Biblical Greek Language And Lexicography

As the basis of modern translations of the Scriptures, biblical Greek and lexicography are disciplines vital to our understanding of the original Christian message. This volume, which celebrates the career of Frederick W. Danker, presents the state of the art in Greek and biblical language studies. Amid the important topics of discussion are how one discovers the meaning of words, current tools available to students of language, and the approach being used in the latest New Testament and Septuagint Greek dictionaries. Added features of this book include appendices listing current Greek-English dictionaries and grammars and current Greek dictionary and language projects as well as indexes of biblical references, Greek and Hebrew words, and grammatical terms.

New Testament lexicons of today are comprehensive, up-to-date, and authoritative. Behind them lies a tradition dating back to the sixteenth century, whose characteristics are not well known. Besides giving a history of this tradition, A History of New Testament Lexicography demonstrates its less satisfactory features, notably its dependence on predecessors, the influence of translations, and its methodological shortcomings. John A. L. Lee not only criticizes the existing tradition, but stimulates thought on new goals that New Testament lexicography needs to set for itself in the twenty-first century. This book caters to the non-specialist as well as those interested in philological detail.

Discussion of Lexicography with special reference to Bible translation. Includes articles by J. P. Louw, E. R. Wendland, Eugene A. Nida, W. C. van Wyck, J. Lubbe, and W. S. Vorster.

Lexicography, together with grammatical studies and textual criticism, forms the basis of biblical exegesis. Recent decades have seen much progress in this field, yet increasing specialization also tends to have the paradoxical effect of turning exegesis into an independent discipline, while leaving lexicography to the experts. The present volume seeks to renew and intensify the exchange between the study of words and the study of texts.

/0A long-standing tradition within biblical scholarship sets the Greek text of the Septuagint constantly in relationship with its supposed Hebrew or Aramaic Vorlage, examining the two together in terms of their grammatical alignment as a standard. Yet another tradition frames the discussion in different terms, preferring instead to address the Septuagint first of all in light of its contemporary Greek linguistic environment and only then attempting to describe its language and style as a text. It is this latter approach that William A. Ross employs in this textually based study of the Greek versions of Judges, a so-called double text in the textual history of the Septuagint. The results of his study offer a window into the Old Greek translation and its later revision, two distinct stages of Greek Judges with numerous instances of divergent vocabulary choices that reflect deliberateness in both the original selection and the subsequent change within the textual development of the book. Ross’s study illustrates the practicalities and payoff of a Greek-oriented lexicographical method that situates the language of the Septuagint squarely within its contemporary historical and linguistic context.

Reconsideration of the nature of the Greek attested in both the Septuagint and the New Testament has focussed in the past century on its place within the history of Greek. A central facet of the work of John Lee has been to demonstrate that biblical Greek is contemporary Koine, comparable to that found in inscriptions and papyri, and that it can be positioned within the history of the language. These essays honour him in considering various aspects of biblical Greek within its context. Lexicography is discussed in the light of particular 'Jewish Greek' features, the role of context for semantics, and the use of Modern Greek in lexicons. Septuagint translation techniques involving transliterations, loan-words, and ethnic terminology, and the grammatical topics of deponency and verbal aspect, are all analysed. The importance of papyri and numismatic evidence is highlighted, while the material witnessess of doublets in the manuscript tradition and of later Jewish versions represented in the Cairo Genizah and in marginal glosses are also examined.

"Colloquia of the International Syriac Language Project. The essays collected in this volume probe various linguistic problems, analyze certain lexicographical methods, evaluate selected lexical tools currently available, and set forth descriptions and/or proposals for forthcoming lexical projects. The papers are organized into three groups, depending on their primary language orientation. The first group focuses on selected areas of lexicography for texts written in Classical Syriac. The second group deals with certain areas of semantics and lexicography for Biblical Hebrew. The third group treats aspects of lexical analysis for the Greek New Testament. The common thread that ties the essays together is a focus on lexicography"--