Review – A Reader’s Greek New Testament, 2nd Edition

Author:  Richard J. Goodrich
Author:  Albert L. Lukaszewski
Binding:  Italian Duo-Tone
Page Count:  576 Pages
Publisher:  Zondervan
Publication Date:  November 1, 2007
ISBN-10: 0310273781
ISBN-13: 978-0310273783

I wanted to extend my sincerest thanks to Jesse Hillman at Zondervan for giving me the opportunity to review A Reader’s Greek New Testament, 2nd Edition.

The volume of New Testament Greek resources available for the beginning to mid-level student have expanded greatly during the past few years.  Among them was the 1st edition of A Reader’s Greek New Testament, published by Zondervan in April 2004.  The updated 2nd edition of A Reader’s Greek New Testament was more recently published by Zondervan in November 2007.   If you have any familiarity with the 1st edition, you may have had the same initial thought I did about this updated edition….what a pretty box.  This is a change from the 1st edition, which was shrink-wrapped in plastic with a cardboard sleeve.  The 2nd edition is packaged in a very attractive, presentation quality box.  The new packaging has an elegant look and feel that will make it stand out when presented as a gift.  Upon tuning the box over, you’ll notice a list of important updates to this edition.  They are as follows:

•    New Greek font – easier to read
•    Footnoted definitions of all Greek words occurring 30 times or less
•    Mini-lexicon of all words occurring more than 30 times
•    Greek text underlying Today’s New International Version
•    Footnotes offering comparisons with UBS4
•    4 pages of full-color maps
•    Marker ribbon

Now that we’ve fully examined the box, it’s time to take a look at what’s inside.  A Reader’s Greek New Testament, 2nd edition measures 10 inches by 7 inches, making it slightly larger than some of the more compact editions of the Greek New Testament many of us have in our libraries.  The binding is Italian Duo-Tone, which gives it the look and feel of burgundy colored leather.  There is gold embossed lettering on the front cover and spine.  The pages are gilded with gold as well.  All things considered, there’s a fine looking Greek New Testament in that fine looking box.

When you finally crack open A Reader’s Greek New Testament, 2nd Edition, you’ll find its contents laid out in the following order:

•    Introduction  (P. 7-18)
•    Books of the Greek New Testament in canonical order  (P. 20-568)
•    Lexicon  (P.569-574)
•    Maps

As a rule of thumb, I spend a bit of time reviewing the introductory material before I use a Greek or Hebrew resource of this type.  The introduction is where you’ll find valuable information to help you maximize your results from the material at hand.  Here are some of the important things you’ll learn in the introduction:

•    RGNT2 can help the student to learn vocabulary inductively
•    The patterns and abbreviations used in the word definitions
•    The textual apparatus employed in this edition

Readers should most definitely consult the section of the introduction under the heading, The Text.  (P. 9-10)  In several paragraphs, it is explained how and why the Greek text in A Reader’s Greek New Testament, 2nd Edition is an eclectic text that differs from the standard Greek text found in NA27 or UBS4.  Following the introduction, the reader will encounter the actual Greek New Testament.  The books are laid out in canonical order.  About ½ to 3/4 of each page is the actual New Testament Greek text.  The other one ¼ to ½ consists mostly of the footnoted definitions of words occurring 30 times or less.  When there are possible variant readings in the Greek text, the variation from the UBS text is noted and/or the variant cited in the NIV is given.  After the close of Revelation, you’ll find a mini-lexicon of words occurring more than 30 times in the Greek New Testament.  Just before the back cover, you’ll find maps of the following:

•    Holy Land in the Time of Jesus
•    Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus
•    Apostles’ Early Travels
•    Paul’s Missionary Journeys

As somebody who enjoys and appreciates the study of New Testament Greek, I am very excited about this updated edition of A Reader’s Greek New Testament.  It will be a good fit for those who are new to the study of New Testament Greek and those whose Greek has gotten a little rusty.  Students and scholars pursuing more advanced studies will still have need of an edition containing a more extensive critical apparatus (UBS4 or NA27).  If you are somebody who has struggled to learn new languages with memorization and flashcards, the possibility of inductive learning should especially be appealing.  In a publishing space that has often had very expensive resources, this new edition of A Reader’s Greek New Testament comes at a bargain of a price.  Many thanks to Zondervan for making this entry point into to the study of New Testament Greek more accessible and more affordable!

Richard J. Goodrich (PhD in ancient history, University of St. Andrews) is research fellow in the department of classics and ancient history, University of Bristol, England.

Albert Lukaszewski (PhD, New Testament, University of Saint Andrews) is general editor of the Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament project and author of the forthcoming Grammar of Qumran Aramaic. He lives with his family on the east coast of Scotland

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