A Reader in Biblical Greek

Book excerpt: A graduated intermediate reader of biblical Koine Greek with selections from the New Testament, the Septuagint, and noncanonical early Christian writings. This intermediate reader is for students, clergy, and scholars who have completed at least one year of Greek instruction and want to build reading proficiency. Through twenty-nine texts from the New Testament, the Septuagint, and noncanonical early Christian writings, readers will be exposed to a variety of different genres and authors while still being given enough content from each author to become acquainted with that author’s individual style. Notes within each selection gloss low-frequency words and clarify syntactical intricacies, and each new section of texts gradually increases in its level of difficulty, so that lessons can be worked through sequentially or as stand-alone exercises, as needed. Wright’s selections are all texts that Christians in the fourth century CE would have read, with intertextual connections between them that will stimulate discussion and reflection on the development of important ideas in the early church. Thus, this useful resource encourages progress both in Koine reading proficiency and in knowledge of Christian tradition.