Theological Lexicon of the NT

I downloaded the Theological Lexicon of the NT and so far I'm very dissappointed in it. It's very limited in its coverage of Greek terms. I thought I'd get more "meat," but so far just "bones." The articles on the Greek terms are scanty too...well, at least, in my opinion. I'm sorry so far that I paid $60 for it. Anyone else experiencing the same?

Lonnie Ritchie

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DMB

Ditto.

Clifford B. Kvidahl

Although the articles in the Theological Lexicon are small, they pack a great punch when paired with BDAG, TDNT, and others. Spicq's work is very useful, and if I am not mistaken he includes some entries which are not to be found found in the TDNT.

I have and use Spicq often. I often find his entries to be very useful in my studies. May I ask what you were hoping to get? If you are not satisfied I am sure Logos can work with you on a refund if you just purchased the work. But I would not give up on Spicq quite yet. You may find some gold there.

Cliff

Floyd Johnson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227404#Comment_227404

If I remember correctly, you have 30 days to return any purchase. Give Customer Service a call on Monday if you do not want a resource you have purchased.

MJ. Smith

I'm sorry so far that I paid $60 for it.

Contact Logos - they have a generous return policy.

Mark Smith

I can understand being disappointed if one was hoping for something like the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology or The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Spicq's work is a compilation and recasting of word studies he had done in other studies. As he states his interest is theological and he has attempted in the words he writes on to make use of as much of secular and other religious Greek to inform his studies as possible. Actually the footnotes are some of the best part of his work as they cite other references in translation for the word being studied.

I don't think if all I had was BDAG I'd want Spicq as my only other choice, because his range is so limited. But if you can afford a third or fourth lexicon, I think he is worth considering. I don't refer to him frequently, but when I want more than a translation and he has an entry on a word I am studying I will consult him.

As others have said if you are disappointed please request a refund.

George Somsel

I downloaded the Theological Lexicon of the NT and so far I'm very dissappointed in it. It's very limited in its coverage of Greek terms. I thought I'd get more "meat," but so far just "bones." The articles on the Greek terms are scanty too...well, at least, in my opinion. I'm sorry so far that I paid $60 for it. Anyone else experiencing the same?

Lonnie Ritchie

Like Mark, I don't refer to Spicq frequently. When I have done so I have been both disappointed and pleasantly surprised. It depends on what you are looking for.

Mark Barnes

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227404#Comment_227404

Although the articles in the Theological Lexicon are small, they pack a great punch when paired with BDAG, TDNT, and others. Spicq's work is very useful, and if I am not mistaken he includes some entries which are not to be found found in the TDNT.

I'm with Cliff on this one. Whilst Spicq is hardly comprehensive, I've found him quite penetrating on many of the articles he does include. But it's always worth researching books carefully before purchase, as qualify will vary. Here's some extracts from a review in JETS, which may help you to see the strengths and weaknesses before you decide whether to return it or not:

The articles themselves are uneven in content and utility, and this is compounded by the fact that they follow no regular format (beyond Title, Gloss, Article). Some seem to be taken directly from a commentary and not expanded for useful generality. Others are little more than strings of ancient references with brief comments. Still others, however, are very straightforward, readable, and helpful. In general, as the work of one man the contents of TLNT are remarkably full and detailed, though an editor’s eye for consistent presentation would have benefited the project.

TLNT is to be especially highly praised as a resource for probing the extra-Biblical usage of certain NT words. In fact, it is here that Spicq himself believed he made his most useful contribution (1.viii). As such, it more than holds its own against TDNT, NIDNTT and especially EDNT. Many of the larger articles in TLNT, TDNT, and NIDNTT provide comparable analysis, but Spicq often presents several more, and more detailed, extra-Biblical examples.

Approximately 160 of the nearly 640 words in TLNT are not covered in TDNT, about 240 are not to be found in NIDNTT, and about 150 appear in neither TDNT nor NIDNTT. (Since EDNT includes virtually every noun, proper name, verb, adjective, and adverb in the Greek NT, I have not included it in this analysis.) The articles on these “extra” words tend to be brief and interesting; many of them provide engaging insights into Greco-Roman customs and society.

TLNT is thus a beneficial addition to either TDNT or NIDNTT, though its comparatively limited number of articles will probably not commend it above the other two as a first purchase. It is considerably fuller in its treatments than EDNT, but the latter is more accessible when dealing with individual verses. Intended use will decide between the two.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227477#Comment_227477

Mark & Mark ... both of your comments are excellent. I notice periodically people would like Wiki to include resource comments / evaluations. I'd be willing to set this up, though it seems like the goal would have to be 'even-handedness' (similar to your comments above). Are there 'rules' that would prohibit something like this? I know George would certainly have some good comments to include too. Personally I'd want a short summary describing how a resource fits into a user's study, followed by periodic comments from the forum w/cross-refs. If Steve and Rosie pass by here, they probably have good ideas too given their prior contribution.

steve clark

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227503#Comment_227503

I notice periodically people would like Wiki to include resource comments / evaluations.

It would make sense to create a page with links to different books since there are many books out there. This way the wiki page would not get too large.

e.g. Resource Review is the page that would hold the links to the individual pages

Resource: A DICTIONARY of BIBLICAL LANGUAGES ARAMAIC is one of the books that would be linked on the above page.

I'd be willing to set this up,

You can see these example wiki pages and take it from here....[:D]

Mark Barnes

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227503#Comment_227503

Ideally I'd like Logos to add reviews to the website, but this proposal could be useful in the meantime.

steve clark

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227535#Comment_227535

Ideally I'd like Logos to add reviews to the website, but this proposal could be useful in the meantime.

i agree. Wish they put more info about the Indexing methods for a resource and the Search fields on their webpages.

Mark Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227539#Comment_227539

Here is an example of a word Spicq elaborates on that is only covered in brief in other resources. It isn't one of those primary theological terms, but he gives it a theological examination because of its special use by Paul. You may not agree with him, but you probably wouldn't find much on this word elsewhere.

ἀδιαλείπτως
adialeiptōs, unceasingly

adialeiptōs, S 88; EDNT 1.31; NIDNTT 3.229–230; L&N 68.55; BAGD 179

This adverb, which means “without interruption, incessantly,” presents no difficulties. It is peculiar to the Koine and is not used in the Old Testament except in the books of the Maccabees.1 But twice it qualifies continual prayer,2 just as according to the Letter of Aristeas the priests maintain religious services without interruption.3 This is the only sense in which the word is used by St. Paul, who is the only NT writer to use it;4 hence it has a theological value, but one that is hard to pin down precisely.

The expression “make mention” of someone in prayer is traditional.5 In general, people did one proskynēma each day;6 but it was not extraordinary for this remembering before the deity to be referred to as perpetual.7 Not only did St. Paul give thanks always (pantote) and on every occasion (en panti kairō), day and night,8 but he agreed to register in the order of widows only women who had persevered night and day in prayer (1 Tim 5:5), and he instructed all Christians to “pray continually.”9 How is this to be understood? This precept should be linked to that of the Master when he bade his disciples to “pray under all circumstances and never give up,”10 and understood in light of the tireless diligence of the primitive church in supplication.11

But does the choice of the adverb adialeiptōs have some special significance? The papyri shed hardly any light, except that they corroborate the sense “continual, uninterrupted”12 and several times the nuance “without giving in to weakness.”13 A single pagan inscription mentions perseverance in prayer in this way: “I, Isio, son of Kallimachos, kinsman of the king, came and passed my time adoring our lady Isis.”14 Indeed, only the Christian religion gives this term for prayer its correct meaning. Certainly the point is not the counting of verbal invocations, which would run afoul of the prohibition against battalogia;15 and at any rate, even prayer day and night assumes some breaks.16 Taken therefore in a qualitative sense, adialeiptōs is hyperbolic. It expresses the positive aspect of the attitude of watchfulness that characterizes the servant of God in the end times, when it is necessary to go without sleep (Luke 21:36; Eph 6:18). It would not be adequate to make an equation with what we call today “the spirit of prayer,” a readiness to place oneself in the presence of God. It would be better to see it as “a spiritual life dominated by the presence of God”17 and as a perpetual communion with God, after the fashion of a shoot vitally connected to the vine stock. If it is true that, according to the NT, the Christian life consists in the living out of the theological virtues,18 then the believer’s connection with the three divine Persons is continual, first of all as a creature who is radically and permanently dependent on the Almighty and then as a child of God in a dynamic relationship of love with the One who has predestined him to “exist in love.”19 We may speak of prayer without ceasing when the heart does not cease to be oriented toward God, just as love never stops or slackens when one’s attention is temporarily diverted away from the beloved: everything is seen with reference to the beloved.20

Spicq, C., & Ernest, J. D. (1994). Vol. 1: Theological lexicon of the New Testament (32–34). Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson.

DAL

No ditto...If I were you I'd keep it. Trust me, you might want to refer to it later on. Mr. Spicq does a great job with some words. Check this awesome review that inspired me to buy it -- obviously the Logos version (as it is superior to the print version). Anyway, it's a short review worth reading:

A VALUABLE STUDY TOOL: Spicq’s Theological Lexicon

BY WAYNE JACKSON

No preacher can afford to neglect the acquisition of good study tools to enhance his work. This is especially true of books that help him to understand the original languages in which the Bible was written.

An absolute treasure that I discovered a few years back is the three-volume,Theological Lexicon of the New Testament by Ceslas Spicq (1901-1993). Professor Spicq was a French scholar whose commentaries on Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus, and the book of Hebrews, brought him international acclaim.

The original work was published first in French, but an excellent English translation (by James Ernest) is now available. Spicq’s Lexicon is one of the most valuable tools for studying the history of the words that adorn the Greek Testament that one can find anywhere.

Words have histories. They have “genealogies.” Professor Spicq takes scores of prominent words from the original New Testament and traces them through their uses in classical Greek (e.g., Aristotle, Demosthenes, Hippocrates, etc.). He pursues the trails that Greek words left in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, 3rd century B.C.).

He mines numerous sources from Greek writers of the Hellenistic period in which Koine Greek flourished (the type of Greek used in the composition of the New Testament). Koine Greek was the most precise language for expressing human thought in the history of mankind, understandably chosen in the providence of God for the New Testament.

In addition, Spicq combed through scores of papyri inscriptions (first discovered in the mid-1700s), writings on “paper” made from the papyrus plant in Egypt. He extracted texts from contracts, tax records, receipts, business letters, love letters, etc., that shed light on a great variety of words in the New Testament.

There is perhaps no area of study more exciting than to do background “detective” work in attempting to see the richness of the vocabulary of the New Testament. And for those who acknowledge that the Bible is the verbally inspired word of God, this is a tremendously important endeavor.

Spicq’s Lexicon contains word studies on several hundred important terms found in the Greek Testament. For example, the professor’s treatment of the Greek word, agape (the richest term for “love” in the New Testament; cf. John 3:16) is the reflection of an entire book he did, Agape in the New Testament, a volume that brought him international tribute.

I recently found Spicq’s study of aidos, “modest” (1 Timothy 2:9), to be the most thorough treatment of that term I could find anywhere. The professor’s background investigation of aphesis, “forgiveness” (Acts 2:38), is thrilling indeed; what richness lies behind the words we sometimes take for granted.

In recent decades, the controversy regarding the meaning of parthenos, “virgin” (cf. Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27) was reignited. With exhaustive research, the author introduces tons of ancient evidence for the “sexual purity” associated with the term. The study is unique.

Spicq’s treatment of the term metanoeo, “repentance” is most rewarding. He shows that, in addition to “sorrow” for a wrong act, it “entails a change of conduct or of future status.” One ancient source has this sentence: “The person who claims to have repented while still committing injustices is not in his right mind.” In a time when many seem to be confused as to the true nature of repentance, this discussion is especially helpful.

Scholars have given this set a very high rating. Frederick Danker, of the top-ranked lexical team of Arndt, Gringrich, Danker, characterized this set as an “important resource available to English-speaking people.” The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Societynoted: “The word studies offered to us here, a gold mine of information in convenient form, would appear to be the fruit of a lifetime of study on the part of this distinguished scholar.”

The studious preacher will find himself consulting this literary treasure often.

[I omitted the link to buy the print version as it goes against the rules and you don't want the print version anyway [:)] ]

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227534#Comment_227534

Steve ... I took a look at your sample pages. Looks good. This will be my first foray into Wiki-land ... did you do anything automated or 'the hard way'? On the intro page, I'll probably group them (e.g. lexicons, commentaries, etc). If you have preferences on groupings, let me know or put in as preferred. Will get started Monday. Appreciate your help getting started.

steve clark

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227683#Comment_227683

Hi Denise,

did you do anything automated or 'the hard way'?

guess i did it the hard way...LOL. The wiki pages are basically just simple scripts. So i copy/paste and edit a lot.

On the intro page, I'll probably group them (e.g. lexicons, commentaries, etc). If you have preferences on groupings, let me know or put in as preferred.

Just go with your own intuition. You can always later cut/paste to rearrange if you change your mind later.

Will get started Monday. Appreciate your help getting started.

Great! i am sure you will do fine. If you need any help just post your questions and i will try to explain and give examples if needed.

Hope you have fun doing this!

EDIT: or if you like later i can give you my email address for faster answers to your questions.

David Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/227535#Comment_227535

Ideally I'd like Logos to add reviews to the website, but this proposal could be useful in the meantime.

Or, if space and length prohibit extended reviews, they could at least include links to such reviews.