A Workbook for New Testament Greek: Grammar and Exegesis in First John [Paperback]

Marvin R. Wilson (Author), Chris A. Vlachos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

A Workbook for New Testament Greek: Grammar and Exegesis in First John provides valuable help for students who want to begin studying the New Testament in the original Greek. Many Greek instructors agree that First John is the best place to start reading in the New Testament because it is brief and does not use many complicated sentences or rare words. This workbook divides 1 John into twenty-five assignments averaging four verses. Each assignment has three sections:

• Vocabulary—defines and parses forms that may as yet be unfamiliar
• Questions—leads the student through important grammatical observations
• For Further Study—encourages deeper reflection on questions of grammar, textual criticism, exegesis, and application

All three sections give valuable references to grammars, commentaries, lexicons, and other study helps that students should become familiar with. Also provided are two built-in reference tools:

• Greek-English Dictionary of First John—briefly defines every word used in 1 John
• Analytical Lexicon of First John—parses every form that appears in the letter

Designed for use in the second half of a first-year Greek course by students who have passed the midpoint in a standard introduction to New Testament Greek, this workbook can also be used for individual study and review.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Having taught Greek for forty-two years, and having provided my students with helps for the reading and translation of 1 John, I find the present work by Wilson and Vlachos to be vastly superior to anything previously available. This is a valuable book, a must for every beginning student of New Testament Greek who is desirous of becoming a serious exegete of the Bible."
Gerald F. Hawthorne, Emeritus Professor of Greek, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois --Review

About the Author

Marvin R. Wilson began his teaching career more than forty years ago as a Greek teaching fellow. He is currently Ockenga Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He holds a Ph.D. in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University.

Chris Alex Vlachos is instructor in New Testament Greek at Salt Lake Seminary (formerly the Utah Institute for Biblical Studies) and pastor of Calvary Fellowship, American Fork, Utah. He holds an M.A. in New Testament Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.; Workbook edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565633407
• ISBN-13: 978-1565633407
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New Testament Greek with heavy theological overtones, November 15, 2010

By 

Alan E. Barber (Idaho Falls, ID USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Workbook for New Testament Greek: Grammar and Exegesis in First John (Paperback)

This is one of two titles available to assist the intermediate-level student of New Testament Greek in translating I John. The other title, one that I recommend more than the one under review, is A First John Reader: Intermediate Greek Reading Notes and Grammar, by S.M. Baugh.
The title under review does have some helpful features: Each chapter is preceded by a vocabulary list, with all potentially troublesome verbs, nouns and adjectives parsed and explained. The problem arises in the exegetical portion of the workbook. The authors have a particular theological bias--they are evangelical Protestants. And they lay on their theology quite heavily. If the student does not share this particular theology (and I don't), much of the exegetical work is rather pointless at best. The authors don't bother to point out interpretations that might undercut their particular hermeneutics.
The Baugh title has features that are equally helpful insofar as translation and comprehension are concerned. In addition, it lets the student arrive at her own theological conclusions from the text under review. Baugh's reader is keyed to his primer, A New Testament Greek Primer, and to the main grammars and dictionaries available to the student of New Testament Greek. On the whole, I have found it to be much more helpful in my struggle to obtain a working knowledge of koine Greek.
If you want to work through an NT book other than I John, I recommend without qualification Philippians: A Greek Student's Intermediate Reader, by Jerry L. Sumney. This author carefully guides you through the Greek text of Paul's Epistle to the Philipians, analyzing the morphology, structure and meaning of the epistle's key words and phrases, all without the heavy theological overtones present in Wilson's and Vlachos' workbook. I found the Sumney volume much more helpful from a grammatical standpoint, and I appreciated the fact he was willing to allow me to draw my own exegetical decisions, rather than beating me over the head with his own. This was a welcome change from the volume under review here.
In summary, if you're an evangelical Protestant, you'll probably like Wilson's and Vlachos' Workbook. If you're not, then Baugh is the way to go. Two to three stars overall; four for the Greek itself, zero for the gratuitous theology bundled with it.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable!, December 10, 2007

By 

T. Cutter "Theresa" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Workbook for New Testament Greek: Grammar and Exegesis in First John (Paperback)

I am taking Greek from Dr. Vlachos (who is awesome), one of the authors, and this workbook has helped so much! Not only does it help my Greek, it's delving into Biblical study, too!