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A Patristic Greek Lexicon

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The Patristic Greek Lexicon is indispensable for the study of Patristic. More than a mere supplement to Liddell and Scott, this work has as primary object the interpretation of the theological and ecclesiastical vocabulary of the Greek Christian authors from Clement of Rome to Theodore of Studium. These limits are necessarily somewhat arbitrary. They have been drawn with the object of confining the Lexicon, as far as possible, to the formative period of the history of Christian thought and institutions, beginning in the sub-apostolic age (but excluding any works of that period which are contained in the canon of the New Testament) and embracing the whole era of the Creeds, the Councils down to the Second Council of Nicaea, and the great doctrinal disputes down to the Iconoclastic Controversy.
All words illustrating the development of Christian thought and institutions have been treated as fully as possible, with extensive citations of the more important relevant passages.
A secondary object of the Lexicon is to give information about all words whether of any theological importance or not, which aroused by these writers but not included in Liddell Scott-Jones. A very large number of such words are listed here, distinguished in each case by an asterisk.
The relation of this work to Liddell Scott- Jones demands special attention. No word, which is well attested in the latter and has no particular interest for the reader of the Fathers, is included in this book. The absence of a word must on no account be understood as an indication that the patristic authors do not use it. In order, too, to make more space available for articles of major interest, the common meanings of any word, already noted by Liddell Scott-Jones, are not repeated here unless they are of significance for patristic study. Thus a common word to which Liddell Scott-Jones devote a long article may appear in this Lexicon with only one, and that an unusual, meaning. The user of this work is, in fact, assumed to have Liddell and Scott by its side. So, we strongly recommend that both dictionaries should be bought in order to succeed in the study of Patristic.

I've been told that Lampe is THE lexicon to have if you're doing work with Christian Church Fathers. It doesn't necessarily have every word you'd need, but if used with the unabridged Lidell & Scott, you should be able to translate most patristic writings. If you have ability in Latin, the old Stephanus lexicon (about 10 times the size of Lampe) is helpful. I wouldn't suggest buying that one though, unless you happen to BE a library.

As long as you are working with the more widely read fathers, this lexicon is very useful (when used with Liddell-Scott). When, however, you want to read certain passages from Epiphanius or Clement of Alexandria or certain other authors, Lampe is very incomplete, often listing only the verbal form of a word you found as a noun or the feminine form or no form at all for the particular word for which you are looking. The definitions it lists are incomplete, often you will have to infer a definition from the semantic domain indicated by the lexicon and the context of the passage. Further, the English is archaic and thus difficult to understand. Really, in most cases, Liddell-Scott is sufficient with occasional trips to the library to look in Lampe (though, I dare say you will not always find help there) and online access to the Perseus Project or, even better, the TLG.

I got this from amazon brand new when the price was down to 228 shipped. As of my writing this review it is back up to 313. I have noticed oxford press sometimes fluctuates there prices or amazon does. One or the other. You can also see my review of the Oxford English Dictionary 20 volumes that I got on sale at the same time. I haven't been able to use this lexicon yet. But I talked with those who are much farther ahead of me in this study, and this is the best. Sophocles is pretty much the only other option, but I haven't talked with any one that was really pleased or enthused with Sophocles.

this thing's got so many greek words your head'll spin! get on it now, jack! it wieghs a ton, and it'll ruin your fun! and yer eyes too!! what a major find, bro!