Review: Keep Your Greek

Have you ever studied the Greek language? There is so much you can learn from the Bible if you know how to use the Greek. Many people went through Bible College and seminary, studied Greek, but then did not use it much once they were finished. So they end up losing the skill. What a shame. Well, a Greek teacher, Con Campbell, has written an excellent book called "Keep Your Greek" to help such students. Published by Zondervan, and subtitled "Strategies for Busy People", it does what exactly what it says it will do. It provides many helpful ideas on how to keep your Greek skills sharp. He started these ideas from writing a blog a couple of years ago and has now taken these ideas and expanded them into a very readable book.

Campbell states that the first four chapters are the most important, starting with reading some Greek every day (not a lot, just make sure it is done). Interestingly, the second chapter tells you to burn your interlinear Bible. It becomes a crutch and does not do anything to help you maintain Greek skills. The third suggestion involves being careful how you use Bible study software for the same reason. He admits there is plenty of value (especially saving time), but students will become dependent on it. I find it odd that these are two of the more important suggestions. The final important "must do" idea is keeping up with vocabulary. Make it your friend, he says. And he provides some good ideas on how that can be done.

The rest of the book has more great ideas including, practice your verb conjugations (called parsing), Reading fast at times (like skimming a book to get the main ideas), as well as reading slow to get the specific details. He also recommends using all of your senses to help you with Greek, including listening to it, reading it out loud, and writing it out. (What, no tasting?). After suggesting that it will be easier to get it back the second time around by using these ideas, Campbell concludes with a chapter that shows how he practices what he preaches.

This is an excellent tool for any serious student of scripture. It should certainly be given to any student who is finishing his Greek studies in Bible college or seminary so that they will be able to faithfully study and teach the Word of God. It won't be helpful for the average lay person, but I highly recommend it for anyone who is now studying or has studied the language.