Going Deeper with New Testament Greek, Köstenberger, et al.

Jason Hare
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Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 5:28 pm
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Re: Going Deeper with New Testament Greek, Köstenberger, et

Post by Jason Hare »

David Fish wrote:I am going to give it a try as a 2nd year Greek text. At my institution, we have tried lots of approached to intermediate syntax: Dana-Mantey, Moeller, J. Harold Greenlee, et al. A major portion of what we have done in 2nd year Greek classes has been reading from the gospel of John (in its entirety), picking up and pointing out syntax as we go through that. For the past 9-10 years or so, we have used the abridged Wallace. I had not taught that level for a number of years, until just this current year, spending most of my time with 3rd year Greek students (lots of reading of NT text). So . . . I jumped back into 2nd year Greek this year (retirement of a colleague), and . . . I have been frustrated.

So . . . I was interested in the promo material. I crossed paths with Köstenberger a few decades back. He has gone on to fame, and I remain in obscurity. The book is out May 1, and I have to report textbooks for the fall semester next month. I contacted him, and he put me in contact with the publisher. I received an advance copy (PDF) from Broadman & Holman, so that I could make a decision. I am hopeful that it will good for students. In addition to our reading in John and the grammar, we have used Metzger's Lexical Aids. The next text has vocabulary lists (down side is that it only goes down to 15x-used words), so I'll have to preach that students need to continue on with 10x-14x words.

I plan to use the text over a 2 semester course, so that students get the entire volume at a pace that is doable. We will continue with our use of the entire gospel of John. We'll lose a little of the vocabulary, but we will also gain the graded reader selections, focussing in on the material taught in each chapter, which will provide samples of writing from every NT author.

The proof will be in the using of the text. I am very hopeful.

One of the things we have noted in our graduates who have gone on to a number of different seminaries is that, though they might not have mastered all of Daniel Wallace's categories, they can read Greek.

That's my 2 cents worth. Now I will slide back into my hole of obscurity.

I read this forum every day, but have posted very little. I appreciate you all.
Hi, David. Hola. :)

I assume you mean that K. Boles has retired? I hadn't heard anything about/from him for a long time. I've been living in Israel for almost decade now. Hope that everything back in Joplin is better since the tornado. I've been back once since then - and was shocked at the progress in rebuilding and the change in the basic city layout.

When you talk about the abridged Wallace, are you talking about Basics of NT Syntax? I've got that book, and it doesn't seem to be like something I would have liked to work through as a student. I took three years of Greek with Dr. Boles, though I don't really remember what we did in the last year. I've now started working through Hansen & Quinn (Greek: An Intensive Course) on my own, and it's challenging and amazing. In the first four units it covered more than three years of Greek using Mounce, Greenlee and the Lexical Aids.

Have you considered using something like Hansen & Quinn as a broader approach to Greek for the intermediate/advanced students? It would give them an idea of how the optative was used in classical Greek, the differences between the various types of clauses, the conditional structures, etc. I've found this text enlightening in all of these areas, and it only adds to the effectiveness of my reading of the New Testament.

I wish you well and hope that all who are still in Joplin and at OCC find themselves progressing and discovering more and more to life and happiness.

Yours,
Jason
Jason A. Hare
The Hebrew Café
Tel Aviv, Israel
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