Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (EGGNT)

Today, I received the following book from B&H Academic:

Murray J. Harris. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Colossians and Philemon. B&H Academic, 2010. [NOTE: The preview at Amazon is of the 1991 edition. This B&H Academic edition is an update of the 1991 edition.]

Now here's a book that I can really use!

The plan set forth in the General Introduction is clear and promises to be a guide for pastors and student who feel "stranded" from the Greek text.  Here's how Harris, who is also the General Editor of the series, explains the purpose of this series:

The [EEGNT] aims to close that gap between stranded student (or former student) and daunting text and to bridge that gulf between morphological analysis and exegesis.  Each volume of the Guide seeks to provide in a single volume all the necessary information for basic understanding of the Greek text and to afford suggestions for more detailed study.  The individual volumes are not full-scale commentaries.  But they should prove helpful to those who need some aid in understanding the Greek New Testament and in particular to several groups of persons: students preparing for examinations in New Testament studies, ministers and pastors who are hard-pressed for time yet eager to maintain the momentum in the study of Greek that they gained in their theological training and who wish to use the Greek text as the basis for their sermon preparation, and teachers seeking to help students gain confidence in reading the Greek New Testament. (xiii)

The EEGNT is a new series revived by B&H Academic.  This volume was originally published in 1991 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, however the series was discontinued (for reasons of which I am not aware).  Having had a chance to preview this initial volume, I am thrilled that B&H Academic has taken up this project.  I'm confident that this will be a highly useful series for students, teachers and pastors.  Please take a few minutes to look this over.

(From the publisher)

Exegetical Guide to the

Greek New Testament

Colossians and Philemon

by Murray J. Harris

ABOUT THE BOOK
The Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Colossians and Philemon is the first book in a projected series of twenty volumes that seeks to bring together classroom, study, and pulpit by providing the student or pastor with the information needed to understand and expound the Greek text of the New Testament. Author Murray J. Harris aims to close the gap between grammatical analysis and exegesis, leading the reader into an in-depth understanding of the New Testament Greek text by guiding him or her through the processes of thorough exegesis flowing into sermon construction.

Each volume provides the following for the biblical book or books on which it is written:

• Brief introduction on authorship, date, occasion, and purpose
• List of recommended commentaries
• Lists of recommended resources (i.e., monographs and articles) on various topics for further study
• Extensive exegetical notes
• Translation and expanded paraphrase of the whole book
• Comprehensive exegetical outline
• Glossary of grammatical and rhetorical terms

Murray J. Harris is professor emeritus of New Testament Exegesis and Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and former warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, England.

I also recommend Harris's excellent volume in the NSBT series: Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ. Volume 8. NSBT. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP, 2001. 222 pages.

Final Note

The second book in the EGGNT series will be on James by Douglas J. Moo is slated for release in October of 2011.

Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (EGGNT)