Beyond the Basics
I first encountered this work in an earlier unpublished version while a student at Dallas Theological Seminary in the early 1990s. At the time it was part of the syllabus for third semester Greek students. I still have my old copy which was titled New Testament Greek Syntax Notes and is dated "Fall 1991." I referred to those syllabus notes repeatedly over the years because in my opinion, their clarity and helpfulness were unsurpassed by anything that was in print at the time. For that reason, I was very pleased several years ago when I heard that Dr. Wallace's syllabus notes were going to be published in an expanded form by Zondervan. The result is outstanding.
In my opinion, Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics is, along with reference works such as the third edition of the Walter Bauer Greek-English lexicon, an indispensable tool for those doing exegetical work. It assumes a working knowledge of the basics of biblical Greek, but it does not assume much more. It is the most up-to-date, in-depth, and accurate work of its kind in print, and it is user friendly. It is well outlined, well indexed, and it provides a wealth of examples from the Greek text of the New Testament itself.
The majority of the book is devoted to syntax proper. This major section is divided into two subsections: "Syntax of Words and Phrases" and "Syntax of Clauses." The subsection "Syntax of Words and Phrases" is divided into two major parts: "Syntax of Nouns and Nominals" and "Syntax of Verbs and Verbals." In Part I, under the discussion of nouns and nominals, Wallace discusses the various cases (i.e. the nominative, vocative, genitive, dative, and accusative), the article, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions. In Part II, under the discussion of verbs and verbals, he discusses person, number, the voices (i.e. active, middle, and passive), the moods (i.e. indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative), the tenses (i.e. present, imperfect, aorist, future, perfect, and pluperfect), the infinitive, and the participle. The subsection "Syntax of Clauses" includes discussions of conjunctions, conditional sentences, and volitional clauses. Wallace also includes a very helpful section entitled "Syntax Summaries," which essentially summarizes the main points of the book.
For those who have completed an introductory course in biblical Greek, I would highly recommend Wallace's intermediate level book. Those who carefully work through it will be much more prepared to avoid the kinds of common exegetical errors that are made by those who have only been introduced to the language. Daniel Wallace is to be commended for providing such a helpful tool to the public. |
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