English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek

Samuel Lamerson

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9780310255345
• eBook ISBN:
  9780310535850
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Ancient Languages

If you think that . . . • Aorist is a major artery of the heart • Clause is the surname of the fat guy in the red suit • Syntax is Uncle Sam’s slice of alcohol and tobacco sales . . . then you need English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek. It’s designed to help you get a quick brush-up on the English grammar you’ve either forgotten or never quite learned, in a way that ties directly to your first-year Greek studies. With chapters such as “You Ain’t Nothing but a Noun Dog” and “Inflection: Trouble Understanding Yoda You Have, Yes?” this colorful, entertaining book compares elements of English grammar with similar elements in Greek grammar. It can either be used as a one-week intensive study to prepare for Greek grammar, or be readily incorporated into actual Greek studies. English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek features: • A brief summary of the scope of English grammar • Short, easy-to-read chapters • An introductory devotion in every chapter • Lessons coordinated with Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek • Tips for vocabulary memorization and sentence diagramming • Glossary

1

NOUNS:

You Ain’t Nothing but a Noun Dog!

DEVOTIONAL

Mark 5:2–3 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.

We have a new resident at our house. He was a gift from the local humane society and his name is “Buddy.” Buddy is a large, beautiful golden retriever. The problem is that Buddy seems to have been mistreated by his former owner, which has led to certain eccentric behaviors. He has a great deal of difficulty going through doors (a very serious problem for a dog who needs to go outside); he walks around the house most of the time with all the grace of a pig on ice skates, his feet slipping and sliding with every step. Moreover, he is deathly afraid of thunderstorms—a fact that we discovered when we came home to find the cat door torn off its hinges and resting around Buddy’s neck like some sort of a square collar. In short, Buddy can be a nuisance, which is, I am sure, why his former owners gave him away.

The man in today’s Scripture reading is just such a nuisance. He doesn’t know how to act, he won’t wear his clothes, he breaks the chains whenever anyone tries to control him. If there was a “human dog pound,” he would be there. Instead, he lives by himself, out in the cemetery where no one cares about him. The amazing thing is that Jesus comes and changes everything. With a few words he delivers the man from the grasp of Satan and gives him his life back. The man puts his clothes back on and sits down, and his life is forever altered for the better.

We have kept Buddy, though I have often been tempted (and, yes, have even threatened) to take him back to the pound. I suppose the reason why I have not taken him back to the pound is because he needs us. And in truth we need him to remind us of what God has done for us. He has taken us into his family, and even though we are fearful and less than graceful, and we even break things, he still loves us.

The message of Christianity is that we all belong in the pound. But we have been adopted into the family of God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be thankful to God for the ultimate sacrifice of his son, Jesus.

INTRODUCTION

Science fiction author Ray Bradbury, when asked where he comes up with his ideas, refers to his “noun list.” He mak...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Nouns: You Ain’t Nothing But a Noun Dog!
• 2. Inflection: Trouble Understanding Yoda You Have, Yes? The Nature of Inflected Languages
• 3. The Article: The Rosetta Stone of the Greek Language, or the Article Is Your Friend, the Other One Is a Relative
• 4. Adjective: What Color Is an Adjective? The Carnival Talkers of the Greek World
• 5. Pronoun: A Noun That Has Lost Its Amateur Status
• 6. Verbs: Verbs Have Things to Do
• 7. Present: Keep Reading This: The Present Tense
• 8. Contraction: Contract Verbs Kill No One
• 9. Passive Verbs: They Don’t Just Sit There
• 10. Deponents: Verbs That Have a Memory Problem
• 11. Future: When Are You Going to Read This?
• 12. Verbs Again: Principal Parts and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• 13. Aorist: You Have Already Read This Chapter, Haven’t You?
• 14. Perfect: That Which Is Perfect Has Come (But It Is Not This Chapter)
• 15. Participles: The Fiji Mermaid of the Greek World, or Why Adverbial Participles Don’t Wear a Watch
• 16. Conditional Sentences: If I Were You, I Would Read This Chapter
• 17. Infinitives: To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before: The World’s Most Famous Split Infinitive
• 18. Imperatives: Read This Chapter! The Bosses of the Greek World
• Appendix 1: Glossary of Terms
• Appendix 2: Tips for Remembering Vocabulary
• Appendix 3: Sentence Diagramming for Greek Fun and Profit