A Reader's Greek New Testament, 2nd Edition: Hands On Review
11/29/2007 03:18 Filed in: Faith & Reason
What No One Wants to Talk About
There's a dirty little secret among ministers throughout Christendom: most of them have let their biblical languages slide after graduating seminary. It's sadly understandable, I suppose. Learning a language is hard enough, but maintaining that language takes time and discipline. It's not that ministers are undisciplined (well, maybe some are), but when they get out of school and into the "real world" of ministry, they find new obligations and demands upon their time. Reading the Bible in Greek or Hebrew is replaced with an occasional word study to get at the "meaning" behind key biblical words.
That's where a book like A Reader's Greek New Testament (from this point forward, simply RGNT for the general work and RGNT1 and RGNT2 for the respective editions) can help fill the gap. I'm told there are 5,347 distinct words in the Greek New Testament. The average student taking elementary Greek will only learn a little over 300 vocabulary words in that first course. This accounts for roughly all words that occur in the Greek NT 50 times or more, or approximately 80% or so of words occurring in the NT. A second course related to syntax and exegesis will increase the number of learned vocabulary falling somewhere between 30 and 10 occurrences. The key feature of A Reader's Greek New Testament is the vocabulary apparatus at the bottom of the biblical text which gives definitions for all Greek words occurring 30 times or fewer.
This is a handier tool than one might at first realize. You see, there's another dirty little secret, and this one is among even the most trained academics and theologians: very few scholars ever memorize all 5,347 words. I've sat under quite a few professors in my time, some of whom are quite well known in the world of biblical studies. However, I could probably count on one hand the number of individuals I've known who could "cold read" any passage in the NT and do so well. I admit that years ago I tested this out on more than one occasion on more than one professor. I began to pick up on the fact that when we had a focal passage for study for a day, a professor could read from the Greek quite smoothly. But as soon as a question was asked about another passage, stumbling and stuttering began as an attempt was made to read the unplanned text. Again, I can count on one hand the individuals I've known who seemed to be able to smoothly read aloud any passage from the NT without advanced preparation.
I won't be a hypocrite. I admit up front that I don't have all 5,347 words memorized either. It's a worthy goal, but I haven't reached it, and frankly at the moment I'm not even attempting to. At some point way back, I worked my way through one of those boxes of 1,000 Greek vocabulary cards. Those boxes will get the Greek student down to about all words that occur 10 times or more. I use my Greek almost daily, but I haven't reviewed all 1,000 vocabulary cards in a long time. If I had to guess, I would assume that as of this moment, my current mastery of Greek words falls somewhere below that 30x mark and above that 10x mark.
The Value of the RGNT
I picked up the first edition of the RGNT based mostly on the sheer novelty of the fact that it represented a different Greek text than the "Standard Edition"; that is, the Greek text underlying the NIV Bible (more about that in a moment). But the more I used it, the more I saw the value of what it was designed for: the RGNT allowed me to read the NT in Greek without having to constantly look up words that I didn't know the definition of off the top of my head. They were simply defined at the bottom of the page. Of course, there's value in consulting the lexicons for more in-depth treatment, but I would suggest that very few non-specialists who learn Greek (or at least take Greek classes) ever really read Greek. Instead, they simply muddle their way through. I've been there myself, and it's taken quite a bit of study to proceed further. But the RGNT will help anyone with a basic foundation in Greek studies actually read the NT in its original language.
Although for years I'd carried with me one of those "standard" Greek texts (first the UBS 3rd edition, and later the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland text), I found myself picking up the RGNT more and more after I bought it. I especially grabbed it for non-academic purposes such as church use. I found that when teaching a Bible study, if I was asked a question that required consulting the Greek text (which happens now and then), I was able to stumble around less on those cold readings if I had the RGNT. So I would imagine that over the last couple of years, when carrying a Greek NT with me, the RGNT has been my choice at least 50% of the time.
The value of the RGNT is fairly universal. Certainly, it's a great tool for the person in ministry, who's out of school, but wants to continue using his or her Greek skills. It allows a pastor to realistically work in actual Greek for exegesis when preparing a sermon because less time is involved. For the student who has recently begun studying Greek, it's a great way to stay in the Greek text and rely less on outside aids. Of course, I've warned folks that the average professor is probably not going to allow it for an exam. But even beyond new students and graduated students, the RGNT is an immensely practical resource for looking to the original languages first as opposed to a translation. Some might be tempted to call it a crutch, but I would contend that the more a person used the vocabulary apparatus at the bottom of the page, the less it would be used over time as new vocabulary was mastered.
The Underlying Text
It's very important that anyone considering the use or purchase of the RGNT know that text itself varies slightly from the accepted, so-called "Standard" eclectic Greek text. For those unfamiliar with this, the average Greek NT bought off the shelf today, whether a UBS 4th edition or a Nestle-Aland 27th edition, does not represent a single Greek manuscript, but is rather an amalgam of what is considered the best and most reliable readings from the manuscript evidence. But sometimes opposing variant readings have such strong evidence that scholars disagree over which variant represents the original. There are formal, but not always rigid rules for making such decisions and this process is known as textual criticism. Bible translators use these standard texts when creating or revising a translation of the Bible, but I suppose the third dirty little secret today is that every translation on the shelf contains some renderings in which the translation committee disagreed with the decision of those who put together the standard text. But until the first edition of the RGNT, it was difficult determining with any translation how many times a committee went rogue against the decisions in the standard text.
The first edition of the RGNT was released in 2003 containing a reverse-engineered Greek text reflecting the translation decisions found in the NIV Bible. So how many times did the NIV translators opt to go with variant readings? Evidently, the magic number is 231. Is that good, bad, on par with other translations? Who knows? This had never been done before (to my knowledge). The newly released second edition also features an underlying Greek text, but not for the NIV. Rather, the underlying Greek text of the RGNT2 is based upon its successor, the TNIV. Regular readers of This Lamp will correctly assume that I'm very pleased with this decision. I've been concerned in the past that Zondervan was still holding on too tightly to the NIV rather than giving deference to the newer and more accurate TNIV. Not only is this change of translations between editions forward-thinking, the RGNT2 represents one of the first reference work related to the original Greek associated with the TNIV, further legitimizing academic use of this translation.
But wait--there's more. One might expect the number of deviations in the Greek text underlying the TNIV to remain close in number to those in the NIV. Not so. Would you believe that the number of deviations from the standard text in the TNIV is 285? That means there is well over 50 separate instances in which the TNIV Committee on Bible Translation made decisions for readings that differed from their predecessors who worked on the NIV. Are these decisions good ones? Well, that will have to be examined, but at least now with RGNT2, we know where they are.
Further, this will settle some questions about the differences between the TNIV and NIV once and for all. For instance, a while back I wrote about the difference between the two translations in their rendering of Mark 1:41 (see here and here).
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Mark 1:41
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NIV
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TNIV
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| Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” | Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” |
At the time, I wrote to the International Bible Society hoping that my question about the extremely different rendering would be passed on to the TNIV CBT. However, and IBS intermediary answered the email himself and went to great length to defend a decision to translate σπλαγχνίζομαι/splagchnizomai (the underlying Greek word translated in the NIV as "filled with compassion") as indignant in the TNIV. It didn't make much sense to me then, and as I looked at the issue a bit more, I discovered that there was another variant to Mark 1:41 that included the word ὀργίζω/orgizō (be angry, be furious) instead of σπλαγχνίζομαι/splagchnizomai. Upon receiving the RGNT2 in the mail this week, one of the first things I looked up was Mark 1:41 and I was not all too surprised to see that the TNIV does in fact use the variant that contains ὀργίζω/orgizō. Originally, upon receiving the RGNT2, my plan was to sell the first edition. However, I now believe it would be valuable to hold on to both for just these kinds of comparisons.
Improvements in the 2nd Edition
In addition to updating the textual basis, a number of other improvements have been made in the RGNT2. I've complained before that I didn't care for the italic Greek font in the RGNT1. Most will be pleased to know that the text has been completely reset in a non-italic font. Unfortunately, I'm still not satisfied with the new font, but I'll speak more to that below.
The RGNT is known for including vocabulary words at that bottom of the page for all words that occur 30 times or fewer. But what if the reader forgets the definition of one of those words that occur more than 30 times? I'll never forget the time I was in a class about a decade ago and it was my turn to recite a text and I completely blanked on a very basic, frequently occurring word (ποιέω/poieo). Well the new RGNT2 includes a "mini-Lexicon" (it's actually called that) in the back that includes all those words occurring 30 times or more. It's a good way to review vocabulary as well. All definitions, like those in the apparatus with the text are taken from Warren Trenchard's Complete Vocabulary Guide to the New Testament. The mini-lexicon takes up only 6 pages, much fewer than I would have imagined.
Four color maps relating to the New Testament have been added. These maps will be recognizable to anyone who's bought a Zondervan Bible in recent years, but they are certainly a welcome addition. Old Testament quotations within the NT text are now referenced in a separate apparatus at the bottom of the page. This second apparatus also includes notations to differences in the standard NA/UBS Greek text as well as a few minimal textual notes such as "Later MSS Add... ." Again, no one is going to be able to do hardcore textual criticism with this New Testament, but the improvements in the RGNT2 help to make it a more complete package for most situations.
Like the previous edition, the new RGNT2 comes in an "Italian Duo-Tone" cover, which is a very leather-like imitation leather. Personally, I like the cover just like I did in the first edition. It feels immediately soft like a leather that has experienced a good amount of use already. I'm not sure any of us know what these new kinds of imitation leathers will look like in 20 years, but I'm not concerned. And I especially appreciate the lower cost (about $23 on Amazon.com).
What I found very interesting, though, is that contrary to early advertisements promoting a marker ribbon, no such item is included. In fact, as of this writing. the box cover image on both Amazon.com AND the Zondervan website (reflected at the top of this post) promises a marker ribbon. Evidently, the ribbon was cut at the last minute, but still done in time to update the box cover which now sports only two "Changes to Second Edition" in the copy on the front of the box (the new supposedly easier to read Greek font and the full-color maps).
I might also point out, too, that when I did my earlier "first look" (i.e not hands on) review of the RGNT2, I speculated based on released PDF files that this new edition might have wide margins. Sadly, it does not.
A Reader's Edition That's Difficult to Read
One of the supposed improvements in the second edition over the first edition of the RGNT is the new non-italic typeface (seen in actual size to the right). It's true, I've never liked italic Greek typefaces or saw the need for them. My first Greek New Testament years ago was a USB 3rd edition that had an italic, but readable typeface. However, I thought the 4th edition italic font was horrible and I've never used it. I have generally preferred instead to use a Nestle-Aland 27th edition Greek New Testament with non-italic type. I was never fond of the italic type in the RGNT1, but the work itself was so very practical that as described above, I've used it regularly over the last two or three years.
I was excited about the prospect of non-italic type in the RGNT2. Yet, when I saw the type of the main body text, I was astounded. I believe I said aloud, "My goodness, it's actually worse." The strokes that form the characters in this Greek font are so very thin that in my opinion, the second edition is even more difficult to read than the first. If you think about it, this completely contradicts the concept of a supposed "Reader's Edition" because what Zondervan has produced is a work that is difficult to read! I can only imagine that extended time spent with the RGNT2 would seriously make one's eyes ache.
And to illustrate the oddity of this thin Greek font, all I have to do is point to the English font in the introduction of the work. It looks like it is probably about a 10 point Times-based font. It's easy to read. But it's in stark contrast to the thin letters in the Greek text. And to add even further evidence to the impracticality of this font, I should point out that the compilers of the RGNT2 chose an entirely different and thicker (i.e. normal) font for the Greek in the mini-lexicon. If they had used the same Greek typeface in the main text that they had used in the lexicon, I would have no complaint.
I showed the new edition to one of my Greek students with the original edition for comparison. I waited for a reaction. He looked back and forth at the two editions and then he asked, "Wait a minute...is the new typeface smaller?" I'm not so sure it's smaller, but it's definitely thinner. In fact because of the new typeface that takes up less space, the second edition comes in at 11 pages shorter than the first edition--and that's including the mini-lexicon in the second edition!
I can only speculate that the desire to have so few pages comes from what I see as a preoccupation that Zondervan has with thinline Bibles. Personally I can't stand thinline Bibles because compromises have to be made to reach a smaller size and that usually means small, cramped type and pages that are way too thin. And, of course, think paper leads to text bleed-through from underlying pages. All three are true for the RGNT2, and all three make this edition even more difficult to use than the first.
I complained to Zondervan about the thinline format because of the sacrifices in the type and paper, but Zondervan's marketing shows that people really seem to prefer thinline Bibles. I'm sure they do. They are compact and easy to carry, but personally, I don't find them practical for regular/heavy use. If I were to make a publishing rule regarding such things, I'd say never produce thinline reference works.
Further, in regard to my complains about the type, I was told that at the recent SBL & ETS conferences, attendees were given the chance to compare the two editions:
"I can say this that the vast majority of those at the convention who looked at the two editions preferred the second edition's font over the first as being much easier to read. Even though the first edition was $5.00 cheaper than the second edition and we had lots of both editions at the conventions, we sold out of the second edition first at both conventions, and 'from my perch' I made sure that people looked at both fonts if they were unaware of the first edition."
My hunch is that people looking at the two simply prefer the non-italic type in the second edition over the italic type in the first, but time will tell. It's a different issue altogether when one is actually trying to use a work like this as opposed to simply looking at it in a conference booth.
I'm going to really attempt to use the second edition despite my initial misgivings. I didn't like the italic type of the original edition at first, but it grew on me. However, I don't know if that will be possible with a font that's simply difficult to read.
No Longer the Only Game in Town
About a year or so ago, I had a professor from a seminary extension contact me about the original RGNT. He was using it in his Greek classes, but he had heard that the United Bible Societies were going to sue Zondervan over their Reader's Edition in spite of the 231 places where it diverged from their text. He was so concerned about this, he had been buying up extra copies of the RGNT for his future students to buy from him. He wanted to know if I had heard about any of this. I had not heard about it, but I didn't believe at the time that any such lawsuit was be tenable in a court of law because the UBS text is made up of an arrangement of public domain ancient manuscripts. Later on I would find out that such an idea for a lawsuit had indeed been considered, but eventually abandoned because of the exact reason I suspected.
Nevertheless, there is a new UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition to compete with Zondervan's. Granted, it's $20 more expensive than Zondervan's (UBS prices are out of control in my opinion) even at discounters, but it may end up giving Zondervan's RGNT2 a run for it's money. I have not held one in my hand yet (when I do, I'll offer yet another review), but based on PDF's, I wonder if they haven't built a better mousetrap. My concerns about the typeface in Zondervan's RGNT don't look like they will be an issue in the UBS edition based on what I've seen. I would invite you to compare the PDF sample for the UBS Reader's Edition to the PDF sample for the Zondervan RGNT2 and let me know your thoughts. I should also point out that the UBS text is about 200 pages longer than the Zondervan version and it is definitely not a thinline.
Concluding Thoughts
Zondervan has developed a wonderful concept with its Reader's Greek New Testament which is aimed at allowing a person with at minimum basic Greek skills to simply read the New Testament in its original language without having to consult a full lexicon every few words. Most of the additions to the second edition are welcome and for the most part improves upon its predecessor. I especially like having the text that underlies the TNIV. Since I teach out of the TNIV at church, the RGNT2 would seemingly make for an excellent complementary resource. Unfortunately, the ghastly thin typeface in the second edition threatens to defeat the purpose of this being a reader's edition because it's simply difficult to read. If the new UBS Reader's Edition begins to cut into Zondervan's sales, I hope they will consider resetting the type as quickly as possible. Unfortunately such projects never take place quickly, and I wouldn't expect anything different from the current RGNT2 for at least three years or more.