What book next?

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Matthew Longhorn
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What book next?

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

I am just coming to he end of a read through Luke where I have had to battle to learn over 500 new words and am wondering what people would suggest to read next.
I have already read mark, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, part of 2 Corinthians before I admitted defeat), the johannine epistles.
Ideally it would be a book that has good supporting tools such as the Baylor Greek handbook series
It would be nice to have something that isn’t as vocab intensive but I still want to challenge myself.
Stirling Bartholomew
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Re: What book next?

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

After Luke, Acts would be next, Culy-Parsons Baylor Handbook is helpful but vocabulary isn't included. The "classic" F.F. Bruce commentaries might help with vocabulary. If that is too challenging then perhaps Matthew.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Matthew Longhorn
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Re: What book next?

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

Thanks for the suggestion Stirling. I think I have the Culy-Parsons handbook on paper at home so I will hunt that out and see what I can make of it.
Re the vocab, I don’t like relying on lists anyway - was just hoping for something that wouldn’t give me AS much as Luke did! I use Olivetree on my mobile and have BDAG a on it, so I read through until I hit a word that I am either uncertain about or just don’t know, highlight it in yellow and carry on with my reading after looking it up. At the end of the day I sweep back through writing vocab cards with as much of the semantic range as I can. This probably makes my life harder when it comes to learning, but I would hate to learn a single gloss and never think to wonder if there is a better meaning

I guess Acts will give me a chance to dig out and re-read “Transitivity based foregrounding in the acts of the apostles” again.
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: What book next?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

I agree with Stirling, Acts would be the natural follow up, although it might similarly present some vocabulary difficulties. If you want to take a break before getting to it, though, I would suggest the Thessalonian correspondence. I remember it being a delightfully pleasant experience reading through the first time. I can't guarantee the same experience, but you won't find it as problematic as 2 Corinthians (which I find actually in some ways more difficult than the fabled difficulty of Hebrews).
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Matthew Longhorn
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Re: What book next?

Post by Matthew Longhorn »

Thanks Barry, good to hear a second voice confirming what Stirling has suggested. I will add Thessalonians onto my list to start after Acts then
Whilst I may have grumbled about the vocab - I am not averse to learning it. I hope to eventually reach a competency with vocab and grammar where I can read biblical and non biblical texts without problem so every word learned is a good thing. With electronic tools to make it easier I realise just how much I would strugggle if I had to sit with a paper copy of BDAG looking up each word! Just have to make sure I don’t over-rely on these tools though
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: What book next?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Matthew Longhorn wrote: December 27th, 2017, 12:29 pm With electronic tools to make it easier I realise just how much I would strugggle if I had to sit with a paper copy of BDAG looking up each word! Just have to make sure I don’t over-rely on these tools though
You have just described my experience (although I used LSJ for a lot of my lexical work as well). I didn't start using electronic tools until they came available sometime in the 90's. And I heartily affirm (with a whole heart, even) that tools of any sort are not a substitute for knowing the language. You, sir, are a role model for how to use them responsibly in learning the language.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
daveburt
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Re: What book next?

Post by daveburt »

I third Thessalonians and suggest Matthew, Mark and Revelation. I make Acts harder, though it might be less so after becoming comfortable with Luke. I made some charts including how much vocab of what frequencies are present in each book here: https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/vi ... f=6&t=4261
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