insights into the Greek New Testament.

I recommend this book to all beginning Biblical Greek students.

The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament is a great tool for anyone wanting to cut translation time in half! This book gathers all knowledge from previous and current research and commentary on the Greek New Testament. On average, each verse has at least half of the most difficult words with verb analysis, meaning, and any other pertinent information. The best thing about this book is its' ease of use. My personal favorites are the tidbits of information that the authors offer on most words. Great book! Great buy!

I have found this volume to be extremely useful in two areas: 1)When I am still having difficulty parsing a difficult verb form; and 2)For directing me to a plethora of additional articles and resources from which I can glean exegetical information. The book itself, as the title indicates, provides some exegetical insight, but it is at its best when it combines Rogers' own comments with a list of articles to consult for further research.

One or two other reviewers have mentioned using this book in conjunction with Max Zerwick's "A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament," and I do the same. I have heard some people call Rogers' work "big Zerwick," but that is not an accurate comparison of the two works. Rogers' book, while certainly providing some grammatical/linguistic information, emphasizes the exegetical aspect of words and passages far more, while Zerwick's volume is far more useful for learning the grammatical minutae and quirks of Koine Greek (though, at times, he also provides some exegetical comments).

The bottom line: don't substitute Rogers for Zerwick, or vice versa. Make use of both volumes and your studies of the GNT will be greatly enriched.

I use this for every sermon prep and so far this has been a great help to me. A must have for every serious student of the word. To God be the glory!

If, like me, you are not an expert in Koine Greek, then this is an excellent tool. I have found that having this work has served a twofold purpose: 1) it has revealed a great deal regarding the background of several words and phrases of which I was unaware, 2) it has served as a very effective reference to other more in depth articles and background material on the topics I am researching. I have found this work remarkably free of traditional bias. An example would be the handling of "the Word was God" phrase of John 1:1, with some reference material not often found in other Greek reference works. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves the Scriptures but has not yet mastered their original languages.

This work is a great help to those wanting to study the grammar and syntax of the Greek New Testament, relying on a variety of scholarship condensed into one volume. An extensive bibliography, attractive format, and durable binding augment the wealth of information this volume offers.

In order to use this volume, one must be able to read Greek in Greek characters. The only apparent drawback to this volume is that it does not draw attention to variant readings and their impact on the meaning and translation of the text as a whole.
All in all, you get a comprehensive walk-through of the Greek New Testament, according to the text of UBS.