Greek for the Rest of Us 2nd Edition by Bill Mounce is a crash course for learning Biblical Greek. It covers the foundation of the Greek language and teaches you how to use the many Greek study tools to deepen your Bible study.
The book is divided into three parts: Foundational Greek (covers enough Greek to use software, Strong’s, and word studies), Church Greek (more Greek and how to use a reverse interlinear and commentaries), and Functional Greek (more Greek, how to use a traditional interlinear, and go deeper with commentaries). The three divisions allow you to use this book and learn as much Greek as you want. You don’t have to complete the book in order to know enough Greek to be useful in word studies and teaching some basics.
Mounce covers English grammar before teaching Greek grammar. I found this to be very useful because most readers would have forgotten what a preposition is and a refresher in grammar basics helps to understand and learn the Greek easier.
There is a chapter on word studies. Mounce teaches how to use software such as Accordance, OliveTree’s Bible Study App, Logos, and the Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament at BibleGateway.com. He does include one or two others throughout the book. Showing how to use these programs was a nice addition. I would like to see BibleWorks added to the list as it’s rich with study of the original languages.
Mounce breaks down many verses and shows how they were translated. He also shows how to diagram a verse. He goes into great detail on phrasing- spanning the subject across several chapters and two divisions of the book. There’s even a chapter on the history of the Bible and textual criticism, a chapter on translations, and a chapter on how to read a commentary.
This book includes access to online material that includes exercises, assignments, and videos. Only lessons 1-3 are free. After that you have to sign up for paid classes. The book is good enough on its own to not sign up for classes. Classes would be helpful and could make learning faster and easier. You can learn Greek and how to use study tools from this book alone. It will just take time.
The book is very thorough and would get you a long ways in learning Biblical Greek. It is probably the equivalent to one year in seminary and is suitable for anyone with or without a seminary education. I highly recommend learning Greek for Bible study and this book is a great place to start.
Zondervan provided this book free for review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review.
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