GREEK FOR LIFE

Strategies for Learning, Retaining, and Reviving

New Testament Greek

Benjamin L. Merkle and Robert L. Plummer

Foreword by William D. Mounce

BakerAcademic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2017 by Benjamin L. Merkle and Robert L. Plummer

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Merkle, Benjamin L., 1971– author. | Plummer, Robert L. (Robert Lewis), 1971– author. | Mounce, William D., writer of supplementary content.

Title: Greek for life : strategies for learning, retaining, and reviving New Testament Greek / Benjamin L. Merkle and Robert L. Plummer ; foreword by William D. Mounce.

Description: Grand Rapids, MI : Baker Academic, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017005296 | ISBN 9780801093203 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Greek language, Biblical—Grammar. | Bible. New Testament—Language, style.

Classification: LCC PA817 .M46 2017 | DDC 487/.4—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017005296

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

CONTENTS

Foreword by William D. Mounce

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Keep the End in Sight

2. Go to the Ant, You Sluggard

3. Review, Review, Review

4. Use Your Memory Effectively

5. Use Greek Daily

6. Use Resources Wisely

7. Don’t Waste Your Breaks

8. How to Get It Back

Name Index

Scripture Index

Subject Index

FOREWORD

The goal of every pastor should be to preach “Thus saith the Lord,” though perhaps saying it in modern English. The goal should be to know the text so well, including its biblical and cultural contexts, and to know our own context so well that when we speak, we speak the words of God.

This was always my goal in preaching, and I was fortunate enough to be in a ministry situation that allowed time to study. Of course, on some Sunday mornings I had to correct something I’d said the previous week, but nevertheless I did my homework and was able to preach with confidence. I don’t believe this would have been possible without a competent knowledge of Greek. I am thankful for our English Bible translations, and if a diligent person studies from two of them, the meaning of the biblical text is almost always clear. But more is required of the preacher. Your people trust and look up to you, whether you deserve it or not. You are responsible before God to do the best you can, for God deserves nothing ...

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About Greek for Life: Strategies for Learning, Retaining, and Reviving New Testament Greek

Learning Greek is one thing. Retaining it and using it in preaching, teaching, and ministry is another. In this volume, two master teachers with nearly forty years of combined teaching experience inspire readers to learn, retain, and use Greek for ministry, setting them on a lifelong journey of reading and loving the Greek New Testament.

Designed to accompany a beginning or intermediate Greek grammar, this book offers practical guidance, inspiration, and motivation; presents methods not usually covered in other textbooks; and surveys helpful resources for recovering Greek after a long period of disuse. It also includes devotional thoughts from the Greek New Testament. The book will benefit anyone who is taking (or has taken) a year of New Testament Greek.

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