Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 02:1 (Fall 1997)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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DBSJ 2 (Fall 1997) p. 135

Book Reviews

Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, by Daniel B. Wallace. Zondervan, 1996. 797 pp. $39.95.

For a number of years, many of us teachers of second-year Greek complained about the need for a new textbook. The old standard, Dana and Mantey, was not wearing well. Among other things, many of its examples are either questionable or outright wrong. I gave up on it fifteen years ago, switching to Vaughan and Gideon. The latter had the advantage of integrating grammar with selected readings of the NT; however, it was weak on the grammar side and thus had to be supplemented with handouts. A few years ago (1994) we were treated to Richard Young’s Intermediate New Testament Greek: A Linguistic and Exegetical Approach. Though this book has many commendable qualities, its strong emphasis on linguistics and discourse analysis has not gained for it a wide following among us more traditionalists. More recently (1995) Wesley Perschbacher has produced New Testament Greek Syntax: An Illustrated Manual. The subtitle tells it all; this volume has many illustrations of syntactical categories but hardly any grammatical explanations—sort of a thicker Brooks and Winbery. Now comes Dan Wallace’s new grammar. Its unusual name, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (GGBB), is apparently the work of the publisher, who obviously wishes to market it as the appropriate text for further study once the student graduates from Bill Mounce’s beginning grammar, Basics of Biblical Greek, also published by Zondervan. However, Wallace’s work is more aptly described by the subtitle, An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament.

Many Greek teachers were already familiar with portions of this book. Its history goes back over a period of almost twenty years when Wallace was producing syntax notes while teaching at Dallas Theological Seminary and, for a short time, at Grace Theological Seminary. These notes grew to hundreds of pages, and, finally, to this published grammar. Because many of us were well aware of the quality of these notes, we were eagerly awaiting the day of publication, and, to be perfectly candid, we have not been disappointed. Certainly, there are minor complaints with GGBB, which I shall speak to shortly, but, overall, Wallace has given us the most important grammar to appear in years.

One reason for the importance of GGBB is the overall quality of the

DBSJ 2 (Fall 1997) p. 136

work. Wallace has been a dedicated student of Greek grammar for many years and has grappled with syntactical issues as much as, if not more than, anyone in recent years. The results are readily evident. In GGBB we not only find superior explanations ...

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