Intermediate Greek Grammar: Syntax for Students of the New Testament

Mathewson and Emig's Intermediate Greek Grammar: Syntax for Students of the New Testament is refreshing in its approach, clear and concise (about 1/3 the length of Wallace), and is unique among its peers. Highlights include:1) A minimalistic approach to grammar. Rather than focusing on isolating individual linguistic units and attributing maximal meaning to their syntax the emphasis is on how grammar functions in context. Categories are kept to a minimum in order to not burden students with undue memorization and free them up to focus on the meaning grammar contributes to the larger context in the discourse. For instance, this approach is demonstrated in the following comment on case labels: "It is important to distinguish the semantics of the case forms from the pragmatic usage of the cases in different contexts. These different labels (appellations) are not the meanings of the cases, but reflect the different contextual realizations of the meanings of the case forms. This approach also allows for ambiguity in the case functions. Sometimes more than one potential label will 'fit' when there is not enough evidence to select a specific category with confidence. In such cases interpreters should refrain from feeling the need to pin down a given case function. The focus should be on the meaning the case contributes to the context" (p. 2).2) Sustained emphasis on the importance of paying attention to context. This is particularly reinforced by the practice "chunks" of text at the end of each chapter for the reader to analyze. Helpful exegetical notes are also added to the representative examples of grammar that are provided for each category often commenting on contextual indicators that influence their translation or highlight the ambiguity of the grammatical unit. Throughout each chapter distinctions are constantly made between what meaning legitimately belongs to a grammatical construct and what must be ascertained from context.3) An introduction to verbal aspect theory. Chapter 6 provides a very palatable introduction to verbal aspect theory. For those desiring to delve deeper into verbal aspect theory see the footnotes in this chapter. Verbal aspect, again, allows context pride of place in determining authorial meaning and emphasis when it comes to tense use.4) A discussion of grammar in discourse analysis. Chapter 13 highlights some of the important considerations that syntax has at a discourse level.Overall, this book is an indispensable resource for second year Greek students.

Great as a handy guide to intermediate grammar: Clear, concise, and, in my view, accurate. Why the qualification on that last point? You be aware that the authors adopt Porter's position of verbal aspect - indeed, the book is something of an update on Porter's Idioms book, though much easier to follow than that work - and many dissent. The recent "Going Deeper with New Testament Greek" presents more of a middle ground on that issue.I like how most chapters end with a good-sized chunk of text from the Greek NT, often with the feature discussed in the chapter (say, the article) placed in bold. This facilitates discussion of how the abstract grammatical principle plays out in a real-life context. This makes for fantastic classroom discussion, or discussion between a student and his or her tutor.

Simply, this grammar is a joy to read! I am sold on the minimalist approach, especially for reviewing any subject, such as Infinitives as I am this afternoon. The author, clearly a skilled instructor, provides just the right amount of example texts to insure that we grasp the concepts. I am always trying to understand my GNT a little bit better. This little (300 page) book has been a great encouragement to me. Thank you Sir, and... Ma'am!

Building on prominent research over the last few decades, the authors’ basic approach emphasizes reading Koine Greek at the discourse level. Instead of having a list of ten different subclassifications of the genitive case or aorist verb, for example, the student will use the entire sentence, and often a paragraph or longer unit, to understand meaning. Some such examples overlap with traditional grammars; in a narrative with a series of aorist verbs, for example, a switch to the present tense is clearly a “historical present” used for vividness. The discourse approach, which is most strongly associated with Stanley Porter, examines everything in a similar way, in its overall context.Mathewson and Emig call their rejection of categories a “minimalist” approach to grammar. The opposite, “maximalist” view tries to milk the maximum meaning out of a given word or clause—often building major theological claims atop subtle differences in grammatical classifications. The maximalist position also gives us an extraordinary range of theological controversies and denominational fragmentation based on grammatical arguments that shouldn’t hold that weight, a point that lies behind some of D.A. Carson’s “grammatical fallacies.”The maximalists are also bad grammar. To give a common concrete example, the traditional grammars often claim that a particular genitive absolute is “temporal” as opposed to “attendant circumstance” or “purpose.” Consider an English sentence expressed in the KJV translation of the genitive absolute: “Taking out her key, she unlocked the door.” Of course she took out the key first (temporal) as part of a single action (attendant circumstance) in order to unlock the door (purpose). Those are logically distinct understandings of the sentence, but none of that stems from the grammar of the sentence. Sometimes they matter, but often - as in my example - they don’t. Other grammars (like Wallace) make those distinctions central to their grammars, and I am hard-pressed to find them central to how language works.Instead of classifying everything into finer-grained categories and then trying to deal with the exceptions to the rules, Mathewson and Emig point the learner toward grammar in context. Verbs carry the action as part of a larger narrative. The historical present ceases to be a weird exception and instead falls into a general pattern of foregrounding and backgrounding actions. It's not a perfect system, but I have found it a good guide for reading narrative books in particular.Mathewson and Emig give guidelines instead of rules - look at the meaning of the words, look at the adverbs around the verbs, and look at the phrases and sentences before and after the verbs in question. Authors can always say, “after some days” or “the next morning” instead of relying on subtleties of aspect. After having read several traditional textbooks and intermediate grammars, all this came as a breath of fresh air.The authors conclude each chapter with one or two extended readings, each longer than a half page. They point you to the relevant features they have just taught you in the chapter and they expect you to see how they matter. I would prefer that they provide one extended reading with more guidance to show the value of the approach and then one or two readings with little or no guidance, but that's probably a self-study issue.Of course, Wallace and other grammars don't move beyond the sentence level. Mathewson and Emig believe you should learn how intermediate grammar helps you read Greek by . . . reading Greek. I can think of no better way to demonstrate their confidence in a discourse-based approach that works with paragraphs and longer units of language.

Excellent grammar to help in understanding Greek. What sets this grammar apart is that it takes a minimalist approach and gives clear, concise explanations without creating unnecessary, pedantic, and often misleading categories. It also does a great job of explaining verbal aspect theory, which will help users avoid inaccurate or absurd understandings of the biblical text. It's a great resources for scholars and students alike. It is and will likely continue to be the grammar I consult first.

Mathewson propõe uma abordagem “minimalista” do texto grego. Isso é diferente de autores, como Wallace, que “rotulam” os substantivos. A abordagem de Mathewson visa olhar, primeiramente, para a “floresta”, isto é, o contexto para depois entender a “árvore”, isto é, a palavra específica.

I found this book very helpful. It teaches the latest views on Greek grammar. You wouldn't think that there could be advances in our understanding of NT Greek after 2000 years but in the 50 years since I first learnt it the understanding of the grammar has changed considerably. I found it relatively easy to read through all of this book in about 3 weeks. The explanations are clear and backed up with ample examples in both Greek and English. It was a real help to have the English translation with each Greek passage as it sped up the reading time. The exercises at the end of each chapter were well chosen. It would have been helpful to have had the authors' comments on them, maybe as a separate download.One reading will not be enough and I shall dip in again and again to refresh my memory. A big thank you to the authors.

Super neat resource. And neat to use on the kindle.

Good

The autor presents the concepts in a simple way. The explanations are very good and helpfull.