Going Deeper with New Testament Greek: An Intermediate Study of the Grammar and Syntax of the New Testament. Andreas J. Kostenberger, Benjamin L. Merkle, and Robert L. Plummer. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2016. 550 pp. Hardcover, $49.99.

This intermediate grammar, designed for the seminary classroom (though it would also be a great book for anyone who has been through first year Greek, even if studying on his own) is much more readable than most intermediate grammars.

For example, Chap. 1 is a fascinating and easy-to-follow account of the Greek language over time and of textual criticism (comparing Greek manuscripts of the NT to determine what the correct text is of every verse). While it is unfortunate that when the authors list critical editions of the Greek NT (GNT), they fail to mention any Majority Text editions. Of course, by the definition rooted in Westcott and Hort, the Majority Text cannot be a critical edition, no matter how carefully and accurately the edition is prepared.

The discussion of the canons of textual criticism shows some of the inherent subjectivity of the eclectic approach advocated by the authors. The shorter reading is to be preferred over the longer reading. But the harder reading is to be preferred over the easier reading. If the longer reading is the harder reading, the canons cancel each other out. The reading most consistent with the immediate context is to be preferred. However, that clashes with the canon which says that the harder reading is to be preferred. I ultimately adopted the Majority Text view because it is a view which has little subjectivity (and which expects that the Lord preserved His Word in the majority of manuscripts).

Chapters 2-4 deal with the five cases of the noun in the GNT: nominative, vocative, accusative (Chap. 2), genitive (Chap. 3), and dative (Chap. 4). They do discuss, in Chap. 2, however, the eight-case system, which has two types of genitives (genitive [description], and ablative [separation]) and three types of datives (dative [interest], locative [location], and instrumental [means], p. 51).

These chapters are very readable. The authors give the major category and then name and illustrate from the GNT various uses. The nominative, for example, can be used as the subject of a verb, a predicate nominative (with the “to be” verb, as in “You are the light of the world,” Matt 5:14, in which you is the subject and the light is the predicate nominative, p. 55), apposition (a second noun further explains the subject, as in “Andrew, brother of Simon Peter,” John 1:40, in which Andrew is the subject and brother is appositional), address (e.g., Son of David, O God), appellation (e.g., “Teacher and Lord,” John 13:13), and absolute (e.g., “Simon Peter, a slave an apostle of Jesus Christ,” 2 Pet 1:1).

Each chapter ends with a summary of the various uses of the noun discussed and vocabulary lists, one to memorize and one to recognize. This is very helpful as well.

Chapter 5 deals with the article and adjective. Six begins a discussion of verbs, person and number, voice, (active, middle, and passive), mood (indicative, subjunctive, optative, and imperative), tense and aspect. Seven looks more closely at verb tense, and verbal aspect. Eight looks at present, imperfect, and future indicatives.

The authors are clear that “time is relevant only in the indicative mood” (p. 213), a point missed by many exegetes. They also helpfully point out that “aspect has to do with how the author/speaker views or portrays the actions” and that “aspect seems to be the more dominant or primary force [than time] of the verb’s tense” (p. 213).

I appreciated in Chap. 9 their discussion of the misunderstanding and abuse of the aorist tense (e.g., see p. 289). Too many preachers say that a given verb is in the aorist tense and hence it refers to punctiliar (once-for-all) action, when, in fact, the aorist merely presents “the action in its entirety or as a whole” (p. 289). Constative aorists look at the action as a whole (pp. 290-91). Inceptive aorists “emphasize the beginning of a state” (p. 291). So, for example, they translate John 11:35 as “Jesus began to weep” (p. 291), or “Jesus burst into tears” (p. 292), not “Jesus wept.” Culminative aorists “emphasize the cessation of an action or state” (p. 292), as “I have learned to be content…” (Phil 4:11). The gnomic aorist “is used to communicate a timeless or universal truth” (p. 293). The epistolary aorist is used where an author says “I have written to you” (Gal 6:11), when in fact he is referring to what he is currently writing. But by the time readers receive it, “I have written to you” is appropriate (p. 294). Sometimes, however, the epistolary aorist is simply translated like a present often is, as in, “I am sending [Tychicus] to you” (Eph 6:22, p. 295). A futuristic aorist “is used to describe events that have not yet taken place (i.e., future) as if they had already occurred” (p. 295, see John 15:8, “My Father will be glorified by this”). Finally, a dramatic aorist “refers to an event that recently occurred and that has present consequences”; “My daughter has just died” (Matt 9:18, p. 296).

Chapter 9 also includes excellent discussion of the perfect and pluperfect tenses in the indicative.

Participles, a vast topic, are considered in Chap. 10. “Participles…can serve as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or verbs” (p. 319). The authors do an excellent job explaining and illustrating the various uses of participles in the GNT. They summarize with a helpful chart which, among other things, describes the fourteen different types of verbal participles.

Chapter 11 covers infinitives (verbs with “to” before them in English, as in to lie, to cheat, to steal, or to hit). The GNT uses infinitives in many different ways, and the authors explain and illustrate these clearly and in an easy to follow manner.

The main analysis ends with Chap. 12, “Pronouns, Conjunctions, Adverbs, and Particles.” The final chapters consider “Sentences, Diagramming & Discourse Analysis” (Chap. 13); “Word Studies” (Chap. 14, which I enjoyed, but I felt that much more should have been said about “Consider the Same Biblical Author’s Other Uses of the Word,” p. 485, just three short sentences, just forty-two words); and “Continuing with Greek” (Chap. 15, a super and oft neglected subject, getting students to play to keep on using their Greek for the rest of their lives).

I really like this book and recommend it for all who have at least a working knowledge of koine Greek.

Robert N. Wilkin
Associate Editor
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Corinth, TX