Biblical Greek: Which Grammar should I get?

Intermediate Grammars for Biblical Greek can be confusing. They’re all aimed at the same person and contain similar information, so what’s the difference? In this video, we’ll look at the difference between two grammars. Watch this video to find out which one I recommend.

You can get your own copy of each of these grammars below:
Mathewson and Emig, Intermediate Greek Grammar
Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics

[bma]

Which of these two grammars have you used and what do you like about it? If you've used both, which do you prefer?

[alexandersmith]

I appreciate the minimalist approach of Mathewson and Emig. Their explanation on participles is very helpful.

[davidbooth]

Both grammars are helpful. If I was teaching Intermediate Greek I would use Matthewson and push students toward actually reading a lot of the GNT. On the other hand, one of the ways that I learned Greek Grammar was simply by looking up the passages I was reading in Wallace's index and then reading those sections. I suspect that a lot of people actually learn grammar that way. So detailed indexes with lots of examples can be really helpful.

[shannoncockrell]

Can you do a video showing you reading directly from your Greek Bible? Or How to mark in your Bible?

[zondervangreek]

Dr. Darryl, do you have a video that makes the distinctions between INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED Greek Grammars? If not, could you make one and also provide a lengthy list of both?

[rabignall]

Love the Wallace book! Lots of info. Don't know about the other

[theoldpilgrimway]

Moises Silva in his 'Biblical Words and Their Meaning: Lexical Semantics' mentions that overly focusing on grammatical analysis often creates unnecessary interpretations that the author did not mean to speak to the audience... so for me, I would prefer the more simplified ones, and then focus more at the wider context of the book and of the whole Bible, or historical background to be my tool in helping me find more insights, rather than creating something the author did not mean to say. What do you think? :D

[BlackenedDrummer]

Wallace's grammar is quite good, but I agree that Wallace works a lot to stretch things into as many categories as possible. He also occasionally overloads his arguments with his own theological preferences.

[SilasAndTimothy]

I know that Wallace has an abridged version of his grammar called "Basics of new testament syntax", I don't own it though. Do you know whether that has the same strengths as Matthews on and Emig's?

[iankitchen]

Where would you place D.A. Black's "It's Still Greek to Me" and Merkle/Plummer's "Going Deeper with NT Greek" on the spectrum with these two in the video?

[jesusstudentbrett]

εὐχαριστῶ σοι Δαρηλ και συμφωνῶ σοι... μᾶλλον καὶ ῆττον.

[brettthaxton]

Hey Dr. Darryl, which Biblical Greek Grammar covers the Perfect Infinitive? I have Wallace's textbook which is magnificent but it does not cover the Perfect Infinitive. I know that they are rare in the Greek New Testament but it still helps to know how to translate them when they occur. All I know about them is to translate them as "To have [verb]ed past tense ending. Thank you for your help.

[TheologicalQuest]

Since "Beyond the Basics" is older, how is it with deponency and verbal aspect? How about "Deeper Greek" the revised version?

[joshuagreen]

I used Wallaces grammar in intermediate Greek and still use it for exegesis. I am wondering what your thoughts are on Plummers grammar?

[freshbreadloaves]

what about David Black's 'its still greek to me'?