2. A comparison of Greek lexicons

Greek Lexicons

The dictionary in the back of Strong’s concordance is old and inadequate. There have been two major developments since Strong that have greatly improved our understanding of Greek word meanings:

1) In the early 1900s, thousands of Greek papyri, written in everyday Greek, were discovered in Egypt. Scholars had known that biblical Greek was different from that used in classical Greek literature, and had hypothesized that biblical Greek was a specialized form used only for Scripture. But the papyri show that New Testament documents were written in the Greek commonly used in the first century – now called Koine (meaning common) Greek. The papyri give us examples of how the words were used in the first century.

2) Our understanding of how language works has improved, of how a word can have different meanings in different contexts, of how words can sometimes have similar meanings (synonyms) and sometimes completely different meanings. People use words in creative ways, in idioms and figures of speech. Our experience with computerized translations from one modern language to another shows that we cannot make a completely accurate or precise translation

Where can we find definitions of Greek words that take these developments into account? We need a lexicon,[1] and there are a number of good ones available. (Few are free, and Amazon does not let you look inside most of them.) I will discuss Greek lexicons here, and show some images from inside the books so you can get a feel for how they are written and the extent of the discussion. Which book is best for you? That depends partly on your ability to use Greek.

[1] In biblical studies, the word “dictionary” usually refers to an encyclopedia, with long articles about various topics. For example, the six-volume Anchor Bible Dictionary does a lot more than define words.

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1) Frederick William Danker, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000; translation and substantial revision of a German work). Often referred to as BDAG, an acronym based on the authors Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich. List price, $175.[1] (Ouch!) This is the most academically respected lexicon. Numerous examples are cited from Scripture and other ancient literature, but they are often difficult to read due to the numerous abbreviations. You must know some Greek in order to use this lexicon!

As an example, we show below the entry for one of the Greek words for “time”: chronos. Three definitions are given in boldface, followed by examples of how the word is used with those meanings in various contexts. Danker is not always right, but he sets the standard, and those who disagree need to provide some rationale for doing so.

[1] Price is provided only as an estimate. The exact price is always changing, and I don’t need to keep updating the moving target. Prices for used books can be significantly less, especially when a lot of people decide that the book isn’t worth keeping. In this case, a used copy of BDAG costs about as much as a new one – people are not getting rid of this book.

2) Danker later created The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009). About $63. Similar definitions, but not many examples from other literature. A fourth the size and a third the price. Most libraries get the bigger book, so they don’t need this one. Here’s the entry for the other Greek word for time, kairos:

3) Johannes Louw and Eugene Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains 2 volumes. (United Bible Societies, 1999). Currently $110 for both volumes. Based on modern work in linguistics, and designed for translators working with languages that have no Bible.

You don’t have to know Greek to use this work, because it is indexed by English words, and the Greek words are numbered with a unique system. Words are not discussed alphabetically, but by grouping words of similar meaning together. This often makes it easier to compare one word with another, but it also means that the same Greek word may be treated in several places, because it has several meanings. The definitions are easy to understand, designed to help translators working in developing nations.

Below is an example. Category 67.1 includes both the word chronos and the word kairos. That is, they are sometimes synonyms. Both words have other lexical entries as well, for when they are not synonyms. Note the comments for translators, which can help us as well.

4) Colin Brown, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 3 volumes. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975-78, based on a German work finished in the early 1970s). Index available separately. This is arranged by English topics, with several Greek words discussed for each topic. For each word, there is a discussion of how the word is used in classical literature, in the Old Testament, and the New Testament. It is out of print, replaced by 1) its abridgment (see #5 below) and 2) a new edition: Moisés Silva, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis; 5 volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014); list price $250 but new copies are available for $195.

5) Verlyn Verbrugge, ed., The NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000). Out of print; good used copy for $30. A one-volume abridgment and rearrangement of New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Entries are arranged by Greek word, in Greek alphabetical order, and there is an English index, a Scripture index, and a numbering system. As in the full-length original, there are discussions of classical use, OT and NT. There are cross references to synonyms. Here is the first page of a three-page article:

6) Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1990-1993; translation of a German work done in 1981). Three volumes, $175. The article on kairos is three pages long; we show here one column of the first page. The focus throughout the article is on the New Testament, section by section.

7) Spiros Zodhiates, Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1991). About $37. In this example, Zodhiates briefly describes the difference between chronos and kairos – one is quantitative, the other qualitative. He does not acknowledge that they are sometimes synonyms. This is a useful book, although there may be some theological bias in it. Strong’s numbers and transliterations make the book easier to use.

8) William Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006). About $32. This book is easy to use because it is alphabetized by English word. After that, Hebrew and Greek words are given, with Strong’s numbers. More space is given to theologically significant words, but since it covers both Hebrew and Greek, space is limited. Shown here is page 2 of the article on “Time.” Below is one of the Hebrew words for time, then aiōn, kairos, and chronos.

9) William Mounce and Robert Mounce, Zondervan Greek and English Interlinear (NASB/NIV) (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011). About $45. This includes not only the NASB and the NIV, but also a literal translation showing what English words correspond to the Greek text. See a later lecture for comments about an interlinear Bible. There is a dictionary in the back (I suspect that the same dictionary is in Mounce’s Reverse Interlinear); the dictionary is available free at https://billmounce.com/greek-dictionary (some of the definitions are old, and some are new). Greek words are linked to the Goodrick-Kohlenberger numbering system (which seems to be unique to Zondervan), and Strong’s numbers. Below is a sample entry:

10) Stephen D. Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. 2nd ed. Hendrickson, 2010. 1171 pages. About $17. Here is part of his article on time, a screenshot from the 2005 edition on Amazon.

11) Lawrence O. Richards, Zondervan Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (Zondervan, 1985). This appears to be the same as New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words. About $18. Here’s what he says about time. Note the concluding devotional thoughts:

Less useful for various reasons:

12) Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, translated by Geoffrey Bromiley. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. 10 volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-1976). List price $700, but often discounted to $150 because it has been superseded by more recent works. It is a massive resource, mostly a translation of work done in Germany, some of it before World War II. The early volumes were done with little understanding of linguistics, although it is still a useful resource of information for detailed study. TDNT covers classical Greek, the Old Testament, intertestamental Judaism, Gnosticism, the New Testament, and the early church literature, so there’s a large amount of information. Despite the length, not all Greek words are included. There is also a one-volume abridgement, which is described next. For professional word study, this should be consulted, with allowance given for its age.

13) Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985). About $80. In this one-volume abridgment, the article on chronos is 2½ pages long. Greek words are transliterated, and there is an English index in the front. Perhaps I should have listed this book earlier, as one of the better resources for in-depth study, even though it is based on old research. If you are doing exegetical work and want to argue for a meaning different than most translations or commentaries have, you need to consult some of these multi-volume works 1) in order to understand why the majority made the choice they did, and 2) to know what you are arguing against. This would be a good place to start. See sample below.

14) Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament. 3 volumes. (Hendrickson, 1993; translation of a French work done in 1978). About $36. Not all words are included – neither of the words for “time” are. I am not familiar with this book, but have heard that that it is idiosyncratic. Here is one page:

15) George Liddell, Robert Scott, and Henry Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon. 9th edition. Oxford University Press, 1925. Supplement, 1996. $135. This massive book is not good for biblical studies, because it covers classical Greek rather than focusing on biblical Greek. Thus it invites people to read obsolete meanings into the Bible. It also includes some patristic Greek. A high level of linguistic expertise is needed. Several abridgments are available, but none of them are especially useful for our purposes.

16) Franco Montanari, translated and edited by Madeleine Goh, Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (Leiden, Belgium: Brill, 2015). $121. Like Liddell, Scott, & Jones, this dictionary covers classical Greek as well as biblical and patristic Greek. Good for its purpose, but not for ours

17) Johannes Lust and Erik Eynikel, Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Revised edition. Originally United Bible Societies, now Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. About $103. Although New Testament word meanings are often influenced by the Septuagint, this work is best left to more specialized studies. Septuagintal meanings have already been studied, and the best insights have already been incorporated into the better lexicons.

18) Takamitsu Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Nouvain, Belgium: Peeters, 2009). $102. See comments on #17.

19) Darrell Bock, ed. The Bible Knowledge Key Word Study: The Gospels. Cook Communications, 2005. 432 pages. $5. Acts-Ephesians. David C. Cook, 2006. 512 pages. $18. Preview of the latter on Google Books. See sample page from Romans below. It does not discuss all words, but does point out some interesting ones.

20) Ralph Earle, Word Meanings in the New Testament (Baker, 1997, but it’s a one-volume version of work done 1974-1984. Like Bock, it comments on words as they appear in the biblical text, but Earle comments on words in only half of the verses. Here is the beginning of Acts:

21) William E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. 1939. Several inexpensive editions are available. Some editions have been updated by various editors or publishers, often with Strong’s numbers, but it’s hard to know how much of the text has been updated. It was a great book in its day, but you can’t be sure about its validity now. Still, if it’s all you have, it’s better than Strong’s! Free versions are available on the internet. See below:

22) George Ricker Berry, New Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament: Supplemented by a Chapter Elucidating the Synonyms of the New Testament with a Complete Index to the Synonyms (Hinds & Noble, 1897). 275 pages. Too old.

23) I saved the oldest for last: Joseph Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Originally published in 1890, it is now published with Strong’s numbers by Hendrickson. The copyright has expired, so cheap copies are available, and it’s free on the internet. The image shows the original version. Not exactly easy to read. After this work was published, our understanding of Koine Greek was greatly improved by the study of thousands of secular papyri. Much of the information in Thayer is still accurate, but if all a reader does is to look at Thayer, there’s no way to know which definitions are still good, and which are now known to be incomplete or faulty. Since Thayer did not have a lot of comparative literature to consult, he gave too much weight to the words’ origins.

The best reference books are expensive. If even used copies are expensive, you know that people value the information. If you are afraid of Greek, one of the expository dictionaries may be your best option. If you are willing to decipher the Greek, number 2 or 3 might be best.

Comment on other “lexicons”: An “analytical lexicon” does not define words – it tells you the grammatical details of inflected words: number and case for nouns, tense and number, etc. for verbs. A “reader’s lexicon” is organized verse by verse through the New Testament canon. It skips the most common words, but will give you inflection information and a one-word definition for many of the less common words. This is good if you know a moderate amount of Greek.