B-Greek: The Biblical Greek Forum

Hi,
I am a beginner in Greek, and am looking for a Greek New Testament. I saw this:

The authoritative Greek text used by most Bible translators, scholars, and seminaries is the Nestle-Aland text, which is now in the 27th edition. The same text is also used in the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament, 4th edition, which is what I use (well, actually I still use the 3rd edition). These two editions use the same text, but have different approaches to listing the variant readings found in the manuscripts. The cheapest place to get either of these is the American Bible Society (1-800-322-4253).

http://www.ibiblio.org/koine/#gnt
...but I'm unsure what the difference is, and how much it might matter to me, at this point.
Also, I've found random other copies, on Ebay and such, (1964 Η ΚΑΙΝΗ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ Greek New Testament 2nd Ed British & Foreign Bible Society; 1884 New Testament from Greek, American Bible Society; also this: http://www.tbsbibles.org/shop.php?sess= ... BrJA%3D%3D )but again I really don't know anything about publishers/texts/whatever they're really called... :[


..could anyone help me?

thank you!
tara christine

tarachristine wrote:Hi,
I am a beginner in Greek, and am looking for a Greek New Testament. I saw this:

The authoritative Greek text used by most Bible translators, scholars, and seminaries is the Nestle-Aland text, which is now in the 27th edition. The same text is also used in the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament, 4th edition, which is what I use (well, actually I still use the 3rd edition). These two editions use the same text, but have different approaches to listing the variant readings found in the manuscripts. The cheapest place to get either of these is the American Bible Society (1-800-322-4253).

http://www.ibiblio.org/koine/#gnt
...but I'm unsure what the difference is, and how much it might matter to me, at this point.
Also, I've found random other copies, on Ebay and such, (1964 Η ΚΑΙΝΗ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ Greek New Testament 2nd Ed British & Foreign Bible Society; 1884 New Testament from Greek, American Bible Society; also this: http://www.tbsbibles.org/shop.php?sess= ... BrJA%3D%3D )but again I really don't know anything about publishers/texts/whatever they're really called... :[


..could anyone help me?

thank you!
tara christine

I suggest starting out with either Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform 2005 or Michael Holmes SBLGNT, or both. The UBSGNT is weighed down with assumptions about all sorts of things. The paragraphing and subject headings are intrusions which prevent you from really experiencing the text first hand. The gospels are broken into segments that reflect a particular understanding of the so called synoptic problem. All these are good reasons to avoid the UBSGNT. The NA2x is hard for beginners to read and the apparatus is a nightmare. Over the past several months I have been working on textual issues in Acts and Revelation using a dozen sources and it has only underlined in my mind the faults and shortcomings of the NA apparatus.

Having a text the same as your teacher & classmates, textbook or study partner is good as a beginner.

Hi Tara,

I wrote that text a long time ago, probably around 1997. Back then, I think most of us would have agreed with that statement. Now I think there is less agreement that any one edition clearly has the best text.

I agree with Stephen, having the same text that your cohorts use is really helpful. If you are working on your own, a text in a nice font in a format that is easy to carry and read is really helpful. Do you have a tablet? There are nice free versions for Android or Ipad.

If I may put in my 2c. If you can get a free copy of the Greek NT on your computer do learn how to be able to copy and paste it into various formats (word documents, emails, web pages like this) and learn how to be able to type it. There are high quality portable and free options out there!

I found that being able to manipulate greek text on screen and to print it out in a preferred format on paper when need be has been invaluable.

Stirling Bartholomew wrote:
I suggest starting out with either Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform 2005 or Michael Holmes SBLGNT, or both. The UBSGNT is weighed down with assumptions about all sorts of things. The paragraphing and subject headings are intrusions which prevent you from really experiencing the text first hand. The gospels are broken into segments that reflect a particular understanding of the so called synoptic problem. All these are good reasons to avoid the UBSGNT. The NA2x is hard for beginners to read and the apparatus is a nightmare. Over the past several months I have been working on textual issues in Acts and Revelation using a dozen sources and it has only underlined in my mind the faults and shortcomings of the NA apparatus.

Yes.

Having a Greek text without English, Latin, or German intrusions is a definite plus, especially in our age when so many other things distract from being within Greek while reading Greek. If the Bible Societies insist on headings, then let them get GREEK headings. The title of the NA is subliminally diagnostic of the problem: novum testamentum graece [sic]. Learning to speak and think in Koine Greek will heighten the recognition of these intrusions and their detrimental effect on the field.

As to the apparatus, a student is highly recommended to get all of Swanson's volumes on the NT text. It is very important to see which readings line up with which readings and not to have everything atomistically detached.

Swanson also has a tendency to clean up mistakes that lurk in the UBS-NA. (This was recently driven home to me looking at Mark 4:8 and the listings in UBS3, UBS4, NA27-28, and the Synopsis 4 Evangeliorum. Swanson cleans up the actual Greek citations and does not list non-Greek evidence. Some of the non-Greek evidence is prejudicially lined up in the BS editions, cf. all of the Syriac traditions, none of which reflect the idiom that the editors assumed was behind Mark's text at 4.8, although the editors will list the Peshitto as if it supported some of their mis-cited Greek texts.)

RandallButh wrote:Having a Greek text without English, Latin, or German intrusions is a definite plus, especially in our age when so many other things distract from being within Greek while reading Greek.

Further to those comments, I also think that having verses marked in the text is quite unnatural and little distracting. Here is the reference to a thread where I have written some of my thoughts on reading a text with or without the versification marked.

With regard to a text suitable for a beginner - If you don't have any other constraints and you want a text packed with as much help in it as possible, you could try The Greek New Testament for Beginning Readers: The Byzantine Greek Text & Verb Parsing. It is more for intensive reading and study, rather than for extensive or quick reading. A different type of text will suite different reading approaches and different competencies. As the name suggests it has been developed with beginners in mind.