Rating: 
Summary: Positive Review of the 3rd edition of Bauer
Review: Like the the biblical pearl of great price, the only advice I can give is,"Go sell all that you have" and get this newest edition of the venerable Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker! This edition includes much longer definitions rather than the simple glosses that have been used by the previous two editions. The typography has been greatly improved and it makes this edition much more user-friendly. Frederick Danker is worthy of the kudoes that will be coming his way in his magisterial revision of this indispensable tool for any minister, seminarian, theological student, professor, teacher or Biblical scholar. This will be standard Greek lexicon for the next two decades. Even if you have BAGD, you'll want ot get this edition (now known as BDAG). The improvements alone are worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: There is a CD-Rom version available now!!!!!
Review: Logos software now has an CD-Rom edition of this as well as the unabridged 9th of Liddell and Scott. It makes it a lot easier, no more flipping back and forth between the abbreviation lists if you hover over the abbreviation with the full title will pop up. Also you no longer have to deal with small typeface. Check it out they have other stuff in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac, and Latin. This is a great tool. Saves a ton of time.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable resource
Review: The third edition of this classic work contains even more examples, citations, and helps than the second edition. I personally preferred the less ornate Greek text of the second edition, but this is a very small critique of a tremendous work.No serious scholar should be without this. And for those who are perfectly comfortable with computer aided research, this hard copy has the appeal of being strikingly browse-able, like window-shopping in the language.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable resource
Review: The third edition of this classic work contains even more examples, citations, and helps than the second edition. I personally preferred the less ornate Greek text of the second edition, but this is a very small critique of a tremendous work. No serious scholar should be without this. And for those who are perfectly comfortable with computer aided research, this hard copy has the appeal of being strikingly browse-able, like window-shopping in the language.
Rating:
Summary: Significant improvements in this edition
Review: The third edition of this famous Greek-English Lexicon does not disappoint. It is a significant improvement in at least three respects. First, specific Greek words have been given general definitions even where the word covers a wide semantic domain. This was not the case in previous editions where the reader was left with the meaning of a word only in its particular occurrence. Now readers can draw some conclusion about the basic meaning of any given Greek word. The approach suggests a regression in the approach to biblical words spearheaded by James Barr in his "Semantics of Biblical Language" and a return to the approach of older lexicographers to the effect that words have meanings. Second, the range of Greek authors has been expanded and now includes more noncanonical (especially apocryphal) Greek writings of special interest for the study of early Christian origins. Third, the type set and publication of this edition is dramatically improved, making it as sheer pleasure to handle and read. The second edition suffered from typeset that was too small, and lacked bold catchy print for the words themselves. Readers who own the second edition will want to upgrade for this reason alone. There are two drawbacks. The first is price. This is an expensive volume, but perhaps that is to be expected. The second is that I noticed several examples of errata. No doubt these will be removed with each new printing.
Rating:
Summary: Intelllectually demanding, but worth it
Review: This book makes you work for each little bit of understanding. The method of giving many, many different examples of usage for each Greek word really broadens your understanding of each word, but is time-consuming. This lexicon is excellent for word studies beyond the Strong's level and will drive you nuts if you don't know your case forms yet (I know from experience). But all in all, this is a resource no Biblical scholar or wannabe scholar should be without. I'd recommend getting Strong's Concordance, Vine's Expository Dictionary, a Greek New Testament and this book to go along with a New American Standard Bible for the novice in Greek. Your understanding of the New Testament and of Greek will grow by leaps and bounds with diligent study of these very basic resources - even if you don't intend to study Koine Greek professionally.
Rating:
Summary: This is the most authoritative lexicon for NT Greek
Review: This is the standard Greek lexicon for New Testament studies. I find that it takes longer to use than Louw and Nida, but gives a more mature understanding. It gives many more examples, and also points out grammatical features of the words, which can be extremely helpful. This lexicon does not attempt to give you a full dictionary definition; instead, it tries to give you the data to allow you to develop your own. For a comparison of the standard lexicons for New Testament Greek, see "http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie/littleGreek.html"
Rating:
Summary: The classic New Testament lexicon
Review: This lexicon is based on recently discovered Greek documents from the New Testament time period. Very exhaustive and designed for the serious scholar.
Rating:
Summary: Walter Bauer's Wörterbuch - a classic standard
Review: Though I have not seen the Danker edition I have extensively used Walter Bauer's Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Walter De Gruyter, Berlin, 1971; ISBN 3110020734), a quality reference for exegetical research. Bauer's work is not as exhaustive as TDNT, but it is one of the finest works in it's respective field and a must for anyone in the field of philology and hermeneutics. Any updated version can only enhance this lexicon.
Rating:
Summary: I spent my babys milk money for this!
Review: While attending seminary, like most seminary students, I purchased Thayers Greek-English Lexicon. It was good and easy to use. But as I advanced in my studies my professors were increasing critical of Thayer and expected us to use the more scholarly Arndt/Gingrich. So as a impoverished theological student with a wife and baby, I purchased Arndt/Gringrich with my babys milk money so I could be more scholarly. I wish I saved my money. Do not get me wrong. It is by far the superior lexicon. Its definitions are massive and the survey of a words etymology is unsurpassed; but realistically, it has more information than this country preacher is looking for. Like detective Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, all I want is the facts. Behind me as I write this review is my theological library. Two lexicons, Arndt/Gringrich and Thayers stand side by side. Occasionally, when I need a lexicon in my biblical studies, I always turn to Thayer. So unless you are planning on writing for a theological journal, save your babys milk money and use Thayer.
| 
