Lexicon Questions

[Randy Steffens Jr]

Can someone provide me with comparisons between the full edition vs. the abridged edition of the "New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology"?

 

Also could you compare the "New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exigesis", vs. the "Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament"?

 

What would I be sacrificing to get the less expensive abridged version of the NIDNTT or the cheeper TWOT?

 

I don't know any Greek or Hebrew yet, but I am planning to learn. And in the meantime, I would like to conduct detailed word studies. However I don't want to pay extra money for the more expensive books if it is truly unlikely I would ever find them useful above their less expensive counterparts.

 

Thanks!
Randy

Edited June 24, 2013 by rsteffens

[Rick Bennett]

If you search the forum for NIDNTT you'll find a few places this has been discussed. See here and here for two.

[Tony Lawrence]

Randy,

 

I can only offer my opinion. I have the NIDNTT but not the abridged version. I have both the NIDOTTE and TWOT.

 

First, I suggest you read the descriptions at Accordance's website. These can be quite useful and especially the screen shots.

 

Second In this case of the comparison of the NIDNTT with the abridged version. Here are the distinctions that I see. 1. the classical usage and Old Testament usage have been combined in the abridged version. 2. It appears that most of the text is there with some very minor changes in wording. 3. The most perceptible difference rather puzzles me. The unabridged NIDNTT structure is to use the English term and then the various Greek terms under it. The cheaper abridged version seems to be structured around the Greek terms themselves. I guess I would have expected the reverse. It should not matter, however, if you amplify from a tagged text to the lexicon it would take you to the appropriate word in either case. If I were purchasing it for myself again I would go for the cheaper abridged version.

 

Third, the comparison between the NIDOTTE and TWOT is much more subjective to me. I have had the TWOT in print for years and thus seem drawn more to it. On the other hand the NIDOTTE has some very valuable essays its beginning. It really is a much more comprehensive module. Of course you did not ask to compare those with the HALOT and BDB Complete but I have done so anyway. I have attached two screen shots for you to see a comparison.

 

My recommendation is if you are going to buy one Greek Lexicon and one Hebrew Lexicon to grow into and use for years to come, then buy the BDAG/HALOT combo.

 

 

[Ken Simpson]

Hi Randy,

my personal experience has been that for 20 years NIDNT by Brown was more than adequate (even reading Greek to a somewhat sophisticated level IMHO). I have used TDNT in my postgrad studies in Greek.

 

COntra Tony, I have used NIDOTTE a little more than TWOT. I find it a little more attuned to the way I research things.

 

Any of these resources do not replace a good lexicon (e.g. BDAG/HALOT as Tony suggests) but they are theological dictionaries about words. So if you do learn Gk/Heb later, you will need to purchase lexica as well.

[Unix]

For some weeks I've been thinking of getting a volume that contains only those essays, as printed matter, from a seller that offers very very low postage to over here (Sweden), and the price for the item is also low. It seems like good value for money. I hope that seller still has it. I was unable to buy it at once since I didn't have money until a couple of days ago.

Are there more users who like those essays in NIDOTTE?:

On the other hand the NIDOTTE has some very valuable essays its beginning.

[Tony Lawrence]

Hi Unix,

 

Evidently they were valuable enough that Zondervan has extracted them and published them in a book by itself. See this link: http://zondervan.com/9780310231936

 

Hope this helps...