Beginning with New Testament Greek: An Introductory Study of the Grammar and Syntax of the New Testament

Over the past couple decades, I have acquired a variety of Greek grammars, as I've worked on self-study of New Testament Greek. This grammar by Drs. Plummer and Merkle is by far the best one I've seen. It's accessible and well-written, it's a convenient size to carry around (but not too small), and the exercises are pedagogically sound, with answer keys in the back of the book. This last feature is particularly useful for self-taught students such as myself, and the publisher also offers a variety of excellent resources on their website. If you are looking to purchase one Greek grammar, I would highly recommend this one.

This book is absolutely wonderful for anyone looking to learn elementary Koine Greek. It takes what can be an intimidating subject and makes it very easy to understand. Merkle and Plummer not only explain the subject in an understandable and memorable way but this book is also almost pastoral for the reader with each chapter starting with a brief explanation and biblical example of why each lesson is significant in the life of a Christian. Also, one of the things I appreciate most about this book is the fact that every translation exercise is from the New Testament. No awkward sentences for transition anywhere. It really helps the student feel like they're starting to learn the New Testament in its original language. I'm very grateful for this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to start learning Greek. 10/10 100% A+

I bought BNTG grammar as a supplement to my text in a course of Beginning Greek. Since I just started, I can only comment on the first section, which is amazing. The explanations of the material were extremely helpful, and provided additional information compliment and amplified the information from the course textbook that helped me learn several of the important concepts being taught. I also took advantage of the digital resources that are available, and found them to be helpful as well. I expect to benefit greatly from this book throughout my studies.

I took this class for an intensive this summer and was very impressed with how straightforward the material was. Check out beginninggreek.com for helpful resources such as flashcards and memory tools to aid the chapters. Enjoy learning Greek!

This book has it all! It has video lessons found on the website, answer key to the homework you can print off if so you don’t write in the book Vocabulary you can print off. The price is a YES considering you get everything. The main reason I went with this one is the video lessons I can follow along with and answer key. Also there’s an awesome app daily Greek and bible Vocab to help memorize Greek words.

Dr. Plummer has created an excellent Greek Grammar that is accessible and effective! I highly recommend this work for those wishing to learn New Testament Greek!

Excellent grammar, well organized

As a teacher of NT Greek, I have found that students are benefited most by a pedagogy that is "essentialist" yet without sacrificing newer research that informs them of modern consensus. Merkle and Plummer's BNTG grammar successfully achieves that balance. Here's how: Its size and discussions make it very accessible (at just over 300 pp of lessons, it's far from overwhelming); it focuses on the actual GNT immediately with examples and exercises (students are exposed to the actual Greek of the NT starting with chap 1); it covers all the rudimentary basics (essentials!) with workbook-type student exercises provided (thus no need for an extra workbook); each chapter provides a brief discussion on the lesson's "significance" (thereby connecting the lesson's relevance directly to the GNT); it provides gentle introductions to modern scholarship pertaining to verbal aspect, deponency debates, diagramming, and elements of discourse analysis (thus modern scholarship on recent advances are represented). Moreover, the practice-exercises and provided answer keys--along with a wealth of student and professor resources available online that help learn/teach through the book--turns this resource into a one-stop shop of grammar / teaching aid. Finally, the book serves as a perfect prequel to B&H's Digging Deeper with NT Greek (perhaps the best intermediate grammar), so using both texts for courses provides smooth continuity for students learning the language. There of course remains a staple of wonderful grammars that continue to be helpful for 1st year Greek students (Mounce, Black, Summers/Sawyer, et al), but as a teacher and continual student of GNT, Merkle and Plummer's BNTG may be the most helpful of the lot, setting a new standard for 1st year Greek grammars.

Dr. Merkle and Dr. Plummer have thoughtfully and concisely written a clear and thorough introductory Greek grammar. For anyone seeking to read the New Testament in the original Greek and/or read the Septuagint, this would be my first and highest recommendation. I very highly recommend “Beginning with New Testament Greek” for these reasons: -it is clearly written and done so in great detail for the sake of students who have no prior Greek knowledge, even those lacking in vast knowledge of English grammar. -it is written with great commitment to the needs of the learner: explaining why particular grammatical rules are necessary for deep study of the Word of God, vocabulary lists that are subsequently used in the following chapter, practice exercises filled with the New Testament itself rather than author-designed, non-Scriptural sentences, and... -it explores, in a brief and helpful introductory fashion, topics like textual criticism, Greek language resources, the varied critical texts of the Greek New Testament, and other important introductory topics for Greek scholarship and study. More than all of this, however, is the great care Dr. Merkle and Dr. Plummer take to keep the reader focused toward the goal of knowing God more by reading His Word in its original form. Their love of God and love of His Word both stand as the foundational reason for writing an introductory Greek grammar, and that shows itself consistently in the way the text is written. Lastly, there are plenty of digital resources available to accompany the text, found at beginninggreek.com, and they are most especially helpful for learning Greek, and I’m sure helpful for teaching it just the same (as there are faculty/teacher resources available there for those teaching with the text, in addition to the resources for learners). Further than the digital resources, Dr. Merkle and Dr. Plummer have also written an incredibly valuable and short book entitled “Greek for Life” that I would highly recommend reading alongside the grammar. The purpose of “Greek for Life” is to help learners to constantly see the greater purpose of learning Greek, that is knowing God! (I used a pre-publication draft purchased through Southern Seminary for the semester immediately prior to the text’s release, i.e. Spring 2020, when I studied Elementary Greek under Dr. Plummer at Southern Seminary)

I used a pre-publication version in the class taught by Dr. Plummer. Instead of just a grammar, this book is an introduction to a vast number of tools and tips. The authors' primary goal is to get students reading the Greek New Testament. The program of the book accomplishes that. While working through this text, and memorizing the vocabulary words and paradigms assigned, the student builds their ability to read through most of the Greek texts of the gospels and the epistles of John. The accompanying resources on beginninggreek.com are all geared towards the same goal of you (the student) reading through the Greek New Testament.

Over the past couple decades, I have acquired a variety of Greek grammars, as I've worked on self-study of New Testament Greek. This grammar by Drs. Plummer and Merkle is by far the best one I've seen. It's accessible and well-written, it's a convenient size to carry around (but not too small), and the exercises are pedagogically sound, with answer keys in the back of the book. This last feature is particularly useful for self-taught students such as myself, and the publisher also offers a variety of excellent resources on their website. If you are looking to purchase one Greek grammar, I would highly recommend this one.

This book is absolutely wonderful for anyone looking to learn elementary Koine Greek. It takes what can be an intimidating subject and makes it very easy to understand. Merkle and Plummer not only explain the subject in an understandable and memorable way but this book is also almost pastoral for the reader with each chapter starting with a brief explanation and biblical example of why each lesson is significant in the life of a Christian. Also, one of the things I appreciate most about this book is the fact that every translation exercise is from the New Testament. No awkward sentences for transition anywhere. It really helps the student feel like they're starting to learn the New Testament in its original language. I'm very grateful for this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to start learning Greek. 10/10 100% A+

I bought BNTG grammar as a supplement to my text in a course of Beginning Greek. Since I just started, I can only comment on the first section, which is amazing. The explanations of the material were extremely helpful, and provided additional information compliment and amplified the information from the course textbook that helped me learn several of the important concepts being taught. I also took advantage of the digital resources that are available, and found them to be helpful as well. I expect to benefit greatly from this book throughout my studies.

I took this class for an intensive this summer and was very impressed with how straightforward the material was. Check out beginninggreek.com for helpful resources such as flashcards and memory tools to aid the chapters. Enjoy learning Greek!

This book has it all! It has video lessons found on the website, answer key to the homework you can print off if so you don’t write in the book Vocabulary you can print off. The price is a YES considering you get everything. The main reason I went with this one is the video lessons I can follow along with and answer key. Also there’s an awesome app daily Greek and bible Vocab to help memorize Greek words.

Dr. Plummer has created an excellent Greek Grammar that is accessible and effective! I highly recommend this work for those wishing to learn New Testament Greek!

Excellent grammar, well organized

As a teacher of NT Greek, I have found that students are benefited most by a pedagogy that is "essentialist" yet without sacrificing newer research that informs them of modern consensus. Merkle and Plummer's BNTG grammar successfully achieves that balance. Here's how: Its size and discussions make it very accessible (at just over 300 pp of lessons, it's far from overwhelming); it focuses on the actual GNT immediately with examples and exercises (students are exposed to the actual Greek of the NT starting with chap 1); it covers all the rudimentary basics (essentials!) with workbook-type student exercises provided (thus no need for an extra workbook); each chapter provides a brief discussion on the lesson's "significance" (thereby connecting the lesson's relevance directly to the GNT); it provides gentle introductions to modern scholarship pertaining to verbal aspect, deponency debates, diagramming, and elements of discourse analysis (thus modern scholarship on recent advances are represented). Moreover, the practice-exercises and provided answer keys--along with a wealth of student and professor resources available online that help learn/teach through the book--turns this resource into a one-stop shop of grammar / teaching aid. Finally, the book serves as a perfect prequel to B&H's Digging Deeper with NT Greek (perhaps the best intermediate grammar), so using both texts for courses provides smooth continuity for students learning the language. There of course remains a staple of wonderful grammars that continue to be helpful for 1st year Greek students (Mounce, Black, Summers/Sawyer, et al), but as a teacher and continual student of GNT, Merkle and Plummer's BNTG may be the most helpful of the lot, setting a new standard for 1st year Greek grammars.

Dr. Merkle and Dr. Plummer have thoughtfully and concisely written a clear and thorough introductory Greek grammar. For anyone seeking to read the New Testament in the original Greek and/or read the Septuagint, this would be my first and highest recommendation. I very highly recommend “Beginning with New Testament Greek” for these reasons: -it is clearly written and done so in great detail for the sake of students who have no prior Greek knowledge, even those lacking in vast knowledge of English grammar. -it is written with great commitment to the needs of the learner: explaining why particular grammatical rules are necessary for deep study of the Word of God, vocabulary lists that are subsequently used in the following chapter, practice exercises filled with the New Testament itself rather than author-designed, non-Scriptural sentences, and... -it explores, in a brief and helpful introductory fashion, topics like textual criticism, Greek language resources, the varied critical texts of the Greek New Testament, and other important introductory topics for Greek scholarship and study. More than all of this, however, is the great care Dr. Merkle and Dr. Plummer take to keep the reader focused toward the goal of knowing God more by reading His Word in its original form. Their love of God and love of His Word both stand as the foundational reason for writing an introductory Greek grammar, and that shows itself consistently in the way the text is written. Lastly, there are plenty of digital resources available to accompany the text, found at beginninggreek.com, and they are most especially helpful for learning Greek, and I’m sure helpful for teaching it just the same (as there are faculty/teacher resources available there for those teaching with the text, in addition to the resources for learners). Further than the digital resources, Dr. Merkle and Dr. Plummer have also written an incredibly valuable and short book entitled “Greek for Life” that I would highly recommend reading alongside the grammar. The purpose of “Greek for Life” is to help learners to constantly see the greater purpose of learning Greek, that is knowing God! (I used a pre-publication draft purchased through Southern Seminary for the semester immediately prior to the text’s release, i.e. Spring 2020, when I studied Elementary Greek under Dr. Plummer at Southern Seminary)

I used a pre-publication version in the class taught by Dr. Plummer. Instead of just a grammar, this book is an introduction to a vast number of tools and tips. The authors' primary goal is to get students reading the Greek New Testament. The program of the book accomplishes that. While working through this text, and memorizing the vocabulary words and paradigms assigned, the student builds their ability to read through most of the Greek texts of the gospels and the epistles of John. The accompanying resources on beginninggreek.com are all geared towards the same goal of you (the student) reading through the Greek New Testament.

I always assumed Greek textbooks would be technical and difficult to read. When I used this book for my first two semesters of Greek, I was shocked at the readability. Any one could pick it up, invest the time, and learn Greek. Merkle and Plummer give the learner enough information without being overwhelming, yet provide additional footnotes and resources for the serious student. My favorite part of the book was how early I was translating Greek from the biblical text (first couple of chapters). This gave me a level of excitement and confidence that what I was doing would pay off in being able to read God's Word in Greek, and it was edifying being continually immersed in Scripture! This is how learning Greek should be. Anyone could pick up this book, invest the time, learn biblical Greek, and spend time in Scripture during the process.

There is no reason that ordinary Christian cannot have N.T. Greek as part of their spiritual life. Read this book. Work the exercises, sign up for the free daily doses of Greek and in a year, you'll be reading the Bible in Greek. In two years, you'll be doing it close to fluently.