The Koine Greek Reader Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007). ISBN: 0825424429. $25.99.  Now available! Released mid-Nov 2007. Amazon link (not an affiliate/revenue link!)--and there is now a "Search Inside" preview available.

Contents  |  Commendations & Reviews  |  Errata & Notes  |  Supplemental Materials

Contents

Buist M. Fanning III (NT, Dallas Theological Seminary) says,

"Rodney Decker's Koine Greek Reader is absolutely the best volume of its kind available today. . . . The book has been carefully prepared and organized, tested and refined in the classroom over a number of years, and handsomely produced by the publisher. . . . I recommend it enthusiastically!"

See other comments by Moises Silva, Mark Strauss, Carl Conrad, Martin Culy, William Varner, Ed Glenny, and Chet Creider on a separate page--which also includes unsolicited reviews and blog comments.

Errata

[There will surely be more here in due time! There's no better proofreader than a binding!]

• p. 79, v 14, 3d bullet note, first sentence should read: "When the neut sg art (τό) is used with a gen phrase (here = τῆς αὔριον), it implies 'the thing,' referring collectively to the events of that day." (Thanks to Mark Henson for this one.)
  [This use of the article is more common with a plural, and some texts do, indeed, have the plural τά here, but the text is most likely correct with the sg.]

• p. 120, next to last line: "provisional edition" should read "final prepublication manuscript"
  [The final versions were posted shortly before the Reader went to press. I was able to update the translations to reflect the changes since the provisional edition, but missed changing this reference.]

• pp. 135-36, the translation of vv 15-31 is duplicated in the Suppl Rdg section on pp. 136-37; omit the transl on 135-36

• p. 186, line 5 of first paragraph, in the reference to Ignatius's letter to the Trallians: a letter is missing: ὑοτάσσησθε should be ὑποτάσσησθε. (Thanks to Geoff White for spotting this one.)

• p. 186, first line of Greek reading text: Polycarp is misspelled: Πουκάρπῳ should be Πολυκάρπῳ. (Thanks to George Gunn for catching this one.)

Added Notes

These are not errata, but as I continue teaching I find things that should have had a note. So I'll add some such notes here to supplement the Reader.

• Rom. 13:4c, The word διάκονος is modified both by the gen and the adjective ἔκδικος, thus: "he is God's agent of punishment" (cf. B 301). The phrase (which is unusual in that the adjective is separated from the noun it modifies by the verb) functions as the pred nom of ἐστίν (the subject is the default pronoun in the verb).

• Jas 4:13, Note that the demonstrative τήνδε occurs in predicate position, but is translated as you normally would an attributive position adjective. This is similar to other demonstratives.

• 1 Pet 5:4, The verb κομιεῖσθε is an "Attic future," i.e., an alternate form of the future that was used in Attic Greek (the major classical Greek dialect) and is sometimes still seen in koine. These verbs look like liquid futures, but are all forms of -ιζω verbs. For details, see Mounce, MBG, §43.7.

• Deut 4:11, the translation given on p. 135 (from NETS) does not include the last two words of the verse. My guess is that is probably due to a textual variant and they are omitted in the Gottingen LXX (but I haven't gotten to the library to verify that yet). The words are included in Rahlfs-Hanhart, but no variant is listed. The Cambridge LXX also includes the words in the text, but gives textual evidence for their omission in a number of MSS. The phrase is missing in the old Brenton text.

Supplemental Materials

Chapter 1, John 7

• Genitive of Comparison, Jn 7:31 (handout)

Chapter 2, Mark 9

• See my blog posts on Mark 9:49-50, part one and part two.

Chapter 3, Matthew 18

Chapter 4, Romans 13

Supplemental material on the use of the article (reviewed in this chapter):

• Colwell's Rule

• Summary of Middleton

Chapter 5, Revelation 19

Chapter 6, James 5

Chapter 7, 1 Peter 5

• PowerPoint file to illustrate "nested modifiers" which are characteristic of 1 Peter.

Chapter 8, Acts 14

• Participles in Acts 14:1-18; this is a 3-col chart format which gives the Greek text with two English translations all having the participles marked.

• Participle Flow Chart explanation and illustrations; the Reader (Appendix C, p. 264) includes a new approach to the "traditional" (at least in some circles--the one that originated at DTS with John Best) participle flow chart, but with no explanation--this document is the explanation of how the chart is intended to function.

Chapter 9, Hebrews 7

• Syntax of Heb 7:27 (Should ἰδίων be "he" or "they"?!)

Chapter 14, Psalms 2, 110

• Psalm 110:3

Appendix A: Using BDAG

For this section you will want to see the additional resources, photos, and BDAG errata posted on my regular BDAG page. There is also a .ppt file there which can be used for class discussion or for private study.

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