We are doing Homeschool Greek Volume One. Can you recommend a Greek Lexicon?

Here is some basic information on Greek Lexicons.

1. SHORTER LEXICONS

The New Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament, George Ricker Berry (Reading, Penn.: Hinds & Noble, 1897, reprint edition) viii + 192 = 200 pages, 5.5 x 8.5, softbound. This is often reprinted with Berry’s Interlinear Greek-English New Testament. There are editions keyed to Strong’s numbers. It includes many New Testament Synonyms. [used book store 5.00 – 20.00]

Langensheidt Pocket Greek Dictionary: Greek-English, Karl Geyerabend (n.l.: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969) viii + 419 = 427 pages, 3.75 x 6, flexible plastic bound. Very brief lexical entries, but for a common classical as well as koine Greek vocabulary. [used book store 5.00 – 20.00]

Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Second Edition, F. Wilbur Gingrich, revised by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1983) xii + 221 = 233 pages, 5.5 x 8.5, hardbound. This is the digest version of the definitive A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker. [current retail 37.00]

Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament, W. J. Hickie (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1923) iv + 214 = 218 pages, 4 x 6, hardbound. A nice little lexicon. [used book store 5.00 – 20.00]

A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Barclay M. Newman, Jr. (London: United Bible Societies, 1971) iv + 203 = 207 pages, 5 x 7.5, flexible plastic bound. Exactly what it says – concise and handy. It includes irregular verb forms and maps. [current retail 20.00]

A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, Alexander Souter (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1916) viii + 290 = 298 pages, 4.75 x 6.75, hardbound. A little better at actually defining words than other shorter lexicons. [used book store 5.00 – 20.00]

Comment: All of these have their uses. The most comprehensive is the Gingrich & Danker. The smallest and handiest is the Newman.

2. INTERMEDIATE SIZED LEXICONS

A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, G. Abbott-Smith (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937, various reprints) xvi + 512 = 528 pages, 5.75 x 9, hardbound. This is older, but it is very useful. Entries include etymologies, Greek synonyms, and Hebrew words translated by the Greek word in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. [current retail 25.00]

A Lexicon Abridged from Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871) iv + 804 = 808 pages, 5.75 x 7.25, hardbound. For a general lexicon which goes beyond New Testament Greek, this is the best deal for your money. You can find it in old book stores. [current retail 35.00]

The Classic Greek Dictionary: Greek-English and English-Greek (Chicago: Follett Pub. Co., 1927) iv + 836 + 262 = 1,102 pages, 6.0 x 7.75, hardbound. This is the same as the Abridged Liddell and Scott above, but with an Appendix of Proper and Geographical Names by George Ricker Berry, and an English to Greek Lexicon added. You’ll only find this in an old book store.

An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, H. G. Liddell (New York: American Book Company, 1888) iv + 910 = 914 pages, 7.5 x 9, hardbound. Based upon the seventh edition of Liddell and Scott. It includes word usage, examples and characteristic phrases. I actually prefer the Abridged Liddell and Scott to this one. [current retail 40.00]

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2 volumes, Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988) xxvi + 844 + 14 + iv + 375 + 9 = 1,272 pages, 7 x 9.75, hardbound. This is useful for comparing synonyms in Greek, but it is not very useful as a lexicon. [current retail 60.00]

Comment: The Abbott-Smith focuses on the Greek of the New Testament, while the Abridged Liddell and Scott encompasses all of ancient Greek. If I could only afford one, I’d pick Abbott-Smith.

3. LARGE LEXICONS

A Greek_English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition, Walter Bauer, translated by William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, edited and revised by Frederick William Danker, edited by Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, with Viktor Reichman, ((Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2000) lxxx + 1108 = 1188 pages, 7.5 x 10, hardbound. This is considered the definitive work, giving full definitions and references. [current retail 125.00]

A Greek-English Lexicon, Ninth Edition, Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, revised and augmented by Sir Henry Stuart Jones and Roderick McKenzie, supplement edited by P. G. W. Glare (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) 2,438 pages, 8.75 x 11.75, hardbound. This is the most comprehensive of Greek lexicons, covering all of ancient Greek. Each entry gives the definition of a word, its irregular inflections, and examples of usage from a full range of authors and sources. Earlier editions back to the seventh edition are fine if you can find one in an old book store. [current retail 145.00]

Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament, Edward Robinson (Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1836) xii + 920 = 932 pages, 5.75 x 9, hardbound. This is old but it is gold. You’ll only find it in a used book store.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Joseph Henry Thayer (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., reprint of 1889 corrected edition) xx + 726 = 746 pages, 6.25 x 9.25, hardbound. An older full lexicon which is often reprinted, some editions are keyed to strong’s numbers. Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich replaced this as the “standard.” [current retail 25.00]

Comment: The best buy is Thayer. The best book is Bauer.

4. LEXICONS OF BOTH HEBREW AND GREEK KEYED TO STRONG’S NUMBERS

The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words, James Strong (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996) vi + 729 pages, 6.75 x 9.5, hardbound. This is the Hebrew and Greek dictionaries and English indexes for Strong’s Concordance reprinted in a readable format, with Strong’s numbers. [current retail 20.00]

A Concise Lexicon to the Biblical Languages, Jay Green Sr. and Maurice Robinson, editors (Lafayette, Indiana: Sovereign Grace Publishers, 1987) 6 + 254 + 143 = 403 pages, 5.5 x 8.5, softbound. This is a combined Hebrew and Greek Lexicon coded to Strong’s numbers. Each entry includes page references to Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon, and Kittel’s Theological Dictionary. Lexical entries are more brief than in Strong’s lexicon. [current retail 22.00]

5. THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARIES

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, three volumes, Colin Brown translator and editor, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1975-1978, 1985) 4 volumes, 3,505 pages, 6.5 x 9.75, hardbound. This is more handy than Kittel and Friedrich. Entries are not in Greek word order, but in the order of the common English translation of the Greek word. [current retail 170.00]

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ten volumes, Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich editors, Goeffrey W. Bromiley translator and editor (Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1964-1976) 10 volumes, 6.75 x 9.75, hardbound. Scholarly encyclopedia entries on individual words, discussing the secular Greek background, usage in Old Testament and extrabiblical literature, and its usages in the New Testament. [current retail 650.00]

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume, Goeffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1985) xxxvi + 1,356 = 1,392 pages, 7 x 9.75, hardbound. [current retail 70.00]

Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, 3 volumes, Ceslas Spicq, editor, James Ernest, translator (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers) 1500 pages, hardbound. [current retail 100.00]