Max and Moritz in Biblical Greek: A new, fun resource for Koine Greek students

I am pleased to announce the publication of a very unique resource for students of NT Greek (or Koine Greek in general): Max and Moritz in Biblical Greek, edited by Brent Niedergall and Joey McCollum, with Dave Massa and Steve Young contributing (Wilmore, KY: GlossaHouse; volume 3 in their Agros series for Greek pedagogy). As a testament to its quality, Greek scholar John A. L. Lee is thanked for providing "constructive feedback," and NT scholar William C. Varner and OT scholar Martin Rösel provide endorsements.

For those of you that don't know much of German culture, in the mid-1800s Wilhelm Busch wrote and illustrated Max and Moritz: Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen, which tells the story (in verse!) of two total hooligans who play the worst sorts of pranks on people before "getting their just deserts," so to speak, in a rather gruesome death. This book has gone on to become a staple of German culture, frequently referenced.




So, anyways, Niedergall and co. have done us all a favor by re-writing this story using only New Testament and Septuagint Greek words. The book is a "reader's edition," providing definitions for any words that do not occur at least 50x in the Greek New Testament.

In other words, if you have finished first-year Greek, you can probably read this. 

The book includes the original illustrations, which add to the (admittedly dark) humor. This is probably not the sort of book you will read to your child as a bed-time story (in Greek, English, or German!), but the book serves its purpose: a fun little exercise whereby you can experience a cultural classic of German literature (well, sort of) in biblical Greek!

The book can be ordered on Amazon or the publisher's website: here and here.

Here is a sample of the prose, for your pleasure (from the prank where the two evil boys pour gunpowder into their teacher's pipe while he's away at church): 
Καὶ ἅμα ἀναβαίνει Μωρηδ
καὶ λαμβάνει τὸ κέρας τοῦ μίγματος τοῦ νίτρου. καὶ ὁ κακοποιῶν ἐπίχει
εἰς τὸ σκεῦος τοῦ καπνίζοντος.
τότε λέγει αὐτῷ Μωχα, Σιγάτω καὶ σπεῦδε
ὅτι ἤδη πέπαυται ἡ λειτουργία τῶν ἁγίων.