exegetical.tools

Make Sure this Greek Guide to Ephesians is in Your Library

August 1, 2016

Ephesians is not easy Greek. The sentences are complex and flowing; the syntax is ambiguous; genitives abound and interpretive decisions never cease. The Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament series from B&H Academic has so far produced many volumes, such as John, Philippians, and others. This latest volume covers every phrase in Ephesians with acute exegetical skill as well as concision. One of the best features of this volume is how brief it is. It spans only 246 pages,…

Greek Webinar: Colossians 2:16-19, the Epistle’s Interpretive Crux

July 29, 2016

Todd Scacewater

This week we tackled the most difficult passage to interpret in Colossians, 2:16-19. Verse 18 has the most difficult phrase, “which things he has seen, entering.” The phrase “worship of angels” is also a problem — is it subjective, or objective….

Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers, by Rodney J. Decker

July 29, 2016

Todd Scacewater

Koine Greek Reader: Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers, by Rodney J. Decker (Kregel Academic, 2007), 310 pages. Many students wonder what to do to keep their Greek. Rodney Decker was a fantastic Greek professor that obviously cared deeply about his students’ knowledge of the language. His recent grammar Reading Koine Greek breaks some new pedagogical ground and includes many helpful exercises and practice that professors can use in the classroom and that students can use on their…

How to Distinguish Subjects and Predicate Nominatives in Koine

July 22, 2016

Todd Scacewater

Remembering the three guidelines for distinguishing between subjects and predicate nominatives is difficult. But if you can get the guidelines down, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and errors when reading Greek….

Sailing Between Scylla and Charybdis for a Biblical Theology

July 18, 2016

Todd Scacewater

In the last two and a half centuries, biblical theology has come to the fore, and among topics in biblical theology, the role of covenant and how the covenants relate to one another looms large. Two broad approaches to the relationship between the OT covenants and the New Covenant have emerged: dispensationalism and covenantalism. While dispensationalism is newer to the scene,…

Greek Webinar: Mary’s Magnificat

July 16, 2016

Todd Scacewater

This week we ventured into Luke’s Gospel and translated through Mary’s Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55. As you’ll see, we noted that about 11 of the 12 verbs are aorists, with the only present-tense verb being the very first one, “my soul is magnifying the Lord.” Why do you think all the other verbs are aorists? Comment below to help us out! Especially if you have any sources on it. If you want to tackle some similar Greek from Acts, check out William…

The Bloomsbury Companion to Syntax, edited by Silvia Luraghi and Claudia Parodi

July 14, 2016

Todd Scacewater

This volume came out at the same time as, and as a good complementary volume to the Bloomsbury Companion to Lexicography. Although there is not much overlap in the content, they are two important fields in linguistics (or in lexicography’s case, a field associated with linguistics) that those of us in biblical studies must take heed of….

A Biblical Aramaic Reader, by Takamitsu Muraoka

July 13, 2016

Todd Scacewater

There is a shortage of user-friendly resources for learning biblical Aramaic. Recently, Miles van Pelt published a grammar with a reader that goes through every Aramaic verse in the OT. There are some helpful grammatical and morphological notes throughout, but not…

Book Deals: 5 on Family and Marriage, 3 on Worship and Theology

July 12, 2016

Todd Scacewater

Family and Marriage Family Worship, by Donald Whitney, $3.99 Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God, by Voddie Baucham Jr., $3.99 Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes, by Voddie Baucham Jr., $3.99 Bringing the Gospel Home, by Randy Newman, $2.99 Date Your Wife, by Justin Buzzard, $2.99 Worship and Theology The Great Commission to Worship: Biblical Principles for Worship-Based Evangelism, by David Wheeler and Vernon M. Whaley,…