Resources for Greek students

     One of the things I admire about many of those on my blogroll (e.g. Dr. David Black, Nick Norelli) is their willingness to take the time to direct students to helpful resources. In light of that, I'd like to share three resources here that have been especially beneficial in my own studies, beginning with my college days through doctoral work.
     1. Sakae Kubo, A Reader's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1975). It goes without saying that, for any true student of Biblical Greek, actually reading one's Greek New Testament on a consistent basis is paramount. Here, then, is where Kubo's Reader's Lexicon provides an invaluable service. Unlike regular lexicons, Kubo deals with Biblical words on a verse-by-verse basis, providing definitions for the rarer Greek words as they appear in a particular New Testament book. If a student has memorized all words appearing 50 or more times in the NT, then you can read the entire Greek New Testament with Kubo at your side, without having to read through a massive, alphabetized tome such as BDAG.
      2.  This next source is not one you're likely to find in most lists of Greek reference works. Yet for practical value, it is hard to beat the Langenscheidt Pocket Greek Dictionary: Classical Greek-English, ed. by Karl Feyerabend (Maspeth, NY: Langenscheidt, n.d.) While not concerned with Biblical Greek per se, the Langenscheidt dictionary can help you study any ancient Greek source, whether classical or Koine. The other day I used it to help me work through Chrysostom's brief discussion of First Peter 1:6-8; 1:18-21; and 2:7-8 for my dissertation. To my surprise, I had significantly less trouble then expected. Granted, Chrysostom not exactly on the level of Philo, but neverthelss, considering the fact that this is a "pocket size" dictionary, I believe it's worth more than its retail price. The interested reader may also note that Langenscheidt also produces pocket dictionaries for modern German and French, though so far I have found the German one less helpful than the Greek and French dictionary.
      3. For research purposes, I am beginning to become more and more excited about the possibilities of AbeBooks (http://www.abebooks.com). Time after time they have come through for me with a rare German or French book which is important to my research, a book that is difficult to find in the States. A few months ago I purchased and received Ceslas Spicq's French commentary on 1 Peter (his commentary on Hebrews is common enough in the US, but his 1 Peter commentary, so far I can determine, only exists in one library outside of Europe). Two days ago I purchased a German dissertation (H. Goldstein's "Das Gemeindeverständnis des ersten Petrusbriefs," Münster, 1973), a work that appears to possess great value for my own dissertation and which, so far as I could determine, does not exist in the US (ah, if I only I had the money to travel to Europe!) For the doctoral student pulling his or her hair out trying to track down rare German or French sources, give Abe a try. Like Amazon Marketplace, Abe deals with a multitude of individual dealers, so discretion is advised. So far, though, I have not had a problem with either prices (generally reasonable) or delivery.