Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel B. Wallace
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Book Reviews of Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics
Book Review: A Great Grammar
Summary: 4 Stars
I actually found this book years ago when I knew no Greek at all and was looking for grammars of the Attic dialect. I had no idea that I would one day commit myself to the understanding of the bible. It is actually through an advertisement in the back of this book that I found the whole Zondervan line, including William Mounce's fantastic introductory grammar. Now, years later, as I prepare for seminary, I find that I am already equipped with most of the Greek textsbooks that I will need there.This book is a real treasure. Long before I could read any Greek I combed over the excellent essays at the beginning about the nature of New Testament Greek and the issues of teaching and learning Greek in his "purpose of this book" essay. Also, the book is designed as a reference, giving you everything you ever wanted to know about cases in one swoop, then verbs in one swoop, etc., yet Wallace keeps the various components of the Greek language distinct from one another and is very meticulous in assuming greater knowledge from the student as one works through the book, indicating that it is designed to be methodically worked through from beginning to end in seminary courses. The result is a teaching aid that is a well-indexed reference, usable for one's entire lifetime. Also, Wallace includes a number of examples with each of his paragraphs, and each of the examples is translated from the Greek. This is a wonderful boon for someone like me who, though having started Greek 4 years ago before before learning any foreign language, has since learned to speak German and read Hebrew fluently, but never got the time to acquire great fluency in New Testament Greek. My daily biblical studies have prompted me to do many advanced word studies and pose a number of syntactical questions involving Greek, yet I have never really attained the vocabulary or fluency in the language as one who can just pick up a Greek New Testament and read it. In this respect, Wallace's clear language and numerous translated examples have helped me to no end.
I guess what I am trying to say is that this book is very user-friendly and makes a wonderful companion even to beginning students in the language, or for pastors whose Greek has gotten rusty.
Book Review: Funny how theology dictates grammatical choices
Summary: 4 Stars
For better, for worse, this grammar has become a sort of gold standard in the biblical Greek realm, and deservedly so. There, to my knowledge, exists no other truly exhaustive treatment of the grammatical nuances in biblical Greek that is actually readable (I have a few dusty old tomes, such as A.T. Robertson's horribly extensive Greek grammar) on the market today.
In short, my recommendation is as follows: anyone who wants to progress beyond the first year of biblical Greek needs this work, yes, needs it. I would like to add one little bit of advice however, do not think that because Wallace is a well renowned Greek scholar, which he is, that he does not include his own theological agenda. Reading the NT in Greek is not simply a cut-and-dry process, if it were then there would only be one or two translations and there would not be the need for so many exegetical tools such as this. Most of the time the choices that Wallace makes and the distinctions that he draws are totally founded and necessary, but every now and then he will make a totally ambiguous concept seem completely cut and dry, thereby slipping in his own reading while dressing it up as "honest grammatical identification". This is not to say that this is not a top-notch work, rather just keep it in mind when engaging certain texts that are giving you a theological headache, and don't just "take his word for it".
Book Review: A necessity, but prepared to work!
Summary: 4 Stars
This book may come as a shock to the student who turns to it fresh from first-year Greek. It is thick. It is dense. It is complicated. It is also cautious and tentative in places, pointing out that in some areas Greek grammar is either not fully understood or is undergoing re-examination. That last lesson may be worth the price of the book alone, if it brings about a proper attitude of humility in the exegete.Although self-described as a textbook, it is difficult to read straight through. I prefer to graze short sections at a time to get acquainted with the layout and topics. Mainly I use it in conjunction with Scripture study by consulting the (very useful) index of keyed passages. The other indices, however, are cumbersome to use since the entries are not sufficiently subdivided -- you may have to turn to seven or eight pages before you find the information you need.
You haven't attained basic proficiency in NT Greek until you are broadly conversant with the subject matter of this book. Keep it next to your Greek Testament.
Book Review: It's a useful tool!
Summary: 4 Stars
As is typical of biblical language grammars, some of the terminology found in Wallace does not reflect the jargon found in other grammars. However, his thorough indices are plus!Book Review: Grammar book
Summary: 4 Stars
This grammar book was very helpful with my studies. Although the title claimed to be beyond the Basics, it was more organized and thus helpful to someone new to ancient Greek.