Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook 3rd ed [Paperback]

Mounce has included many helpful suggestions in the preface for studying Greek, which should be followed. The footnotes throughout the workbook also help clarify and explain various grammatical issues, which arise in translation. Reference is often keyed to the grammar. There are also seven review sections placed throughout the workbook, which are helpful for review and for determining how well one is doing. Lastly, there is at the end of every chapter a helpful summary of grammar.

Occasionally Mounce seems to throw in rather difficult translations given the section which it is found in. Thankfully this does not occur to frequently. Another negative is that in the parsing sections there are not enough words to parse. It would have been helpful to at least double or triple the amount of parsing required in the workbook. The more words to parse the better it is to help in recognizing the form of words.

How should this workbook be used? First, the workbook should be treated as a test. One should carefully study the chapters in the grammar before the workbook is completed. The paradigms and vocabulary should be thoroughly memorized along with obtaining a good grasp of the grammar. Then after such study the workbook should be completed. Translation work can be checked using a good English translation. I found the New American Standard most helpful.

The student should also parse all the words in the translations. It would be helpful to develop a system to differentiate between verbals (verbs, participles, infinitives) and nominals (nouns, adjectives, pronouns). For example, I underlined verbs with two lines and nouns with only one line. Color-coding may also be a helpful method. The desire is for the student to recognize the various parts of speech within the clause.

Most of all it is important to recognize the end of this laboring in Greek. The purpose of studying Greek is to learn the original language of the New Testament in order to know the Bible better to know God better. Therefore studying Greek should be an act of worship. Glorify God in your studying!

There's a lot of homework assigned in the workbook for each chapter in the textbook! But it's all worth it. The first part for almost every exercise in the workbook is parsing: declining nouns; parsing verbs. The second is translating selected Greek passages of the Bible into English. After every five chapters or so, there is a review exercise in the workbook testing the material in the chapters just learned.

There is no need to buy an answer key because all the answers to the parsing drills are found in the grammar itself--either in the glossary in the back or in the text of the substantive chapters. For the answers to the translations, any interlinear Greek-English Bible will do or even just an English Bible.

One of the best things about the translation exercises is that they gradually teach you how to do exegesis as you progress through the text. (The second year course--William Mounce's "A Graded Reader of Biblical Greek" and Daniel Wallace's "Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics"--concentrates on exegesis almost exclusively). The copious footnotes give all kinds of interesting theological and etymological tidbits that make translation really fun. This is additional to the sheer joy of being able to translate the Word of God yourself and seeing it in "color" through the Greek text instead of in "black and white" in an English translation.

Both the grammar and workbook are very user-friendly. It is almost as if Prof. Mounce is sitting next to you encouraging and, if necessary, cracking the whip over you. The workbook is a necessary complement to the grammar. I almost did not buy the workbook but am very glad that I did. William Mounce makes learning Greek possible without even having to set foot in a seminary class.