Bible Study Aids Comments: 2001

Bible Study Aids Comments: 2001

Below are assorted e-mails I have received from readers asking questions about/ and or commenting on various Bible study aids. The e-mailers’ comments are in black and enclosed in "greater than" and "lesser than" signs. My comments are in red.

>Gary

It has been a long time since I e-mailed you. I hope this note finds you well. I was looking at your web-site at the bible study aids. How much in common do the Friberg and Bauer Greek lexicons have? I have the Friberg on BibleWorks but I was thinking of getting the BAGD [Baur-Arndt-Gingrich Greek English-Lexicon], maybe in Logos format). Would it be worth it to get the BAGD or would it be too much like the Friberg lexicon?<

BAGD gives info about how words are used in non-Christian documents, that Friberg does not. So it is interesting for that reason. But otherwise, the Biblical material is similar. Since I got BibleWorks with Friberg's I hardly ever check Baur anymore. but part of that reason is I have Baur in hardcopy and it is just simply to check a digital form. If I had it in some computer I might check it more.

> Also what thoughts would you have on the Thayer lexicon and on the Kittel Theological Dictionary? I have the Thayer but have heard some negatives about it (something about Thayer and the deity of Christ).<

Thayer's lexicon is not that reliable. It is rather old, written before the wealth of papyri were discovered in the early 1900's. Also, you are correct that Thayer did not believe in the deity of Christ, and that can be seen in some of the entries.

>I was looking at getting the Kittel but read something to the effect that the theology was not that good in it. Any thoughts you could give me I would appreciate.<

Kittel is definitely liberal in it's theology. But it does provide in-depth treatment of the use of words in the Bible and in non-Christian literature. However, there is no way I would spend the money on the full Kittel set. I have "Little Kittel" (one volume abridged version), and I only got that because I got it on sale.

> I hope you will have the time to respond. I highly regard your opinions on such matters.

God Bless
Todd

10/13/01<

I hope the above helps.

>Gary

Thanks for the reply. I do have some quick follow up questions though. If a person already has the Friberg lexicon would you recommend getting the BAGD? With the new Logos software out the old stuff is fairly reasonable. For instance the Greek Core Collection which has the BAGD & the Little Kittel is only 120$. I was thinking of getting it to get the BAGD mostly.

Seems like a good deal. But if the BAGD and Friberg are that similar then it wouldn't be. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks again and God Bless,
Todd
10/16/01<

I had looked at the Logos Core Collection when I was looking for a more Greek oriented Bible program, but I settled on BibleWorks as it looked far better. There's no way I would have bought both. Of course, l already had Baur and Little Kittle in hardcopy, so the Core Collection would have been redundant.

But would I get both programs if I didn't have these in hardcopy? I really cannot say. Baur really doesn't add that much of use to Friberg. The extra-Biblical references are interesting, but then, if you have BibleWorks, Lidell and Scott will give you the same info.

Little Kittle's discussions are lengthy and interesting. But the liberal slant to them makes them not quite as reliable as they could be. And getting the Core Collection just for Little Kittle seems a bit expensive way of going about it. You might just want to pick up Little Kittle in hardcopy. But frankly, I only very rarely check it since I got BibleWorks. So I wouldn't suggest getting it unless you can find it very cheap somewhere.

I hope that helps.

>I have been reading your work Difference Between Bible Versions rather intently these days. It is taking me some time to analyze the verse comparisons. I am curious of two things:

1) You state the difference between the MT and the CT is about 2%...and the MT to the TR about 1%. What is the spread between the TR to the CT in your estimation? Is it further from the CT than the MT or is it about parallel?<

TR to CT would be a little more of a difference than MT to CT.

2) It appears to me that the Greek lexicons you are using are slightly different than that which is used by Dr. James Strong in the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. I ask this because some of the "lexicon support" behind the KJV and the modern lexicon support of today that you are using as a cross-reference (in the KJV and NKJV comparisons) invariably would have subtle differences...but not many. To your knowledge, is there a certifiable difference? I do know that there is a word of caution when translating from the original tongue to use Koine Greek and not modern Greek.

God bless and Merry Christmas,

-Ralph

12/7/01<

>I think I found an answer to what lexicon support is used for the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. I believe it may be that of Liddel, Scott, and Thayer Greek-English Lexicon. I will try to learn more.

Ralph
12/7/01<

That would make sense as Liddel, Scott, Thayer, and Strong's are all from the 1800s. The ones I am using are from the late 1900s. So they are more up-to-date and utilize papyri discoveries from the 1900s that these older lexicons do not.

God bless and Merry Christmas to you too!

Gary Z.

>Hi Gary!

I know you highly recommend the New Geneva Study Bible. Unfortunately, I've checked Books-A-Million and Christian Book Distributors, as well as a few other places, and am finding that they do not currently have this Bible available. Do you know where this Bible may be purchased?<

I'll double-check the links on my site to it on Books-A-Million's site and see if the NGSB is still available.

>What is your opinion of the Reformation Study Bible edited by R.C. Sproul and released March 2001 by Nelson Publishers? Is this just an updated version of the New Geneva Study Bible? Which of these two study Bibles is best, in your opinion?<

Sproul was the general editor for the NGSB, so I doubt he edited a brand new study Bible. So my guess is that it is a new edition of the NGSB. But I haven't seen it so I can't say for sure. But knowing the quality of Sproul's writings in general and of the NGSB, I would assume the Reformed Study Bible would be very worthwhile as well.

>Thanks in advance for responding. God bless you!

In Christ and for His Glory!
Kristi
12/1/01<

Note: After checking, the Reformation Study Bible: NKJV is the name of a new edition of the NGSB.

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