Elementary New Testament Greek

Reviewed by Nijay Gupta, Associate Professor of New Testament, Portland Seminary/George Fox University on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This textbook is designed for one intensive semester of study of New Testament Greek. It covers well all areas of nouns and the indicative mood of the verb in all tenses except the perfect tense. Because of the one-term design, the other moods/forms of verbs (e.g. participles and imperative) are not covered.

For students who want to understand the NT Greek system of communication overall, this textbook is successful - those wanting to learn all forms of Greek verbs will need to supplement this book.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I was very impressed with the overall accuracy of this book. Accuracy is a make-or-break issue with language textbooks, and I am very satisfied with the work done by Dongell, especially the strength of accuracy and clear explanation of issues such as verbal aspect.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Given that Greek study is always evolving, it is hard to measure the longevity, but I am confident that (given the comprehensiveness challenges mentioned above) it will serve one-term-only students well. This book, I imagine, will never become obsolete, but again it may require someone accompanying tools and information.

Clarity rating: 5

This is probably the area where this book shines. Dongell has a knack for clear and competent writing, eye-pleasing charts and formatting, and lots of helpful examples. Sometimes I wondered whether too much information was being put before the beginning student, but this is more of a teaching-strategy judgment call, rather than a clarity issue.

Consistency rating: 5

Again, a lot of work has gone into making this textbook an effective teaching tool, so it has been written and edited carefully to be consistent. I am very pleased in this area.

Modularity rating: 2

Modularity is a problem for any Greek textbook, so it does not concern me too much that this NT Greek book cannot really be divided and used in a different arrangement. It builds on the knowledge that came before it, it has to presuppose already-learned paradigms and vocabulary. There is no way around this for language, I am afraid.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Again, there is a measure of choice and preference from one instructor to the next on how to organize the teaching of a language and flow through the learning process. I did not find Dongell's approach problematic at all.

Interface rating: 4

The version of the book available right now is only PDF. I had no problems accessing or using the PDF. Charts were clear and it is nice to be able to download it and scroll through it easily.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There were no English OR Greek grammar problems in my examination. Of course, when it comes to language textbooks, small errors can creep in very easily - still, nothing problematic that I noticed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book is culturally sensitive and suitable for all communities of study.

Comments

Most Greek textbooks are written for a full year of study. Dongell's book is best suited for those courses that are limited to one term of study.