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A Reader's Greek New Testament: 2nd Edition | 
 enlarge | Authors: Richard J. Goodrich, Albert L. Lukaszewski
Publisher: Zondervan
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $23.09
You Save: $11.90 (34%)
New (7) Used (3) from $23.09
Rating:  15 reviews
Media: Leather Bound
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10 x 7 x 1.1
ISBN: 0310273781
Dewey Decimal Number: 225.48
EAN: 9780310273783
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Based on customer feedback, A Reader’s Greek New Testament now includes a new Greek font for easier reading along with other features that make this a time-saver for studying the Greek New Testament. In Italian Duo-Tone™ binding—attractive, durable, and affordable.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Sit back and relax! November 11, 2008
I have always wanted to read the New Testament in Greek. Not necessarily study it, parse it, or conjugate it, just read it. But as I have studied Greek, I have become easily frustrated as I could not apply what I have learned to the simple act of just sitting on my couch and reading the Greek NT. And one word explains why: vocabulary.
Even after learning all words with at least 50 occurrences in the NT, then 40, and now 30, it was still impossible to just sit and read the Greek NT without an interminable amount of flipping through a lexicon. I could never get in a "flow" as about every sentence had one, two or even more words that I didn't know by sight.
This "Reader's Greek New Testament" is just that: a reader's NT. I can finally sit down on my couch, get comfortable, and just read the Greek NT. Yes, I still have much to learn regarding grammar rules, but in most cases I can figure the meaning by context and the definitions found at the bottom of each page.
My only criticisms are two: (1) the choice of text is odd, in my opinion, but enough has been said about that in other reviews; and (2) the footnotes are a bit crammed at the bottom of the page, so it can be easy at times to lose your spot when looking down and then looking back up at the text.
I recommend this to any self-taught Greek student who just wants to be able to sit and read the New Testament in the original language.
Great Greek New Testament for beginners October 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Prior to the getting the RGNT2, I was studying New Testament Greek with a second-hand interlinear published by Christianity Today, copyrighted 1975. The Greek was Nestle's text from 1958, supplemented with both KJV and NIV texts for comparison.
In all fairness, the interlinear was great as a starter. No lexicon was needed if one was content to use the rendering inline, though I often supplemented the reading with online sources. But I found myself relying on the interlinear English too frequently. It was a continually present distraction. Thus, the RGNT2 was a welcome change, forcing me to deal with the Greek directly, while still providing access to definitions as needed.
So some considerations in regard to this book:
Aesthetics. This volume is leather-bound - a lovely reddish-brown shade. It comes with a ribbon, which is nice, though I would have been perfectly comfortable using a bookmark. The binding allows the volume to lay flat on the desk, a very noteworthy feature. The font, while quite thin, is highly readable. I've read a number of comments of dislike, but I must admit I was perfectly happy with the font. It is definitely an improvement over my interlinear, in which I often was unable to distinguish breathing marks and accents due to bleed-over. No such problem here. As well, I appreciate that the Greek is not in italics, though Old Testament quotations are marked in bold.
Text. This volume is based on the the underlying Greek Text that gives us the TNIV. In addition, Gordon Fee, widely-respected in the field of textual criticism, has gone over the Greek compiled by Goodrick and Kohlenberger and has "adjusted and authenticated" decisions made by the translation committee to give the Greek in the RGNT2. Where there are differences between this text and the "Standard Text" of the UBS, the differences are noted.
Whether to call the next comment "text" or "aesthetics" left me in a bit of a quandary. I was unprepared when I started using the RGNT2 for the fact that direct quotations are given with leading upper-case Greek, i.e. the first letter of the first word being upper-cased. In my interlinear, I never saw this practice followed. I'm not sure if this is standard, but it was a little disturbing at first. I will be the first to admit that I am a relative novice with Greek, especially Koine. I am also not an expert with the original manuscripts. So this may not give anyone else pause, being my own lack of experience.
Lexicon. Words used 30 times or less are placed at the bottom of the page. The remaining words (those occurring more than 30 times) are to be found in a lexicon at the back of the book. I have found this to be a great resource. While it is not as efficient as reading the word or phrase in my interlinear, it properly allows me to bring to mind the meaning of words as I read, without requiring an expensive (time-wise) trip to the dictionary or web when memory fails (or has not yet been developed). And in the long run, I have a greater confidence that my comprehension is increasing.
Words found at the bottom of the page receive much more elaborate definition than those in the lexicon - or at least more options are offered when a word has multiple meanings, and helpful renderings offered where a particular reading is useful for the context.
In conclusion, I think this is a very good investment if you want to get to know New Testament Greek better, especially if you are a beginner. To highlight some of the benefits: immersion in the text with handy reference, a pleasant feel in the hand, the ability to lay open flat, a well-reviewed text, a simple Greek font. Definitely worth looking into.
 Review of A Reader's Greek New Testament September 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The following review is also posted at Biblical Studies blog http://textcommunitymission.wordpress.com/.
I would like to thank Nick Norelli of Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth (http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/), for sending me this extra copy of RGNT.
As an intermediate Greek reader who is attempting to do all he can not to loose the last few of Greek study during an academic hiatus, I believe A Reader's Greek New Testament (RGNT) is an extremely helpful resource. The basic purpose of this volume is to allow Greek readers the freedom of reading their NT without the need to finger through a cumbersome lexicon for every tenth word. In my undergraduate training, I was fortunate enough to have a Greek professor who required his students to learn all the Greek vocabulary that occurs 25 times or more in the NT. This lines up quite nicely with RGNT. RGNT lists glosses, in a footnote, for any word occurring 30 times or less in the NT. This allows an intermediate reader, like myself, to continue to practice and increase Greek reading proficiency without the frustration of not knowing less common vocabulary. The price for this volume ($35 list, $25 New and about $20 used on Amazon), is quite reasonable for the use a student of the NT will get from it. RGNT states that its definitions (more properly glosses) are taken from Trenchard's Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament along with references to BDAG, L&N and LSJ (10). The glosses are given in the following ways: for nouns - Lexical Form, Genitive Ending, Article, Definition (read gloss), for adjectives - Lexical Form, Alternate Nominative Endings, Definition (read gloss), All other forms - Lexical Form, Definition (read gloss) (11). There are also special markers for indeclinable words such as proper nouns, genitives with alternate endings and words with multiple gender forms. Finally, prepositions, adverbs and adjectives are listed by their syntactical function when listing their glosses. The lexicon listing all words used 30 times or more is very handy when one is unable to recall a common word.
The text, while not able to use the standard NA27 for obvious copy reasons, is an eclectic critical text that disagrees with Nestle 285 times (10). While this may seem to be small a problem, all fears are subdued when one sees that these 285 differences are noted in a second footnote section on their corresponding page. RGNT is certainly not meant for textual critical work and if a student has a serious question concerning the reason for a difference, the footnoted differences allows him or her to reference their standard UBS4 or NA27 volumes.
The exterior ascetics of RGNT are also quite impressive. The burgundy Italian Duo-Tone leather is soft to the touch and the slimness of the volume allows for easy travel.
All of these excellent characteristics aside, RGNT is no longer the only Reader's New Testament on the market. Recently UBS published The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition (GNTRE). Since this is not a review of GNTRE, I will not detail all of its characteristics, only those that highlight the short comings of RGNT and lend to explaining my views on how Zondervan might improve RGNT. My biggest complaint about RGNT, as well as many others, is the font. The type is not one I have seen in a GNT before and only bears some resemblance to fonts I have seen in other publications. The main problem is the thinness of the letters and the font's small size. GNTRE uses the beautiful standard NA and is quite easy to read. I do not know the exact copy laws for such an idea, but my suggestion would be for Zondervan to use Mounce's Teknia Greek font for further editions. Teknia Greek, along with being my favorite Greek font, is also quite easy to read, regularly used by students as it is free to download, very familiar to students as Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek is by far the most widely used introductory grammar, and Zondervan already has uses it to publish Mounce's grammar and morphology book as well ad Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics and its abridged version. A size larger font would also be welcome. Such changes would greatly propel the status of RGNT.
The second major benefit GNTRE has over the RGNT is the form and content of the footnotes. (For a listing of inconstancies in the footnotes of both versions see Nick Norelli's review). As stated above RGNT lists glosses for all words occurring less then 30 times. GNTRE follows suit, but also includes parsing. I have found this to be quite helpful in determining irregular forms of words I am not familiar with. Also, GNTRE footnotes and parses verbs occurring more than 30 if the textual form is irregular. This can helpful or hurtful depending on one's level of discipline for continuing to study morphology. The format of GNTRE footnotes is also superior to RGNT. RGNT lists the glosses in a running paragraph form which can sometimes make finding the corresponding note quickly difficult. GNTRE lists glosses in a two column format which is much easier for eye movement on the page (For visual comparisons see the Nick Norelli's aforementioned review). While incorporating these changes (a new easier to read, bigger font and listing glosses and parsing in column form) may increase the thickness of a future edition of RGNT, the difference would not be substantial and any small addition of weight or thickness would be welcome for an increase in reading ability.
For my personal use, I do not carry a GNT with me in book form, as I use Accordance on computer in class or when out of the house. I do make an exception for Sunday Worship as bringing my Mac to church would not be the best option. Therefore, the size advantage of RGNT over GNTRE does not effect me much. I will continue to use GNTRE as my main reading text at home for my daily readings from the GNT. I will take RGNT to my office at church to use when I have available time to read there. However, if Zondervan was to improve some of the previously mentioned short comings of RGNT in a future 3rd edition, I could certainly be persuaded to switch. However, students should not dismiss the RGNT as it is nearly $50 less to purchase than GNTRE. I was lucky enough to receive GNTRE as a gift from a friend, otherwise I would not have been able to afford its hefty price tag ($80 list, $44 on Amazon).
 Excellent reader August 18, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the perfect tool for reading the Greek New Testament for the average student who want to avoid interlinear and lexicons.
A good option if you can't afford the UBS RGNT August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought the first edition several years ago, before the UBS Reader's Greek New Testament became available. I really loved it at first. I used to use my UBS4 and Kubo's Reader's Lexicon. This puts it all in one volume that's easy to carry with you. It's not for academic use or even sermon prep, but is great for just reading -- whether you're a student learning or whether you want it for devotional use. It's a great tool to build and maintain your ability with New Testament Greek.
This second edition is better in the sense that it does include a glossary in the back, but other than that the typeface is still lame. The First edition was crummy, but this edition is no improvement -- just a different kind of crummy. Neither edition uses the UBS/N-A standard Greek text. It's not a big deal in the sense that this was never intended for academic study, but it really would be nice had they been able to include the standard text.
For the money this is great -- in fact for the money I'd give it 4.5 stars -- but you're much better off, assuming it's within your budget, applying the price of this volume to the UBS Reader's edition. There's no comparison between the two.
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