Hebrew and Greek grammar book

[Emanuel Cardona]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if there is a Hebrew and Greek dictionary that defines grammatical terms (e.g., noun, pronoun, verb, infinite, etc.)? Or are these terms just defined in beginning grammar books? Thanks!

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Shortly after I started doing Greek I bought three basic English grammars to deal with issues of basic grammar that I didn't have clear in my head. I just had a looked through the Greek and Hebrew grammars I have and I don't see even glossary entries for the terms you mention. Some basic level of understanding of these terms appears to be assumed in all cases. I have an interesting book by Black, Linguistics for Students of NT Greek, A Survey of Basic Concepts and Applications but even that doesn't really define these terms in a glossary or obvious headings it seems, but you have reminded me to read it which is a good thing

 

So I guess I would recommend fundamental English (or whatever language you are happiest working in) grammars to get the terms and then move to the Greek or Hebrew grammars for the nuances specific to those languages.

 

Thx

D

[Emanuel Cardona]

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

I was just searching online and found this at Christianbook.com: The Bible Software Users Companion Pack: Hebrew and Greek Grammatical Terms Explained for Exegesis By: Michael Williams, Mark L. Strauss.

 

What do you think?

 

Also, are the beginning grammar books usually good at explaining the nuances specific to those languages when different from English grammar?

Edited July 31, 2017 by Emanuel Cardona

[Λύχνις Δαν]

I had a quick look at the link and could see a little in the text; not enough to get a really good impression. But what I saw did not seem to explain what an adjective was but rather how it declined in Greek. That's typical of the introductory grammars as far as I can see. I couldn't see anywhere what they did with nouns but I expect it's the same. So if you want definitions of the terms noun, participle, verb and so on I am not confident these have it.

 

As to whether the distinctions are clearly marked in intro grammars Mounce BBG does ok in this regard where it seems pertinent to the discussion. So he goes into the distinctions between Greek participles and English gerunds and participles. And I always need to look those up in an English grammar to do that comparison. Finite versus non-finite I haven't look at much but the concept is pretty general. One thing I ran across the other day which I still haven't chased down further was oblique cases. I had assumed that this was just non-nominative and non-accusative cases. But I ran across something the other day that included some other case as well as non-oblique. Can't remember right now where. Will have to look it up.

 

I suspect part of the reason there isn't more on this is that mostly people muddle by ok. I remember though, being stuck by remarks made by a student of Greek, I think in an Amazon review, whose classics prof. sent him off to study English grammar before tackling Greek. Let me see if I can find it. Alas not doing any good. Sorry.

 

Thx

D

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi Emanuel,

 

See "Introduction: English Grammar," pp. 1-15 in J.W. Wenham, The Elements of New Testament Greek, Cambridge University Press, or its replacement, "Comparative English Grammar," pp. 240-249, in J. Duff's The Elements of New Testament Greek. The Elements from Cambridge University Press, beginning with Nunn in 1914, and replaced by Wenham in 1965 and Duff in 2005, is a main competitor to Mounce's grammars, etc. I used it at Trinity under D. Carson, who got his doctorate at Cambridge.

 

They are a simple place to start. I used the first one in Hebrew classes.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

[Emanuel Cardona]

I had a quick look at the link and could see a little in the text; not enough to get a really good impression. But what I saw did not seem to explain what an adjective was but rather how it declined in Greek. That's typical of the introductory grammars as far as I can see. I couldn't see anywhere what they did with nouns but I expect it's the same. So if you want definitions of the terms noun, participle, verb and so on I am not confident these have it.

 

As to whether the distinctions are clearly marked in intro grammars Mounce BBG does ok in this regard where it seems pertinent to the discussion. So he goes into the distinctions between Greek participles and English gerunds and participles. And I always need to look those up in an English grammar to do that comparison. Finite versus non-finite I haven't look at much but the concept is pretty general. One thing I ran across the other day which I still haven't chased down further was oblique cases. I had assumed that this was just non-nominative and non-accusative cases. But I ran across something the other day that included some other case as well as non-oblique. Can't remember right now where. Will have to look it up.

 

I suspect part of the reason there isn't more on this is that mostly people muddle by ok. I remember though, being stuck by remarks made by a student of Greek, I think in an Amazon review, whose classics prof. sent him off to study English grammar before tackling Greek. Let me see if I can find it. Alas not doing any good. Sorry.

 

Thx

D

A good friend of mine recommended me this one. And it looks like it will help out in this area. Perhaps this other one too?

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Those would likely be good but I also just ran across this A Student Handbook of Greek and English Grammar, Robert Mondi and Peter L. Corrigan which might be interesting : https://www.amazon.com/Student-Handbook-Greek-English-Grammar/dp/1624660363/

 

Thx

D

[Michel Gilbert]

Or, just jump into Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew by G. Long.

[A.D. Riddle]

Emanuel,

 

There are a couple of books written expressly to assist biblical Greek and Hebrew students with basic English grammar. (The first is the same one Michel recommends.)

 

Long, Gary A.

     2013 Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew: Learning Biblical Hebrew Grammatical Concepts through English Grammar. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

 

Van Pelt, Miles V.

     2010 English Grammar To Ace Biblical Hebrew. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Lamerson, Samuel.

     2004 English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Long, Gary A.

     2006 Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek: Learning Biblical Greek Grammatical Concepts through English Grammar. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

 

 

The terms you listed (noun, pronoun, verb, infinitive) are elementary and I suspect the Oxford dictionaries you linked to might prove too technical at this stage.

 

A.D.

 

[Ιακοβ]

I found Duff's The Elements of New Testament Greek. The Elements from Cambridge University Press helpful.

[Emanuel Cardona]

Or, just jump into Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew by G. Long.

I read the introduction and like the approach. Great for beginners.

[Emanuel Cardona]

 

Emanuel,

 

There are a couple of books written expressly to assist biblical Greek and Hebrew students with basic English grammar. (The first is the same one Michel recommends.)

 

Long, Gary A.

     2013 Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Hebrew: Learning Biblical Hebrew Grammatical Concepts through English Grammar. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

 

Van Pelt, Miles V.

     2010 English Grammar To Ace Biblical Hebrew. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Lamerson, Samuel.

     2004 English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Long, Gary A.

     2006 Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek: Learning Biblical Greek Grammatical Concepts through English Grammar. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

 

 

The terms you listed (noun, pronoun, verb, infinitive) are elementary and I suspect the Oxford dictionaries you linked to might prove too technical at this stage.

 

A.D.

 

 

Very helpful list. Is it safe to say that after these, then a beginning grammar (e.g., BBG) would be the next level?

[Emanuel Cardona]

I found Duff's The Elements of New Testament Greek. The Elements from Cambridge University Press helpful.

Thank you so much. I see both you and Michel have used it. 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Emanuel Cardona

[A.D. Riddle]

Emmanuel,

 

My guess is that you would consult these alongside your beginning grammar, as needed.

 

Grammars typically use English grammar examples to help understand how Greek or Hebrew is working. The English is only a pedagogical strategy to get you to where you want to go. I would rely on the English only insofar as you need it to comprehend Greek and Hebrew. If you can understand Greek and Hebrew without English, then just skip over the English grammar parts. I would say it is not essential to understand English grammar in order to understand Greek and Hebrew. (It is only essential if you want to understand every tiny detail that is written in BBG.)

 

A.D.

[Emanuel Cardona]

Emmanuel,

 

My guess is that you would consult these alongside your beginning grammar, as needed.

 

Grammars typically use English grammar examples to help understand how Greek or Hebrew is working. The English is only a pedagogical strategy to get you to where you want to go. I would rely on the English only insofar as you need it to comprehend Greek and Hebrew. If you can understand Greek and Hebrew without English, then just skip over the English grammar parts. I would say it is not essential to understand English grammar in order to understand Greek and Hebrew. (It is only essential if you want to understand every tiny detail that is written in BBG.)

 

A.D.

Ok, thanks for the suggestion. Very helpful. I do find myself wanting "to understand every tiny detail." But then advancing would be too slow.