Beginning Greek

When I began studying Greek my professor used an old classical Greek grammar by Crosby and Schaeffer. When I taught Beginning Greek at TEDS, we used Wenham’s grammar. But the advent of aspectual theory made the need for a new greek grammar a major venture — and I’m happy to see that the right people (Stan Porter, J.T. Reed, and M. Brook O’Donnell) have written that grammar, and there’s an accompanying workbook. If you need to rework your beginning Greek, this is the place to go.

Fundamentals of New Testament Greek

Fundamentals of New Testament Greek: Workbook

Stan Porter’s massive dissertation as well as his continued outpouring of books on Greek grammar has made him a recognized authority on Greek grammar and syntax, and his articulation of aspectual theory is having a major impact. My soon-to-be-released (Feb 15) commentary on James (The Letter of James (New International Commentary on the New Testament)) makes use of aspectual theory, and I often refer to Stan’s work.

In essence, aspectual theory examines “tense” from the angle of how the author chose to depict action — perfective, imperfective, and stative. At any rate, so much has occurred in the last two or three decades that a new grammar is needed, and this one is that grammar.

If I were teaching beginning Greek, I’d be using this one.

Speaking of Greek, I want to call your attention to an exceptional Greek-language and Greek grammar oriented commentary series, the Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament. Two in this series have recently come out: M. Dubis, 1 Peter: A Handbook on the Greek Text (Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament), and M.C. Parsons, M.M. Culy, and J.J. Stigall, Luke: A Handbook on the Greek Text (Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament).

If you want a commentary that sticks to the Greek grammar and syntax and that focuses the commentary on those sorts of issues, there is simply no better commentary series today. I reviewed Dubis prior to publication and it is one fine commentary.