Constantine Cambell reviews Daniel Wallace's recent book, Granville Sharp's Canon and Its Kin: Semantics and Significance:

Rarely is a book on Greek syntax enthralling, let alone immensely significant. Daniel Wallace’s new book on the Greek article is both.

And...

It is rare to be invited to review a book that is both a landmark and robust to the point of seeming virtually irrefutable. It is a landmark book because it has in my opinion put to rest the debate about Sharp’s rule, and it is enormously important both to Greek syntax and theological exegesis of the NT. Truly, the humble Greek article reaches the heights of the deity of Christ! The book is robust in that it is difficult to imagine its key conclusions being overturned any time soon, if ever. If such claims appear grandiose, the following is more so: this book will stand the test of time as one of the best contributions to Greek syntax of the twenty-first century. Dr Wallace is to be congratulated, and all serious students of the Greek NT should read his book and will do so to great profit.

Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek

Grammatical Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek: Learning Biblical Greek Grammatical Concepts Through English Grammar by Gary A. Long


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is an excellent supplement to a standard 1st year NT Greek grammar. I no longer have access to a copy of the book, so my comments will be general; this book provides material behind and beyond and in between that of a typical 1st year (and maybe even 2nd year!) grammar.

Behind

A good grammar will enlist linguistics to aid the student in acquiring NT Greek. This book provides additional background to this important topic; it fleshes out and provides context to the brief discussions that are only included in the beginning grammars for pragmatic reasons.

Beyond

This book takes the student beyond most introductory grammars by discussing topics related (or part of?) linguistics such as semantics and discourse analysis. A beginning grammar might be headed towards these topics, but doesn’t usually get there.

In Between

Not only does Long provide material that is normally left out of grammars, he also assists with the material that the grammars do cover (cases, declensions, pronouns, verbs, etc). His definitions are clear and his discussions are tight. From what I can tell, reading his coverage on topics such as verbal aspect provides a more mature orientation than most beginning grammars are able to give.

In short, use this book as a companion to whatever introductory Greek grammar you are studying. It provides background and context that will assist in your journey to understand and use Greek.

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A provocative post on grammar

I never knew, until now, that it was possible to write provocatively on grammar. Abraham Piper has managed to do it. Here's where it all started, and hear's where it all ended up.