Product Description

For over a century, Thayer's has been lauded as one of the best New Testament lexicons available. Both accessible and thorough, it is a work suited for the student of New Testament Greek. Thayer's provides dictionary definitions for each word and relates each word to its New Testament usage and categorizes its nuances of meaning. Its exhaustive coverage of New Testament Greek words, as well as its extensive quotation of extra-biblical word usage and the wealth of background sources consulted and quoted, render Thayer's an invaluable resource.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114441 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 752 pages

Review
"There is much of value to be gleaned from its pages.” -- Novum Testamentum XLIII.1 (2001)

Language Notes
Text: English, Greek

Customer Reviews

Superseded
This review willl cover four Greek New Testament lexicons: Bauer, Abbott-Smith, Thayer and Souter.

For many years, I had resisted purchasing a copy of Bauer, et al's mammoth (7 ¾" x 10 ¼" x 2 ¼") Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Yes, it had a great deal of data. Yes, it shared insights from contemporary literature which shed light on word meaning for words used rarely in the New Testament. However, it was an absolute pain. The layout made it difficult to find what was needed, and it seemed quite easy to lose the forest for the trees in Bauer's 1st and 2nd English editions. Frankly, I preferred George Abbott-Smith's Manual Lexicon, and availed myself of Bauer at the seminary library only as needed. Now the available choices have changed, and for the better.

Bauer's 3rd English edition is a marvel. Everything the other reviewers write about its clear typeface, and intelligent use of bolding and spacing is true: it's a joy to use. A bit heavy, but it's worth it. The actual definitions as opposed to glosses are also a plus. All of this combined means that all of the data produced by scholarship is far more useable. Thank you, University of Chicago! I was willing to shell out the not insubstantial price for it, and have no remorse, it was money well spent.

Have I kicked Abbott-Smith to the curb? No. His Manual Lexicon is older (1937), but still makes use of the bulk of the papyri discoveries. He provides a quick reference for the Hebrew words underlying the Greek when that word is used in both the New Testament and the Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. He also provides numerous though not exhaustive Scripture references for each entry, making this lexicon reasonably functional as a concordance. With all this, I can still tote around Abbott-Smith (8 ¾" x 5 ¾" x 1 ¼") in my bag. It has yielded pride of place in my study, but for now at least, it's still a keeper.

Two others are worth mentioning. Thayer is old but still in common use because Hendrickson has put out a very cheaply made version which is keyed to Strong's concordance. Of course, if you're using Strong's as the basis for exegesis, you might want to wait on a large lexicon and invest in some Greek training. Thayer wrote prior to the papyrus finds that really altered our understanding of Koine Greek usage, and so is not as good a choice as the others reviewed here.

Finally, there is Souter's little gem of a pocket lexicon. He is post-papyri (1917), and offers pretty accurate glosses for the words listed. Hard not to like Souter, it's quality made from Oxford, red with gilt lettering, and is roughly the same size as the NA-27 Greek New Testament, meaning it fits in your pocket easily. While you don't want to use it for serious exegetical work, you also don't want to tote Bauer around with you everywhere. There is another small lexicon from the United Bible Societies which is nicely made, but not as worthwhile as Souter. As a Greek expert pointed out, it basically uses the RSV translation as the lexical definition.

Bauer, et al: 5 stars
Abbott-Smith: 4 stars
Thayer: 3 stars
Souter: 4 stars

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Thayer's Greek Lexicon is good tool for a biblical student/scholar who is searching for the truth. It is a very helpful study tool in most cases. Highly recommended.
Keith Daniels

it is very useful for people who want to study the bible
It is very helpful for people who want to study the bible. Just get the greek bible and find out the word then try to know the deep meaning of it.