The Reading Warehouse

Biblical Greek Exegesis presents a proven, highly practical approach to the study of intermediate and advanced Greek grammar. Most textbooks focus on learning syntactical categories, illustrated by sentences taken from the Greek New Testament, and place little emphasis on how to apply Greek grammar to the Greek text in preparing sermons and lectures. In contrast, Biblical Greek Exegesis stresses "real-life" application. Beginning with selections from the Greek New Testament, students learn intermediate and advanced Greek grammar inductively by analyzing the text. The process closely resembles the approach used in sermon and lecture preparation. In Part 1 (SYNTAX), students work through nine selections from the New Testament, taken from the Gospels, Paul's letters (including Romans), and the General Letters. The selections are arranged in order of increasing difficulty. The student becomes familiar with syntactical categories through translation, grammatical analysis, and grammatical diagramming, supplemented by class discussion. Equally important, the length of these selections allows for semantic diagramming and analysis. This provides a tool for analyzing larger units of meaning, which is not possible when working only with sentences that illustrate specific points of grammar. In Part 2 (EXEGESIS), the student takes the sections from the Greek New Testament through a twelve-step method of exegesis and exposition. The student works through one section of approximately fifteen verses every two weeks, beginning with the first step--spiritual preparation--and ending with application and a preaching/teaching outline. This approach has two benefits. Advanced Greek students learn to use the Greek text and grammar as they will in the "real world." They also learn to integrate other significant areas such as literary form and textual criticism, as well as the use of exegetical tools. In short, they become better expositors of the Word of God. Bibliographies are provided for each of the twelve steps in the exegetical process. Also included is a summary of syntactical categories based on Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. This successfully field-tested approach to intermediate and advanced Greek will help students bridge the gap between understanding the categories of Greek grammar and the demand to communicate the meaning and significance of the New Testament message to the twenty-first century.

George H. Guthrie (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. As a specialist in New Testament and Greek, he is the author of numerous articles and four books including the volume Hebrews in the NIV Application Commentary series.