A Reader's Greek New Testament [Leather Bound]

Richard J. Goodrich (Author), Albert L. Lukaszewski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2004

A Reader's Greek New Testament offers two features unavailable in other print editions of the Greek New Testament: 1.Footnoted definitions for all words that occur thirty times or less in the New Testament 2.The complete Greek text behind the New International Version, today's most widely used Bible translation Ideal for Greek students and pastors, this volume saves time and effort in studying the Greek New Testament. By eliminating the need to look up definitions, the footnotes allow the user to read the Greek text more quickly, focusing on parsing and grammatical issues.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A Reader’s Greek New Testament offers two features unavailable in other print editions of the Greek New Testament:

1. Footnoted definitions for all words that occur thirty times or less in the New Testament 2. The complete Greek text behind the New International Version, today’s most widely used Bible translation

Ideal for Greek students and pastors, this volume saves time and effort in studying the Greek New Testament. By eliminating the need to look up definitions, the footnotes allow the user to read the Greek text more quickly, focusing on parsing and grammatical issues.

About the Author

Richard J. Goodrich (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews) is lecturer in the department of history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.

Albert Lukaszewski (PhD New Testament, University of Saint Andrews) is co-chair of the Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics Section of the international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. He has also served as editor of the Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament and is author of the forthcoming Grammar of Qumran Aramaic. He lives with his family on the east coast of Scotland.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Leather Bound: 592 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 1st edition (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310248884
• ISBN-13: 978-0310248880
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Albert Lukaszewski (PhD New Testament, University of Saint Andrews) is co-chair of the Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics Section of the international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. He has also served as editor of the Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament and is author of the forthcoming Grammar of Qumran Aramaic. He lives with his family on the east coast of Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've Wanted Something Like This for a Long Time, October 20, 2005

By 

Jonathan Bailey (Lawton, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Reader's Greek New Testament (Leather Bound)

Having studied the bible in the original languages for 10 years now, and having owned over 10 different volumes of various critical editions of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic bibles, I have always been surprised that there have been no editions of the Greek New Testament available in a handy, portable, leatherbound edition intended just for reading and general use in Christian life. I am absolutely thrilled that this volume has appeared in the format that I have always wanted.

So first, a couple of notes on the physical book: The burgundy leather of the copy that I have is unusually soft for a $30 book. It is undoubtedly synthetic, but I couldn't find any specific reference to the material in the book or packaging, so I'll leave myself open to the possibility that it's incredibly high quality leather. The pages are gold trimmed, but there is no indexing. One disappointment with the book is that there is no bookmark thread included. Pretty much all bibles that are meant to be read include these bookmarks. I hope future printings include it. Overall, the volume is quite thin, and has the same breadth and height as most individual sized bibles, so it will fit in a standard bible carrying case along with one's normal, leather bible. The thing is extremely convenient to take to church. The font is an italic text, though. You can view it by clicking on the link Amazon provides. I really had wished they would have not used the italic type that is common in older editions of Greek material, but the font is sized well and readable.

Now for the text. Other reviewers have trashed it because it is reconstructed to fit the popular NIV bible. True, the text does not include a substantial apparatus for discussing textual variants, and it is not appropriate for researchers of graduate New Testament Studies, nor would it be suitable for a pastor checking the basis of his sermon's text in Greek. But these types have the standard critical editions in their offices and libraries for these purposes. As other reviewers have mentioned, it is intended for the seminarian or other classical learner to have a convenient New Testament to read from in order to gain vocabulary and familiarity with the Greek by reading large amounts of text. What they fail to mention, however, is that the readings that were selected in reconstructing the text here do indeed come from ancient manuscript witnesses to the New Testament. In other words, the text is not necessarily exactly the same as the text in the main body of the United Bible Society or Nestle-Aland editions, but they ARE found in the apparatuses of those editions as existing among manuscripts that have been found. In large part, the choices that have been made are, for example, the inclusion of John 7:53-8:11 in its traditional place and form, the inclusion of Mark 16:9-20, and other choices that have been made by the translators of basically every modern bible version. I have been using the English Standard Version lately, and this reader's Greek edition follows it pretty well. Their IS an apparatus in this edition, and though wholly inadequate for text critical study, it DOES give hints at readings from this text that are unique and not in common with other printed Greek texts. So while it is not an incredibly scholarly edition for advanced studies, it works great for going to church and telling your friends what the Greek says. If anyone it totally concerned about possible variant readings, you'll have to tell them to wait until you can get home to check your UBS4 or your NA27, but I've found it preferable just to give those types of people a valium and call it good.

I think this edition does a bit more than a lot of reviewers are giving it credit for. Along with them, I think it is a wonderful tool for a learner to get exposure to the Greek. But the text contained in it is a fair representative of the Alexandrian text type used in all modern translations. I don't presonally like the NIV, so for those of you who would be leery because the text conforms to the NIV, I just have to say that it is closer to the Alexandrian text of the UBS4/NA27 (Used by all modern English translations except the NKJV) than the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Text or the Textus Receptus of Stephanus or Scrivener. So unless you are using the KJV or NKJV, you will not have any problems with this text when using it as an exegetical tool. As I said above, the text works fine with my ESV, and should be a fine companion to an NASB, HCSB, NLT, NAB, or NRSV when wanting to bring the meaning of the Greek text to fellow Sunday School attendees, friends, etc.

This type of Greek New Testament is LONG overdue. I would also like to see this GNT bound together with an edition of the Septuagint Old Testament so that a student can have a readers edition of the entire bible in Biblical Greek. (with a bookmark, of course.) I would also love to see a reader's edition of Scrivener's Textus Receptus, which I understand to be the Textus Receptus that has been reworked from Codex Beza and the Latin Vulgate in order to conform to the King James Version (and also the New King James Version, which uses the same textual basis as the KJV and floows the KJV choices in doubtful readings).

So if you read this review, I'd like to ask you to buy this edition, even if you don't know any Greek, because I want it to sell well. I want the publisher to make lots of money off of it and print more readers editions of Greek biblical texts, and even the Hebrew Old Testament.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great BEGINNER's tool, NOT an authoritative text, November 5, 2004

By 

P. Hamm "p-squared" (Western Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Reader's Greek New Testament (Leather Bound)

Simply put, if you're learning to read NT Greek, this volume will help. If you finish a book like the Mounce Grammar (full disclosure: I'm only halfway done with that volume right now), at the end of that process, you should be able to sit with this ONE volume and read the New Testament in Greek. You won't need a lexicon open next to you all the time, necessarily, and you'll be able to pick up some vocabulary quickly.

Some have asked why Zondervan didn't use NA27 or UBS4 for this, but it doesn't matter. Use this volume for your early Greek reading and, dare I say it, devotional reading, but by ALL MEANS get a REAL NA27 or UBS4 for serious study. This volume is NOT an authoritative text, it is a learning aid. Treat it like one. I say use it till you don't need it then give it away to help make somebody else smart!

The font isn't so bad once you get used to it. It's real portable and easy to use, and it'll make you look real smart in church. ;-) Just don't get a big head about it. Just because you can read a few dozen words in Greek, you still don't know more than the textual critics, translators, and, if you're lucky, your pastor. Stay humble! And remember, those definitions at the bottom of the page are just glosses, get a BDAG for serious study, and a little Kittel or something, too.

I give it 5 stars because it is exactly what it claims to be, and is very good at it, too.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Useful Reading Tool, December 2, 2004

By 

Zachary Hubert "greek guy" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Reader's Greek New Testament (Leather Bound)

As I read the reviews, it is evident that a correction is needed. The underlying text in this book _is_ trustworthy.

It varies from the Standard Text (UBS/NA) in 231 places, and has a footnote for each one of those as to the Standard Text's reading.

This implies that you can sit down with this resource, and know exactly where it differs from the Standard Text, without needing the Standard Text with you.

While I grant it was an odd selection to pick the text based on the preferred readings that went into the NIV, this is by no means a reverse-translated text.

Regardless, it has assisted my reading of the GNT greatly, and after going through a trial period of reading it side by side with my NA-27, I think I can move to just the RGNT.

Cheers,