Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Free "Notes for the Study of the New Testament" Update

Terry Cook has given me permission to post his updated Notes for the Study of the Greek New Testament. (I posted about an earlier edition here which was 305 pages long. This new one is 364 pages.) I quote from his preface:

As will become immediately clear, what follows is built on foundational work done by many others and as we go along, the importance of these foundational contributions will become clear. The purpose of this presentation is to help explain Greek grammar and syntax with an approach that is different from the usual Greek textbooks or supplements. The goal of this supplement is to clarify and reinforce the material presented in the textbooks given in the bibliography, after the students’ initial reading.
Very important to the use of this guide is understanding the layout so that the user will be able to make the most of the material. The design includes hundreds of “notes” from these textbooks on all the features of New Testament Koine that I felt might be important to a 2nd-3rd year Greek student whose primary interest is the Koine Greek New Testament. I have provided information on syntax and grammar, definitions5 (which appear at the end), explanations, and examples from both English and Greek- citing examples from the Greek New Testament when appropriate. It is my hope that when used as intended this guide will help students to gain a solid foundation upon which to understand the New Testament in its original language and that this guide might lead the student to pursue subsequent study and gain a thorough mastery of the language. Again, this guide is not intended for use as a stand-alone study guide but aims to provide the interested person a supplement to one or more of the many fine textbooks available.
It is thought that this essay might be profitable for use in self-study,6 for use in the classroom, and as an independent reference tool.
He has over 50 Greek grammar and reference works listed in the bibliography including the usual suspects: Funk, Goodwin, Machen, Moule, Moulton, Mounce, Nunn, Porter, Robinson, Wallace. The Table of Contents displayed below will give you an idea of the organization. The Glossary at the end is also worth consulting.
I checked some things that are often confusing to students like the article, participles, infinitives, tense, and case, and I found him to offer solid, reasonable remarks throughout.
Thanks to Terry Cook for sharing this fine resource. You can download the 1.8Mb PDF file HERE.

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful job! Much thanks to Terry for sharing. Much thanks to Mark for bringing this to our attention. I will definitely be taking a close look at this. I love the motivational quotes.

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