Part 1: Lists of NT vocabulary words, listed by frequency, but also by part
of speech (verbs, nouns, other). Except for the separation by part of
speech, it is similar to the lists in similar books by Metzger or Trenchard.
Personally, I find that separating the words out by part of speech makes it
much easier to memorize them.
Part 2: Infrequently used words, listed by Bible passage, so you can learn
the words used in a passage before you read that passage. I find this really
helpful, since I don't have to stop while I am reading.
Part 3: Paradigms. This is similar to Metzger's presentation. It includes
declension of nouns, adjectives, etc., summaries of use of prepositions,
and charts of the principle parts of verbs.
As far as I know, Metzger's "Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament
Greek" was the first book of this kind, and I found it very helpful. One
helpful feature of "Lexical Aids" that is not found in "Reading NT Greek" is
the list of cognate word groups.
I also have Trenchard's "Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New
Testament", which builds on Metzger's "Lexical Aids", using a similar
approach, but includes the entire vocabulary of the New Testament. It also
has lots of interesting little lists (all Persian words in the NT, elision
forms, enclitics, number words, etc.)
Really, all three of these books are very helpful for someone like me who
needs to build up vocabulary and mastery of the paradigms. But Part 2 of
"Reading New Testament Greek" is really special, since it lets me learn the
vocabulary for a passage before I read that passage.
Jonathan
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Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie
POET Software, 3207 Gibson Road, Durham, N.C., 27703 http://www.poet.com
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