Product Description

Using the Erasmian pronunciation for New Testament Greek vocabulary, award-winning linguist Jonathan Pennington reads several selected passages from the Greek New Testament on two audio CDs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #669198 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-01
• Formats: Audiobook, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Audio CD

From the Back Cover
Master biblical Greek in its spoken context.

Jonathan T. Pennington’s New Testament Greek Vocabulary has helped thousands of Greek students build a strong working vocabulary. Now Readings in the Greek New Testament helps you develop fluency in biblical Greek as a spoken language. The vocabulary and grammar will become second nature as you listen to Greek in its working context, articulated with clarity and inflection.

Insert one of these CDs into your home system, car player, or portable unit, and "down" time becomes learning time—with an audio edge. Jonathan Pennington reads select passages from the Greek New Testament, including the Sermon on the Mount, the entire book of 1 John, and all the passages included in William Mounce’s A Graded Reader of Biblical Greek. Your command of the language will improve significantly as you supplement your studies with these audio readings.

About the Author
Jonathan T. Pennington (M.Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is a Ph.D. candidate in New Testament studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Great tool to help learn pronunciation
"Readings in the Greek New Testament" is a welcome addition to the library of anyone studying New Testament Greek. While there are several excellent books on learning to read New Testament Greek (Koine Greek) but they all have the limitation inherent in any book about learning another language. No matter how well the author describes how to pronounce a word, where to put emphasis, or how to deal with diphthongs it is not the same a hearing it. On these two audio CDs Jonathan T. Pennington reads various passages in Koine Greek including the Sermon on the Mount, and the entire book of 1 John. If you have William Mounce's book "A Graded Reader of Biblical Greek" you will find all the passages mentioned there read aloud on this CD. While nobody is sure exactly how Koine Greek was pronounced, Dr. Pennington uses the most commonly accepted Erasmian pronunciation, which keeps the student in line with the majority of scholars. "Readings in the Greek New Testament" is highly recommended for anyone desiring to learn New Testament Greek and a great companion for anybody using William Mounce's book.

good idea, but some big problems
The idea of this product is great, and Pennington gives it the old college try, but there are a number of serious problems. He speaks too fast. This is for people who are trying to learn koine Greek, and slowing down would help. In fact, when he does speak slowly in certain parts, it is much more effective. At times on the c.d his emphasis is really good, and helps in comprehension. He does a good job on this during dialogues, but does not maintain it consistently. At least once a page, Pennington gets the stress on the wrong syllable. I don't blame him; Greek accents jump all over the place, and to do any extended reading you are going to screw up on a few, but better editing could have avoided so many mistakes. He also pretty often also gets whole vowels wrong, pronouncing auto as autou, for example. Again, this is understandable; we all do it, and Pennington for the most part gets it right.

But what I think makes this c.d. fatally flawed is his accent, or lack thereof. The decision to use Erasmian is a good one, since readings of the NT in Modern Greek are already available. Many of us don't like Erasmian but we have accepted it as useful. But Erasmian pronunciation is only bearable if you give it some kind of Mediterian flair; you have roll your u's and r's and not glide the long vowels. You have to use some sort of pitch or tone like Italians or Frenchmen do. Pennington just speaks so much like an American that it does not feel like Greek. I have used his c.d a lot but I am at the point where I can't stand the lack of rythmn and beauty. I think for some reason women speak Erasmian Greek better. Again, he gets an A for effort and for the price this c.d. is okay, but we need some one who sounds more koine Greek, even if we don't know exaclty what that sounds like.

A Must-Have!
These readings are marvelous. If you're learning koine Greek, you simply have to have these. As far as I can tell, Pennington's pronunciation, per the accepted guidelines, is just right. As such, this is for one a fantastic to get your pronunciation right, regardless of the talents of your teacher.

Pennington also reads these smoothly and quickly, as if in English. This is no halting, starting recitation. This is a well-inflected reading of the scriptures as if he were reading from your favorite English translation. As a first-semester student, I don't have all the vocabulary and grammar to understand everything in the Greek, but just following along in the Greek NT as Pennington reads is a great help in getting a grasp on the flow of the language. Following in your English translation is great, also, even after just a few months of Greek.

Great stuff! Don't do without.