John 1–10: A Handbook on the Greek Text

Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament

by Lidija Novakovic

In  John 1–10 and John 11–21 Lidija Novakovic provides a foundational analysis of the Greek text of John. The analysis is distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the text. Novakovic’s analysis is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key,  John 1–10 and John 11–21 also reflect the most up-to-date advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. These handbooks prove themselves indispensable tools for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text.

440 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2021

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series. An invaluable resource for exegesis.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament (BHGNT) series is like a prequel, so to speak. When you as a pastor, or professor, or interpreter arrives at your text, you first translate your text. Then you turn to Wallace, Robertson, or any number of other grammars to tease out the details before you turn to your own exegesis. Now that you’ve done your own work, where should you turn next? This is where the BHGNT comes in. Then go to the commentaries. Your order might go something like this:

Translation ➔ BHGNT ➔ Exegesis ➔ Commentaries

I’ve placed exegesis after the John BHGNT volume because you may want to double-check your grammatical and translational work before you go ahead with your exegesis.

The BHGNT series deals with parsing, grammar, syntax, semantics, discourse (using Runge, but it mostly remains on the sentence level), and some text criticism. In the introduction, the author pulls together her thoughts. This volume does assume that the reader has, at least, some level of familiarity with the original languages. However, I think the main point of familiarity that is needed for this volume is in the department of grammatical terminology rather than vocabulary or some other aspect of the language. A first-year Greek student will surely be able to navigate the waters, but it may be a good idea to have a Greek grammar to consult along the way for further explanation. Also, there is a short, but helpful glossary of grammatical terms in the rear of the book for immediate assistance. A longer glossary would have been more useful, but the target audience should do well with what has been provided.

Furthermore, I think that much more could have been done to make this volume, indeed to make the series more accessible to a broader audience (i.e. more translation of Greek terms and phrases), but, again, the target audience will do well with what has been provided. This work does a needed justice to the field of the Gospel of John.


Disclosure: I received this book free from Baylor University Press. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/wa....