The Upper Register

Greek New Testament Reading Plans

As we look forward to 2015, some of you may be considering committing yourself to reading the Greek New Testament in the coming year or years. I have created two schedules, depending on your skill and desired pace:  a one-year schedule that is a bit fast; and a slower, two-year schedule. Many have said that reading the Greek NT in one year is too difficult for them, so you may want to try the two-year schedule. You can download these schedules, print them out, fold them in half, and put them in your UBS Reader's Greek New Testament. I used to make these schedules year-dependent, but now they work regardless of the year. Also, you may wish to check out my tips for reading. I wish I could make my Syntax Guide for Readers of the Greek New Testament available online, but I am under contract with a publisher. Hopefully it will be published in 2015 or early 2016.

The One-Year Calendar
The Two-Year Calendar
Tips for Reading the Greek NT 

The Benefits of Studying Biblical Languages

What are the benefits of learning Greek and Hebrew so as to study the Bible in the original languages?

Exegetical Benefits

• Being able to weigh exegetical options, based on text-critical, lexical, and syntactical possibilities and probabilities.
• Being able to grasp the flow of thought of a passage by discourse analysis, by examining the Greek particles, and by tracing lexical connections that are often obscured in translation (e.g., δίκαιος, δικαιοσύνη, δικαιόω).
• Being able to analyze the complexities of the NT use of the OT (MT vs. LXX vs. other).

 Practical Benefits

• Being able to use language tools such as lexica, grammars, commentaries, Bible software, and discourse analyses.
• Being able to read the Septuagint - useful for OT textual criticism; LXX has direct bearing on NT Greek, both lexically and syntactically.
• Being able to utilize extra-biblical corpera such as Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha (OT and NT), and so on.

 Aesthetic Benefits

• Being able to appreciate subtle nuances of meaning that are only apparent in the original, e.g., paronomasia, anacoluthon, chiasm, brachylogy, ellipsis, prolepsis, solecism, alliteration, hyperbaton, and so on.
• Being able to appreciate the distinctive styles of the human authors of Scripture.
• Being able to appreciate the highly crafted periods such as those found in the prologues of Luke-Acts and Hebrews.

 Elenctic Benefits

• Being able to expose mistaken interpretations, exegetical fallacies, the claims of anti-Trinitarians, overstated homiletical claims, bad proof-texting by systematic theologians, etc.
• Being able to evaluate the English versions. If one is unable to read the Bible in the original, then one is at the mercy of competing translations with no way to evaluate them.

 Spiritual Benefits

• Reading the Bible in the original can breathe fresh life into one's devotional reading of the Scriptures.
• It brings one closer to the very words that Holy Spirit chose to communicate divine revelation.
• Reading slowly in the original is like sucking out the marrow of a bone. It enables one to relish the words in greater spiritual depth and power.

 Homiletical Benefits

• Being able to better grasp the scope or thrust of a passage.
• Being able to see how the details contribute to the whole.
• Being able to discern the structure and coherence of a text.

Savor the Greek New Testament: The Two Year Plan cont'd

Last December, I posted the first part of a two-year plan for reading the Greek New Testament, which covered Matthew through Acts 9. I have now provided the calendar for the second year, which begins with Acts 10 and goes to the end of the NT. I've combined it with the first year so that you can download the combined schedule, fold it in half, and put in your UBS Reader's Greek New Testament. Additionally, I removed the days of the week at the top of the schedule ("Sunday," "Monday," etc.). This makes the schedule useful regardless of the year. For those who want to read at a quicker pace, I've also provided a one-year schedule that works for any year. (One-year readers may also want to consult Denny Burk's schedule which is very similar to mine but with an increased pace in the Gospel of John.) Finally, check out my tips for reading the Greek New Testament.

The One-Year Calendar
The Two-Year Calendar
Tips for Reading the Greek NT 

 

Savor the Greek New Testament: The Two Year Plan

As I have been doing every year since 2008, I have posted a new GNT calendar with daily reading assignments for 2012. If you follow this calendar you will be able to read the entire GNT in one year.

GNT One-Year Calendar 2012

However, the feedback I have received from many of you indicates that it is quite challenging to attempt to read the whole Greek New Testament in one year. The reading portions are too big. So this year I have created a new calendar for those who would like to go at a more leisurely pace. If you follow this calendar, you will read Matthew 1 through Acts 9 in 2012, followed by Acts 10 through Revelation in 2013.

GNT Two-Year Calendar, Year One 2012

You will notice that the reading portions are not all of equal length. This is owing to the desire, as far as could be practically achieved, to match the reading portions with the content-based divisions of the text.

I plan to upload Year Two 2013 at a later time.

Also, to assist you in reading, don't forget to check my Greek Syntax Notes:

http://www.upper-register.com/papers.html#GNT

I will personally be doing the slower 2-year pace this year (along with the Vulgate), so anyone who wants to join me, feel free to drop me a note.

Eat Fresh Strawberries in 2011

If you are thinking about reading the Greek New Testament in 2011, see the following links:

The Annual Greek New Testament Program
The Read-Greek Calendar for 2011
Greek Syntax Notes

"The real New Testament is the Greek New Testament. The English is simply a translation of the New Testament, not the actual New Testament ... The freshness of the strawberry cannot be preserved in any extract." -- A. T. Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977), 17.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Read the Greek NT in 2010

I've uploaded a new calendar for those who would like to read the Greek New Testament in 2010. For an introduction to my Annual GNT Reading Program, as well as the Greek Syntax Notes for each book of the New Testament, go here. The program is based on The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition which I highly recommend. There is also a cheaper paperback edition.

 

Hermann Cremer's Biblico-theological Lexicon, Pt 2

Let me give you a taste of the insights that can be found in Cremer's Biblico-theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek.

Bebaioo - "to make firm or reliable"

Cremer helpfully points out that in Classical Greek the verb typically takes an impersonal object, e.g., to confirm laws or promises. This usage is known in the NT as well. But in the NT it is also used in a way that is hardly known in Classical usage, namely, with a personal object:

"... our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 1:8 NASB).

"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ" (2 Cor 1:21 ESV).

"... rooted and built up in him and established in the faith ..." (Col 2:7 ESV).

"... it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them" (Heb 13:9 ESV). 

Cremer writes:

The union of bebaioun with a personal object, hardly known in classical Greek,--certainly not at all in the manner of the N.T.,--is distinctive of the N.T. ... The N.T. bebaioun with personal object does not refer to the character or bearing of the object; it signifies a confirming of the person's state of salvation, preservation in a state of grace ... He confirms us in Christ, so that we become ever more assured and certain of Him ... This combination of bebaioun with a personal object was anticipated by the LXX. Ps xli.13.

Were one confined to Thayer or BDAG, one would not gain this insight about the difference between the Classical and Biblical (LXX + NT) usage of this theologically important verb.

 

Sale on Greek NT Reader's Edition

CBD is offering a 52% discount on The UBS Greek New Testament, A Reader's Edition. This great price ($28.49) is only available on four copies with slight imperfections. They also have a decent price on the non-defective ones ($37.99 as compared to the regular price of $59.95).

I highly recommend this reader's edition of the Greek New Testament. It is definitely superior to the Zondervan version because the font and format are easier on the eyes and because it provides some parsing in addition to contextual glosses of words occurring less than 30 times. You will be tempted by the cheaper price of Zondervan's reader's edition, but don't fall for it. The extra expense, which isn't much if you buy from CBD, is absolutely worth it.

Get the UBS Reader's Edition today and start reading the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ in the inspired original.

Update: See this review for a comparison of the UBS and Zondervan versions, including photos and sample pages.