Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Excellent - but it has inspired even better works May 29, 2000
Jonathan W. Robie (Durham, NC USA)
39 out of 39 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book for learning Greek vocabulary and word formation, and has been used in seminaries for over 50 years. During that time, people have been thinking of ways they would add to it or improve it. Although Metzger's book still holds up quite well, I think that some of these newer books have surpassed it. For instance, I like Robinson's Mastering Greek Vocabulary better, and it contains much of the same material.
 Classic -- must have November 9, 2000
John D. Lewis (Severna Park, MD USA)
34 out of 34 found this review helpful
If you're a serious (or even semi-serious) student of NT Greek, you'll want this book. A short list of vocabulary words, sorted and indexed several ways, gives you the information you need to start learning the most commonly used words immediately.Not designed to be read cover-to-cover, it's just a list of Greek words, their meanings and, often, related English words that derived from the Greek term. Using a computer program, the straight words could be generated easily enough, but the beauty is in the English definitions and related words. Designed to help make the connection between the English and the Greek clearer for the user, Metzger has provided students with an excellent, concise, and easy to use reference work that you'll return to over and over.
Must have Aid February 16, 2000
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
This reference is an important resource for the first time Greek student. Organized in a fashion of word use frequency allows the student to locate the most commonly used words quickly. The appendices are extremely useful for understanding concepts such as the geometrical graph of prepositions.
 now obsolete--choice Trenchard's guide instead August 1, 2006
Markos (Oklahoma)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
For years this was the only resource of its kind avaiable, but now Warren Trenchard's "Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament" has totally replaced it. See my review of his book. Trust me, spend the extra money on Trenchard as he does everything Metzgar does plus lots more.
More useful for the mnemonic aids than anything else December 11, 2006
a voice of reason (Houston, TX)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This helpful book by Bruce Metzger has becomed somewhat outdated, but it is still a valuable resource for the beginning student of Koine Greek. The word frequency lists do help students to focus on learning the most commonly used words in the Greek New Testament and, thereby, to rapidly build a working vocabulary.
The most helpful aspect of the vocabulary lists is the mnemonic aids that Metzger provides for some of the words. When I began to memorize Greek vocabulary I used mnemonic devices for the many words that had no English cognate or other obvious relation to an English word or meaning. Many of these devices were silly, but they made the word stick out in my mind; Metzger states that this is a good technique and believes that it is often a case of 'the sillier, the better.' I only wish that he had provided more mnemonic aids as he leaves us empty-handed in regard to many words (especially some of the more difficult words). Still, the ones he does provide are a great help.
The second half of the book, as other reviewers have noted, has been surpassed by others in newer books. I also recommend Warren Trenchard's "Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament" (Revised Edition) as the best and most comprehensive vocabulary resource for the beginning student - just don't allow certain portions of the book to become a crutch that keep you from memorizing the principal parts of verbs. Thomas A. Robinson's "Mastering Greek Vocabulary" is another good resource for building vocabulary through memorizing words by their cognate group; however, Trenchard's volume also provides this information (and more), so it's still the better resource. If you really want to delve into vocabulary, then try William Mounce's "The Morphology of Biblical Greek" (not recommended for the beginner or for those with short attention spans).
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