Biblical Languages - Greek

I am looking for some advice on making progress on Greek Language Studies.

I am currently studying the book Romans.

I have the Logos 4 Leaders Bundle.

I am willing to put in considerable time and money into making some progress on language front and will be studying from home.

I feel comfortable using the Logos Reverse interlinear and am using it currently to augment a commentary that references the Greek words and Grammer. I am getting some insight but want to proceed much further.

1. What books could you recommend?

2. What video tutorials could your reccomend?

3. What additional Logos ressources shoud I purchase to faciliate learning?

Thanks

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Wes Saad

Have you checked out Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew With Logos Bible Software? That would probably be the best starting point, if you can afford it.

Milford Charles Murray

I am looking for some advice on making progress on Greek Language Studies.

I am currently studying the book Romans.

I have the Logos 4 Leaders Bundle.

I am willing to put in considerable time and money into making some progress on language front and will be studying from home.

I feel comfortable using the Logos Reverse interlinear and am using it currently to augment a commentary that references the Greek words and Grammer. I am getting some insight but want to proceed much further.

1. What books could you recommend?

2. What video tutorials could your reccomend?

3. What additional Logos ressources shoud I purchase to faciliate learning?

Thanks

Peace and every Blessing, Larry! *smile* Your goals are very "Good!" indeed!

Read your post, then looked up the Logos 4 Leaders Bundle. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised as to how much Greek Language Study one could do with the Leaders Bundle.

However, (and that "however" costs money) ............. I think you have to move up one or two or even three bundles to do really good Greek Language Studies. Just my humble opinion since I have a larger bundle that does everything I want it to; and I feel my studies would be hampered to just have the Leaders Bundle.

Some of the specific items that other posters might want to offer here in this post to you as an idea now are already included in the larger bundles.

Perhaps you can plan ahead -- at your own pace -- to upgrade your bundle.

http://www.logos.com/comparison

Richard

Let me strongly recommend two resources, both by Dave Black from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

his book, "Learn to Read NT Greek" is available in Logos.
the DVD series of his class available here: http://daveblackonline.com/greek_dvds_now_available.htm .

Dr. Black taught through his beginning grammar at his local church a couple of years ago, and I was privileged to go through it. He takes a strong linguistic approach as opposed to just memorizing paradigms. You must memorize paradigms, certainly, but his linguistic approach makes you forget that you are memorizing anything. It just starts to feel natural.

While in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he videotaped his lectures. They are *identical* to the class I took -- he's been doing this for over 34 years, so he's got it down solid On top of that, he welcomes questions via email.

I really can't stress enough how much I enjoyed learning Greek from Dr. Black. I wish I had a copy of the DVDs myself to refresh.

Richard

BTW - note that the videos are in PAL format. They'll play in any computer and international DVD players just fine, but not in North American DVD players (which require NTSC format).

Don't let this influence your decision, but do be aware.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

1. What books could you recommend?

2. What video tutorials could your reccomend?

3. What additional Logos ressources shoud I purchase to faciliate learning?

Looking at Logos comparison page http://www.logos.com/comparison noticed several Logos 4 features need Original Languages or higher packages (list near bottom of page). Also, Original Languages bundles includes many useful Greek resources (along with Hebrew and Aramaic).

Cascadia syntax graphs need Scholar's Silver or higher. Scholar's Gold includes United Bible Societies (UBS) handbooks, wiki has resource reviews: UBS New Testament Handbook Series and UBS Old Testament Handbook Series (offers translation insights about what is important in passage for communication across cultures). Scholar's Platinum includes Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research

Wiki Extended Tips for Highlighting and Visual Filters page has Examples of visual filters section with Logos Greek Morphology visual filters so can highlight words based on grammatical usage that combine Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew With Logos Bible Software? visual filter ideas (from many Greek videos).

Another Logos resource bundle to consider is Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament Discourse grammar provides more insights about connective word usage (e.g. kai). Introducing New Testament Discourse Grammar: Video Series is a pre-publication currently under development; can watch 5 preview videos (1st wife is insightful).

Keep Smiling [:)]

Mr. Simple

These are great replies -

Richard,

I ordered Dr. Black's book on Logos just now. I am looking into the DVD set.

Milford,

I am going to hold off on your recommendations just now due to lack of funds at that magnitude.

Chris,

When I get the funds, I will order the DVD's you pointed me to.

Is there a forum to inquire if anyone has a used copy of the Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew with Logos Bible Software?

Thanks for all the input

Mr. Simple

Keep Smiling for Jesus -

Thanks for that reply, you gave me many resources to investigate

Larry

MJ. Smith

Is there a forum to inquire if anyone has a used copy of the Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew with Logos Bible Software?

The Logos forum guide lines discourage selling of used versions here. But someone might see this and send you a message.

Mike Childs

Richard, I looked at the material you suggested, and that is good stuff. Would be an asset to anyone learning the language.

Ron Corbett

Is there a forum to inquire if anyone has a used copy of the Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew with Logos Bible Software?

Hi Larry,

1] These "Learn to Use ..." videos from Logos are ... great!!! You will be able to get alot more out of your Logos software. They are a great investment.

2] Having said that, there was quite a bit of discussion when this DVD series was in preparing. There was a point made that the videos are a fantastic supplement to Greek study. Meaning, Logos goes a long way, but there are gaps in the approach because their objective is different. Its' purpose is not to reinvent a product covering all the material from a traditional class in either Hebrew or Greek. You can learn much along the way about the languages and the grammar, but the goal is to teach you how to use Logos tools in your study of the languages (hence the name). Who can benefit from these DVD's? Everyone - no matter what their current level of proficiency. Will it help someone learn the languages? Yes. Will it be useful to someone who already has a good measure of proficiency? Yes.

But before you go and spend your money, consider this. At every upgrade level in Logos from the Leader's Library > Platinum, for every couple of hundred dollars you spend, Logos gives you many times more that amount in books. I know it is a hard decision. One that puts demands on you to prioritize your "want list". Maybe the question is: do I most need a larger number of language tools (commentaries, syntax graphs, etc)? If so, upgrade. OR: Do I want to specialize now? - getting just what I need to learn the language? In this case, perhaps you should focus on a smaller set of tools.

If you search the forum, there are some good sites (free) that have been suggested to help one learn Greek (or Hebrew). If those sites look like they do it for you, then maybe the Logos "Learn..." DVD's are what you need and / or an upgrade to a higher package.

Is Mebin

the DVD series of his class available here: http://daveblackonline.com/greek_dvds_now_available.htm .

Thank you for this info...I will be ordering asap!!!

Mr. Simple

NewbieMick,

Thanks for those additional ideas - I'm taking all this in and formulating a game plan.

Much appreciated to all for the great inputs

Mark Barnes

If you want to learn Greek, I'd strongly recommend Bill Mounce's resources (including video) at www.teknia.com - they have samples so you can try before you buy.

In case it's not clear already, there are two parts to your quest:

Learning Greek
Learning how to use your Greek to study the Bible better

In Bible college, you tend to spend a long time on (1), and only move onto (2) in the second year. If you're self-learning, it's best to do (1) and (2) together, if only for motivational purposes.

Bill Mouce's basic stuff is better at (1) than (2). The Logos videos are much better at (2) than (1).

You don't need the expensive Logos upgrades to do (1), but you will definately benefit from them in doing (2).

fgh

Since people are already mentioning sites outside of Logos, don't miss that there are several free Greek and Hebrew courses on iTunes[U ].

Also, I see that you are studying Romans. I wouldn't call that a text for a beginner. John's Greek is the easiest; Paul's and Luke's the most advanced.

Mr. Simple

fgh -

I will take your advice on the text to select for a Greek Beginner.

Also I will check out Itunes. What is ITunes[U] ?

fgh

U stands for University. It's the part of iTunes where universities, colleges, seminaries, institutes, museums and so on post courses, lectures, sermons and other stuff. Just type greek in the normal iTunes Store search box, and you should get results from all sections of iTunes. But make sure you're choosing a course in Biblical Greek, and not modern Greek. (Unfortunately you can't search for biblical greek; most of the seminaries just call their courses "elementary Greek", or something like that, so you won't get many results if you do.)

Mr. Simple

fgh,

Thanks for the information - I am browsing Itunes U right now

Larry

Mr. Simple

Ok - I have now upgraded to Scholars' Gold.

My next question is why would I need BDAG/HALOT.

What are the target purposes of UBS Series, vs BDAG/HALOT.

Thanks,

Larry

George Somsel

Ok - I have now upgraded to Scholars' Gold.

My next question is why would I need BDAG/HALOT.

What are the target purposes of UBS Series, vs BDAG/HALOT.

Thanks,

Larry

You need BDAG because there is no other lexicon which details the various usages of words used in the NT. Would you use an English dictionary which simply gave you a list of equivalent words to whatever you look up? You might end up picking the usage which is not at all what the author intended since it doesn't give a detailed analysis of how the word is used. Let me give an example. I have edited the entry in Collins English Dictionary for this purpose.

atrocious (ǝˈtrǝʊʃǝs) adj 1 cruel; 2 shocking; 3 detestable

Now it's up to you to decide which understanding to use in undertanding what another has written. Can you be sure that your understanding reflects what the author intended? Having a more prolix definition helps -- including having examples of usage.

Do you need HALOT? That depends on whether you intend to work with Hebrew. BDB is also good, but it doesn't reflect the more recent finds such as cognate words in Ugaritic.