VGNTS for Logos
My name is Allan Loder. I have created a resource that I feel would be beneficial for pastors, teachers and students of the New Testament.
During my PhD studies at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, I did a course on Epigraphy (as it relates to the vocabulary of the NT). Also, one of my areas of study was NT textual criticism, so I became quite familiar with the papyri and inscriptions. As a student, and as a pastor, I know first-hand the need for good resources.
Back in 2012, I felt I needed a way to keep up with my Koinē Greek, so I decided to do a revision/update/expansion of The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament by J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan (British scholars). This is a work they started just before WWI, along with the German scholar Adolf Deissmann. Their plan was to produce a new lexicon. The plan was for MM to focus on the papyri and Deissmann would focus on the inscriptions. But when WWI broke out in 1914 the project was put on hold. There was no contact between MM and Deissmann during the war. Then Moulton died in 1917. In 1918, Milligan went on to publish the work they had done to date, and later added a few updates of his own in subsequent editions (1929 and 1930), but the work was never finished. Milligan died in 1934 and Deissmann died in 1937. Their work then sat on the shelf mostly unused and unappreciated for the next 8 decades.
So, what started as a way for me to keep up with my Koinē Greek studies evolved into me finishing what Moulton, Milligan, and Deissmann had stated all those years ago. i.e., produce a lexicon illustrating how NT words were used in the broader Greco-Roman world.
First, I digitized the text from the flip-book scanned version at archive.org (https://archive.org/details/vocabularyofgree00mouluoft). Next, I keyed all the words to Strong’s numbers. Then, I provided inline translations for the papyri and inscription resources cited by MM (I personally checked every source cited). Finally, I added material overlooked by MM or became available since 1930. In addition to expanding on their entries, I also added 936 new entries; words MM didn’t get to.
Attached is a PDF file of ‘Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Student Edition (VGNTS). Do you think this would be useful for students and teachers if I were to make it available as a module in Logos? The module does need some proof-reading, but I am working on that.
If this would help you determine the potential for demand for this resource, here is part of what Dan Wallace (DTS) said when I sent him a copy for review (to get his feedback on it.)
"I can hardly tell you how impressed I am of this work. I’ve only looked at small sections but this looks so stunning an achievement I’m almost speechless. Surely you had several assistants? You sound like the reincarnation of Deissmann—working on Bibelstudien on the side! . . . "
"I suspect that with some tweaking hinted at above (and, of course, proofreading), this will become the standard for vocabulary from papyri and inscriptions for generations to come. "
Could you please let me know what you think and if it’s something you would be interested in? I can provide a review copy. Email: allan.loder@gmail.com
Thanks,
Allan