Exegetical Journeys in Biblical Greek
90 Days of Guided Reading
by Benjamin L. Merkle
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Pub Date Nov 21 2023 | Archive Date Dec 05 2023
Baker Academic & Brazos Press | Baker Academic
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Description
Often students want to maintain their Biblical Greek when they're between courses, but they don't know where to start. This book provides ninety days of guided reading and brief exercises to help students retain or revive their knowledge and skill in reading and interpreting Biblical Greek.
Noted language expert Benjamin Merkle guides readers through level-appropriate texts selected from across the New Testament canon, encouraging them to read and analyze one or two verses a day. The book begins with easy texts and gradually increases in difficulty through the 90 days. Each reading ends with a section called "For the Journey," which provides a practical application or reflection on the text, and an answer key so that students can check their work.
This follow-up to Merkle's Exegetical Gems from Biblical Greek is ideal for Greek language students after their first year of study and for those who want to revive their knowledge and love of Biblical Greek. A companion volume on Hebrew is forthcoming.
Advance Praise
“Students can forget a great deal during the long summer between the end of Greek II and a fall semester exegetical course. This book provides an excellent remedy for the problem, combining regular daily exercises with exegetical observations and theological insights that will remind students of the value of persevering in order to actually master Biblical Greek. It incidentally sets in motion what could become a deeply enriching lifelong habit—that of spending just ten minutes each day in the Greek New Testament. The variety of styles and levels of difficulty in the reading selections prepares students well for their next course, whether it be the Johannine Letters or the Letter to the Hebrews.”—David A. deSilva, Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek, Ashland Theological Seminary
“Merkle’s Exegetical Journeys is a well-structured resource to guide students in developing their Greek knowledge after their basic language courses are done. It emphasizes that facility in reading actual texts in Greek is the key to skilled use of the language in interpretation. With graded readings from across the New Testament—including translation helps, notes on vocabulary and syntax, and devotional reflections—the book provides instruction as well as motivation. Highly recommended!”—Buist Fanning, senior professor emeritus of New Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
“Merkle provides a 90-day guide that is perfect both for students eager to sharpen what they’ve learned in their classes and busy ministers intent on picking back up what they’ve forgotten. What’s more, Merkle’s five-step presentation helps bridge the growing gap between the seminary classroom and the pastor’s study. I highly recommend this resource for those who want to continue on or return to their Biblical Greek journey.”—Joseph R. Dodson, Craig L. Blomberg Chair of New Testament, Denver Seminary
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781540965103 |
| PRICE | $21.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Conrade Y, Reviewer
One of the challenges of learning any language is the frequency of usage. The old adage "Use it or lose it" is particularly true for languages. Even for those who grow up in their native languages, lack of usage will impact fluency. Learning the ancient biblical languages is the same. Whether it is Hebrew or Greek, constant practice makes perfect. For many who had studied the biblical languages in seminary, chances are, they would have lost their learning through lack of usage in an English-speaking world. Author Benjamin Merkle calls this "linguistic apostacy." This book is about helping seminarians, and those who had learned biblical Greek at some point in their lives to practice its use over a period of 90 days. It is a follow-up to "Exegetical Gems from Biblical Greek" published in 2019. The journey is arranged from elementary (Gospel of Mark and John) to advanced (later part of the New Testament) levels of reading. Comprising three journeys labeled "Easy," "Intermediate," and "Difficult," readers have 90 lessons to work through. The hope is that this guide gives one a starting torque toward making such journeys a way of life. Each day comprises a sequence as follows:
1) Reading aloud the selected text
2) Identifying the nouns
3) Translating the Greek to English
4) Noticing significant exegetical and syntactical insights
5) Searching for the significance of the passage
My Thoughts
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Learning Greek is hard for many. Keeping it might be even tougher. In school, we have a community of learners to push us and professors to guide us. Once we finish school, it takes lots of self-discipline in order to study. In the absence of a community of learners, this book is a nice go-between learning alone and learning with others. The guide provides the Greek text and parsing tables for us to work through. By starting off with easier phrases, one will be encouraged to persevere. The first month is the easy month where the passages are shorter. The subsequent months pack more verses into each day with more complicated grammar. Despite the different degrees of difficulty, the framework for practice is the same. It is hoped that the daily exercises will set in motion a pattern of reading, exegesis, and translation. It is a journey and the journey can sometimes be hard.
Before one jumps into this book, there are prerequisites. There is no transliteration so readers will have to read the Greek well. This is a key skill to have. For those who have forgotten the Greek alphabet and its pronunciation, this book will not supply any such assistance. Hence, the pre-requisite would be a familiarity with the alphabet and a basic understanding of the vocabulary. Some revision of the grammar will be necessary as well. This can be found in the Appendix on "Supplementary Vocabulary." Once those are completed, the process of learning will be smoother. Perhaps the answer keys could be placed at a less conspicuous location to prevent "accidental" peeking.
This is a useful resource for Greek revision. The hardest part is actually not the text but the discipline needed to work through it regularly. Thankfully, while the initial work through might seem dry, the short reflection "For the Journey" provides a refreshing insight into the text.
Benjamin L. Merkle (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies and research professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than forty books, including Greek for Life, Exegetical Gems from Biblical Greek, Linguistics and New Testament Greek, Beginning with New Testament Greek, and Going Deeper with New Testament Greek. He is also the editor of Southeastern Theological Review.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
