Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek

I want to preface this by pointing out that I don't think such books are ideal for learning vocabulary. I think we process new vocabulary better when we _read_ it in context, or better yet, have a visual picture to associate that context with.

Having said that, people have criticized Metzger's work for being outdated, superseded, not having all the features other books have, etc. Perhaps the reason this little book is still so popular is because people misunderstand its virtues. It is not the amount of lexical data and mnemonic tips that made it worthwhile, only to be bettered by books with more data & tips. Metzger was a giant in the field, and while none could deny that Bauer, Spicq, and Moulton/Geden are better for understanding word meanings than Metzger's glosses, Metzger's slim volume is always ready at hand for quick, easy study.

Metzger's Lexical Aids has been in my library for many years. I use it as a quick reference on New Testament Greek if I don't want to pull out more exhausitve aids. I espccially like the way he has created several indices including an index of Greek roots and a sort by number of occurrences.

This aid was particularly useful when I first started to learn the Greek but I find myself, even today, going back to it for a quick lookup. I recommend this book for students of New Testament Greek.

I have used other resources as well, many of which were recommended by the late Dr. Gene Scott and continue to be used by his wife, Pastor Melissa Scott. But none seem to be as well worn as my "Lexical Aids".

I bought this book after reading Dr. P.C. Comminos review. This is a gem of a little book. Here's how it's set up: list words by their frequency (from 500 occurances all the way down to 10), words classified according to their root, ino-european family of languages (helps you see the big picture), prepositions in composition with verbs, principal parts of important verbs, feminine nouns of the second declension, and an index of greek words. Yes I got that from the table of contents.

Total length of this book is 100 pages. It is inexpensive and comprehensive for it's size. A superior product given that it is only 100 pages. You can get this book for under ten dollars. There are few purchases that qualify as "No brainers" in my humble opinion. This is one of those "NO BRAINERS." As a side note if your learning greek you should check out Dr. PC Commino's profile. I have found it very informative, and have never been steered wrong by him.

Depending upon the style in which the reader learns best, this book may be a great asset.

If you learn via "word association" or by using cognates of words, this will help you tremendously. In most cases, a cognate is listed in the definition, which will enable the reader to associate a modern word to the Greek equivalent. Additionally, words are ordered by root (in the last half of the book) further enabling the student to remember and associate words of like definition.

If you learn by any other method, unfortunately, this book will be nothing more than a long list of words. Although it will be of service to you, it will not be the tremendous service to you that it is to word association types.

In any case, a great resource, especially for the price.

Packed with features and quite economical--the best buy for students studying elementary and intermediate Greek.