Book Review: Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, 4th Edition

After reading through Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, I was happy to find that it is Free Grace friendly! Although Mounce is a Calvinist, you wouldn’t know it from reading his textbook. Actually, something he says in the DVD video lecture for chapter 15 gives credence to the Free Grace view of salvation, in distinction to “Lordship Salvation”. Commenting on Mark 8:34 and the invitation of Jesus to “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me” (which John MacArthur has said is “the most important one”[1] explaining how to get to heaven), Mounce says that “if you look at the parallel passage in Luke 9:23, he uses also the undefined aspect but he adds in afterwards ‘every day’, ‘daily’. In other words (and you can do with this in your Synoptic criticism what you want), but Luke is making it clear that the ‘taking up’ is not, that Jesus is not thinking about what happens at conversion, that Jesus is thinking about what you do every day, in fact, every minute of every day. That every day, you as a follower of Christ, are someone who has denied your own worldly ambitions. You don’t live for yourself, you live for Him. Every day you live as one who is crucified to himself. And that is how every day we follow Him.”[2] 

The 4th edition of Mounce’s textbook (which I will abbreviate as BBG4) is, I think, a definite improvement over the previous edition. In regards to the physical book itself, the 4th edition is a more compact size overall (6.5 inches x 9.5 inches) compared to the larger and somewhat awkwardly sized 3rd edition (which measured roughly 8.5 inches x 11 inches). While the 3rd edition had 418 pages, BBG4 has been expanded to an impressive – albeit somewhat daunting – 509 pages (due in part, no doubt, to the smaller page size). The more compact size of the newer edition makes it easier to fit into backpacks and to carry around. 

In terms of craftsmanship, I would say the book is very well-made. It has a sturdy cover and binding, and yet it will open fully (and stay open) and lay flat. After taking the book to work with me in my backpack every day for about six months, the book’s binding is still tight and the cover only has a few minor scuffs. 

Besides a more practical and convenient size, there are also other key improvements in the new edition. In BBG4 Mounce has completely updated his discussion of deponent/middle-only verbs to keep pace with adjustments in recent scholarship. I also noticed that in BBG4, Mounce has in general either reworded or added greater detail to many of the sections throughout the book. He has also added and/or expanded many of the footnotes, for example, in regards to the Greek “aspect” (p. 155) and the Greek participle (pp. 299-302). 

The new edition also has a more post-graduate level academic style. For example, except for one brief appearance at the beginning of the book, gone is the silly cartoon character whom Mounce has dubbed “The Professor”. The extra wide margins in the 3rd edition (often including “little tidbits of information” presented by “the Professor”) are also absent from the 4th edition. Whereas the 3rd edition had a sort of “kidzy” style (e.g. the oversized book, “the Professor” cartoon character, the interesting but often unnecessary “fun” facts such as “how to count to ten, ask where the bathroom is, and stuff like that”), the 4th edition has a much more scholarly look and feel. 

In addition to the BBG4 textbook, Mounce has provided quite a number of other helpful resources which can aid students in their quest to learn Biblical Greek (such as an accompanying workbook, DVD video lectures, vocabulary flashcards, an audio CD, an online website, FlashWorks, etc.). While Mounce’s other resources are optional (and sold separately), I found them to be quite helpful. The one exception was that I did not find Mounce’s FlashWorks computer program to be of much help because I could never get it to load and/or work properly and therefore I didn’t use it. (Instead of FlashWorks, I would recommend using either studystack.com or a phone app for learning the vocabulary words.) Personally, I preferred Mounce’s paper vocabulary flashcards for two reasons: (1) I could write down notes on the cards to help me memorize the words, and (2) I found it very helpful that Mounce included on the back of the vocabulary cards not only the definition of the Greek word but also the different tense forms for all the verbs. Also (and this may surprise some people), except for his online Greek Dictionary (billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/), I did not use Mounce’s website very much either. Personally, I found YouTube more helpful. But overall, especially in regards to the core essentials of language acquisition, I found Mounce’s resources for learning biblical Greek to be very helpful and really quite comprehensive. I recommend listening to his Basics of Biblical Greek: Vocabulary audio CD in the car (as I did) in order to help learn the vocabulary words from the lessons in BBG4. I also recommend doing the exercises in the workbook along with reading through the textbook. I also found the DVD video lectures very helpful and informative. The video lectures to the 3rd edition are much more extensive than those for the 4th edition (16 total hours of content vs. only 9.5 total hours of content in the newer video lectures). The video lectures for the 4th edition are helpful, but they are much more streamlined and abbreviated. I would recommend purchasing both and using them together. 

I found Mounce to be a very gifted communicator and teacher. It seems to me that he has successfully and quite comprehensively systematized the concepts of other Greek grammars all into one book. In this regard I would say that Mounce’s textbook is much more comprehensive than any of the other first-year Greek grammars that I have seen. 

Mounce has done his best to keep rote memorization to a minimum. He only requires the students to memorize a few paradigms and he only asks the student to memorize about 320 vocabulary words (the words that occur fifty times or more in the Greek New Testament). He also breaks down the concepts into more “bite-size” pieces as much as possible (e.g., he separates the Greek noun system from the Greek verbal system, teaching nouns first and then verbs, he also divides the Greek participles into five separate chapters, and the “-mi” verbs into 3 chapters). It is still a lot of information, but he breaks it up into smaller sections that are more manageable and easier to assimilate. 

There were two chapters in the book that I think could use some improvement. I thought that Mounce’s discussion in chapters 19-20 of what he calls “Patterns 1-4” verbal roots was a little confusing the way he explained it. It was not so much the concepts but the way in which he outlined and arranged the information that was confusing to me. The way the patterns and sub-patterns were arranged and presented seemed somewhat disjointed and hard to follow. The fact that Mounce began chapter 19 by introducing the four patterns (beginning with pattern 1 verbs) but then for the rest of the chapter went on to discuss “future active indicative” and “future middle indicative” verbs (and also a section titled “Odds ‘n Ends”) before he finally once again picked up his discussion of patterns 2-4 verbs in chapter 20, was especially confusing to me. I found myself having to flip back and forth between pages to read and reread the chapters in order to try to unravel the information. If there is a future edition of BBG, I would suggest maybe a different way of arranging and explaining the four patterns more cohesively as a unit. On the positive side, I will say that chapter 20 was a little easier to follow than chapter 19 (at least in chapter 20 Mounce keeps patterns 2-4 verbs together). Also, I did appreciate the “Summary” section at the end of chapter 20 because it summarizes all 4 verbal patterns. The “Check It Out!” section at the end of chapter 20 was also helpful in that it gave the reader the opportunity to work through a list of different verbal roots and identify the category or pattern of each. 

The way in which Mounce teaches Greek is different from most. In the book’s Preface, Mounce explains by saying: “The writing style of BBG is somewhat different from what you might expect. It is not overly concerned with brevity. Rather, I discuss the concepts in some depth and in a ‘friendly’ tone. The goal is to help students enjoy the text and come to class knowing the information. While brevity has its advantages, I felt that it hinders the self-motivated student who wants to learn outside the classroom” (p. viii). In Mounce’s “Rational Statement” at the beginning of the book he adds: “BBG is not just new to be different, but approaches the instruction of the language from a different perspective that I hope makes learning Greek as easy as possible, as rewarding as possible, and, yes, even enjoyable” (p. xii). Mounce’s teaching style may be different, but comparing Mounce’s textbook to Machen’s first-year Greek grammar (for example), personally I prefer Mounce’s. Not to take anything away from Machen’s work (which is a classic in its own right), but Mounce just has more explanations and helpful content to aid the reader in understanding the concepts and learning the language. The way he teaches Greek is very detailed and understandable for those who put in the time and effort. 

What I also liked about Mounce’s approach to learning Greek is that instead of having the student memorize tons of paradigms, Mounce gets down into the nuts and bolts of how the language is put together so that students can recognize different word forms when they see them in the text. Mounce puts it like this: “The key to learning these paradigms is to realize that translation does not require you to repeat paradigms; it requires you to recognize the endings when you see them” (p. 41, emphasis his). This means less rote memorization and less of a tendency to forget what was learned. In one of his DVD video lectures (for BBG3 not BBG4), Mounce says that this is actually how those who teach Greek learn the language; they don’t memorize paradigms. Instead they learn how to recognize patterns in words and how to recognize different “triggers” in how a word is formed (e.g. augments, tense morphemes, word endings, etc.) in order to then be able to parse the words and determine their meanings (cf. BBG4, p. viii). For example, instead of memorizing the paradigms for didōmi, Mounce gives you five basic rules that you can apply to all the 330 forms of “–mi” verbs so you don’t have to memorize hundreds of different forms. Mounce teaches the student to learn the roots of the words and to also recognize the different triggers in order to then be able to parse the words correctly. 

Something else that I liked and appreciated about BBG4 (and Mounce’s teaching style in general) is that he almost never asks the student to translate from English to Greek (as other Greek Grammars are prone to do). Instead, the exercises are almost always translating from Greek (mostly from the Greek New Testament) into English. I’m sure there is some benefit to be had from translating from English to Greek, but since my goal is to translate the Greek NT, to me it just seemed more helpful and practical to translate from Greek to English. 

The chapters in the book for the most part follow a consistent pattern. With a few exceptions, each chapter begins with what Mounce calls an “Exegetical Insight”. Mounce explains: “At the beginning of most chapters there is an ‘Exegetical Insight’ based on a biblical passage. These are written by New Testament scholars and demonstrate the significance of the grammar in the chapter” (p. xv). I found the “Exegetical Insight” sections very interesting and informative. My two favorite “Exegetical Insights” in the book are the ones written by Daniel B. Wallace on John 1:1 (pp. 33-34) and by William D. Mounce regarding the perfect tense and John 19:30 (p. 275). I especially liked the “Exegetical Insight” by Mounce because he made a point to say in conclusion: “Because Jesus fully completed his task, the ongoing effects are that you and I are offered the free gift of salvation so that we can be with him forever. Praise the Lord. Tetelestai.” Getting back to the layout of each chapter in BBG4, after the “Exegetical Insight” section there is a chapter “Overview”, followed by a section of “English” grammar, a section of “Greek” grammar, a “Halftime Review”, a chapter “Summary”, a “Vocabulary” section, and sometimes an “Advanced Information” section, and also sometimes an “Exegesis” section at the end of the chapter. 

I should also mention that the book has what Mounce calls “Track 1” and “Track 2”. Track 1 keeps nouns and verbs for the most part completely separate (teaching nouns first and verbs second, as I mentioned above), while Track 2 is an alternate reading plan that “moves into verbs more quickly” (p. 91). Track 2 “allows you to move from [nouns in] chapter 9 up to chapter 15 and learn about verbs, and after several chapters on verbs come back and finish nouns” (p. xv). Since Mounce recommended following Track 1 (see pp. xiv-xv), this is the reading plan that I followed as I read through the book. I can also say that after reading through the book, I can definitely see how (especially for the new student) some of the personal endings for the verbs can be confused with some of the case endings on the nouns (e.g. the third declension dative plural, for example), so looking back I’m glad that I followed Track 1. 

The textbook also includes a number of Appendixes (pp. 418-509), thirty to be exact. The Appendix Table of Contents arranges the Appendixes into three sections: General, Noun System, and Verb System. Most of the Appendixes are either lists or paradigms. The one exception is the Appendix for Prepositions (p. 419), which features a spatial representation (and more lists!). 

Probably the most helpful Appendix for me was the Lexicon (pp. 475-504), a dictionary of all the Greek words in the NT that occur 10x or more. Besides the definition of the words, the lexicon also includes the principal parts (Mounce calls them “tense forms”) of all the verbs listed. I personally found the inclusion of the tense forms to be very helpful and a definite aid to learning the language. 

There is also a general Index at the back of the book (pp. 505-509), but it could perhaps have been more thorough. For example, I found myself penciling in other topics along with the accompanying page numbers that are not included in the book’s Index. 

The book would probably also benefit from a Scripture Index. (Daniel Wallace has an index in his textbook Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. So does the Manual Grammar by Dana and Mantey, for example.) I ended up penciling in (on one of the blank pages in the back of the book) the Scripture references and page numbers where certain key Bible verses are discussed, thus making my own makeshift Scripture Index. 

BBG4 does have a few printing errors and other errata. I would estimate that I only found about 5-10 typos and other errata throughout the entire book, which I would say is not bad at all considering that it’s over 500 pages in length! To be fair, I should also say that I didn’t document each and every typo, (1) because there were not that many, and (2) because I didn’t initially read the book with the intention of writing a book review of it. But a few of the typos and/or other miscellaneous errata that I can point out specifically are, for example: on page 207 the present tense form of kaleō appears with the Greek letter digamma prefixed to it (when in reality the digamma is the last letter of the word’s root, not the first letter of the present tense form); on page 339 the headings “masc”, “fem”, “neut” are shifted one column too many to the left and so they do not line up vertically in the correct columns; on page 439 under the heading “Athematic Second Aorist” (at the top of the page), under the sub-heading “active” it says “first perfect” and “second perfect”. I believe those last two headings are incorrectly placed since the verbs in those columns are aorist tense, not perfect tense. The headings “first perfect” and “second perfect” actually apply to the “Perfect Indicative” section on the same page, and they are correctly placed there. Other printing errors to mention are that in a few places the ink color is blue when it should be black (for example, see after the Greek word meta in the Lexicon where the parenthesis themselves are colored blue). There is also at least one incorrect page number in the Index (I did not check them all). On page 509, for the entry “Schreiner, Thomas R.” the page number 251 is incorrect. The correct page number is 250, not 251. 

In conclusion I would say that Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar is very thorough, but also very technical. (This is possibly one reason why Mounce wrote another book titled Greek for the Rest of Us.) BBG4 is definitely not any easy read (what Greek grammar is?), nor is it for the faint of heart.[3] But for those who are serious about learning biblical Greek and for those who really want to understand how the language is put together, this is the book for you! 

Overall, I can definitely say after reading through Mounce’s textbook and also doing the accompanying exercises in the workbook, that if you consistently put in the time and the effort and don’t lose heart, you will learn the “Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar”—and more! 

ENDNOTES: 

[1] John MacArthur, "Losing Your Life to Save It" (September 19, 2010), Grace to You website, www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/41-41/losing-your-life-to-save-it 

[2] William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Video Lectures (3rd Edition), Lesson15: Introduction to Verbs (time stamp: 20:23 min. – 21:39 min.), bold added. Note: In the updated DVD lectures for the 4th edition of the book, Mounce gives a much more abbreviated explanation which doesn’t really address the distinction between conversion and discipleship.  

[3] Throughout the book Mounce does his best to offer encouragement to the reader to keep them motivated to learn Greek and not get discouraged or give up hope. Mounce says in the book’s Preface (p. viii), “I try to include anything that will encourage students.” For example, at the end of each chapter Mounce has a vocabulary section and then a statistic showing the “Percent of total word count in the New Testament” learned by the student, which is anywhere between 11.71% at the beginning of the book, to over 80% by the end of the book! In the DVD video lectures, Mounce also has a pie chart showing this spatially. Something else that I appreciated about Mounce’s teaching style that relates to this topic of encouragement is in regards to how Mounce teaches the student to parse Greek verbs. I noticed that Mounce likes to say: “Tell me what you know. Don’t tell me what you don’t know, tell me what you know.” Personally, I found this reminder very helpful because in reading through the textbook and in doing the translations in the workbook, I noticed that I was prone to get discouraged because I kept focusing on all the Greek I didn’t know! Mounce’s reminder to “Tell me what you know” helped me to keep my focus on what I was learning and all the progress I was making, and thus not to get overwhelmed and discouraged by everything I didn’t yet know. For more information see Mounce’s “Rationale Statement” in BBG4, under the heading “Encouragement” (pp. xii – xiii).