Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament: helpful for absolute beginners?

Would Steven Runge's http://www.logos.com/product/3888/lexham-discourse-greek-new-testament-bundle be helpful to someone starting to learn Koine Greek from absolute zero?

I want to start learning biblical Greek in 2011. I'm going to start with Mounce's Greek for the Rest of us and then move on to his Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar along with http://www.logos.com/product/5196/learn-to-read-new-testament-greek and http://www.logos.com/product/7863/kairos-a-beginning-greek-grammar-with-workbook-and-answer-key , which I both picked up at 50% off during the Christmas 2010 Sale.

Does the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament require intermediate or advanced Greek knowledge in a way that it would be quite a while before I could really get any use out of it? Or would it be useful to have as I start this process?

Note: If I purchase it, I would actually get it as a part of the http://www.logos.com/product/7659/greek-new-testament-discourse-bundle , which includes the http://www.logos.com/product/3832/lexham-high-definition-new-testament-esv-edition for only $10 more. For the benefit of anyone that doesn't know about this set and wants to check it out further, I linked to the Greek bundle because it has a much better description of the what the product actually is, along with the videos.

P.S.

I do hope to get the http://www.logos.com/product/5876/learn-to-use-biblical-greek-and-hebrew-with-logos-bible-software video set eventually, but right now it is out of my price range.

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Comments

Mark Smith

Would Steven Runge's http://www.logos.com/product/3888/lexham-discourse-greek-new-testament-bundle be helpful to someone starting to learn Koine Greek from absolute zero?

I don't think so. I think it would help once you have basic Greek down. Syntax, or how Greek is used, is a second year study and Runge's work would be helpful at that point.

Does the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament require intermediate or advanced Greek knowledge in a way that it would be quite a while before I could really get any use out of it? Or would it be useful to have as I start this process?

See the above.

Mike S.

Quick answer: No
I would actually NOT use three different grammars concurrently! That will just drive you crazy and you'll be memorizing everything in your first 4 weeks of study! Instead pick one, get the workbook (Black's workbook is less then $20 on amazon). If you can, find a few other people to go on your journey with you... it will help keep you on a schedule!

Regarding the videos: I have them and would actually say stay away until after you have worked your way through a basic grammar like Mounce's. . . the videos (like the Discourse materials) could actually be a confusing distraction rather then a "help" until you have that "first year" greek under your belt. You'll find that you want to absolutely stay totally away from interlinears until you've trained your mind to work with the plain NA27. Most Greek professors HATE interlinears and don't want you polluted by them [;)] Once you have the greek really under your belt, the reverse interlinears are great to understand translation decisions and philosophy quickly and easily.

JJ Miller

Would Steven Runge's http://www.logos.com/product/3888/lexham-discourse-greek-new-testament-bundle be helpful to someone starting to learn Koine Greek from absolute zero?

Andrew,

I am going to give you the dissenting vote. With all due respect to the opinions of the other fine brothers, I think that you will find Steve Runge's Lexham Discource Greek Testament very helpful. I would say this is especially true because you are getting the Bundle that includes the ESV Hi-Def New Testament.

Why? The concepts of linguistics and structural analysis are going to be explained clearly and with using the English examples. This will help you see those constructions in English and know what to look for as you learn Greek. The reason I find this useful for new Greek learners is that only a fraction of people have the motivation to just memorize paradigms, rules, and vocabulary lists with little pay-off until second year Greek. However, studying some linguistics and Discourse functions while you are learning those rules adds to the motivation for many students... they "get it faster" and they want to see how the Greek accomplishes what the English examples taught them. It is a great motivational tool that also begins teaching 2nd year topics in an easy way as you follow the English examples from Scripture. You might want to pick up Runge's Grammar at the same time. Wonderful set!

Will you benefit much from the Runge's Discource Greek NT? Perhaps not at first... the others are certainly right about that. But, you can still see how things are fitting together and many (most?) seasoned pastors couldn't use the Greek NT to a level of daily reading and understanding without helps of one kind or another... so, I think Runge's tools will serve you well... and many who use the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament (and ESV Hi-Def NT) don't have strong Greek backgrounds, though they use it with great benefit. As your Greek understanding builds, you will understand more and more the benefit of the entire package.

Disclaimer: I really find Steve Runge's work incredibly helpful. Seeing the linguistic markers and gathering a better idea how the author composed his work to communicate the ideas in the text, this is a wonderful aid to effective interpretation and application. Five stars!

JJ Miller

Vincent Setterholm

Don't forget Steve's grammar, which came out after the bundles you've already mentioned: http://www.logos.com/product/4599/discourse-grammar-of-the-greek-new-testament-a-practical-introduction-for-teaching-and-exegesis

Alan Macgregor

Don't forget Steve's grammar, which came out after the bundles you've already mentioned: http://www.logos.com/product/4599/discourse-grammar-of-the-greek-new-testament-a-practical-introduction-for-teaching-and-exegesis

Absolutely! You should read the Discourse Grammar before embarking on the bundle, because it will reduce your learning curve considerably. [:D]