Vocabulary of the Greek Testament:
Student Edition (VGNTS)

by

Allan T. Loder

‘Vocabulary of the Greek Testament: Student Edition’ is an update/revision of Moulton’s and Milligan’s ‘VGNT’ published 1924-1930.  It is based on the 1929 print edition — which is now in the public domain — along with some supplemental material from the 1930 edition. However, it is not merely an electronic reproduction of Moulton’s and Milligan’s book. While every attempt has been made to remain true to the original content of VGNT, the VGNTS is an major update/revision designed to make Moulton’s and Milligan’s valuable resource more accessible to a wider English-speaking audience — especially those whose knowledge of the Biblical languages is very basic, “rusty,” or non-existent.

A reading of the print version of VGNT suggests that the original authors, Moulton and Milligan, presupposed that their intended audience would have a high level of understanding of the Greek language. Hopefully, the enhancements in the VGNTS version will help fill the gap for those whose knowledge is somewhat less than they anticipated.

Moulton’s and Milligan’s purpose for publishing the ‘The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament’ was to demonstrate that the language of the Greek New Testament was the common (Κοινή, Koinē) language used by ‘people on the street.’  The source documents used are mostly papyri and inscriptions that were discovered in the 1800s and early 1900s. These include such items as personal letters, court transcripts, marriage contracts, bills of sale, petitions, etc. These give us a facinating look into the daily lives of those who lived around the time when the New Testament was written. The purpose of the ‘Vocabulary of the Greek Testament: Student Edition’ remains the same as that of Moulton and Milligan, except now with the enhancements it is more accessible to a much wider audience.

The following enhancements have been made:

a.  Each lexical entry is keyed to Strong’s numbers. This creates a hyperlink between this dictionary module and any Bible module with Greek text in theWord that is keyed to Strong’s.  In cases where there is no corresponding Strong’s number, the Greek word is listed in the index. In cases where the lexical form is different in VGNT than in Strong’s, the Strong’s form appears after the VGNT form inside brackets with a tilde at the beginning.  For example,  αἱμορροέω (~ αἱμορῥέω).

b.  For each lexical entry the Greek word is given, followed by a transliteration, the [page number] where the word occurs in the print edition, an asterisk(*) to indicate the entry has been updated/revised, and a gloss.  For example, ἀγάπη [page 2]* [agapē, “love”].

c.  All internal cross-references to VGNT other entries have been hyperlinked. For example, in the body of the text of G154 αἰτέω you will see s.v. ἐρωτάω [erōtaō,  “to ask”]. This word is hyperlinked to G2065 ἐρωτάω.  There are over 500 such cross-references provided, thus making this module more useful and user-friendly.

d.  Inline English translations are provided for all Greek text, as well as for most Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin, French and German text.  A transliteration of some text is also provided, where deemed helpful.

e. In all translations of Greek text, the corresponding word for the lexical entry is underlined in both the Greek sentence and English translation. The intent to help the English reader understand how that word functions in the sentence. 

f. All papyri and inscriptions cited by Moulton and Milligan were carefully checked against available print and/or electronic sources. In some cases, later editions (i.e., transcriptions) of certain papyri have become available that have been emended by the editors differently than what is shown in VGNT. These are noted in the footnotes, along with the later transcriptions.

g. Over 460 new lexical entries are added as a result of papyri and inscriptions discovered in the decades since Moulton and Milligan.

h. New source materials are added to existing lexical entries, where available and deemed helpful.

i.  Pertinent information, such as units of measure, currency, names of Egyptian months, official titles, etc., is provided and hyperlinked. 

j.  In cases where references to the LXX (Septuagint) are given, the text of the LXX and an English translation is provided in the footnote. In addition, the parallel Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) reference is hyperlinked to the biblical text. Both references are given. For example, LXX Psa. 90:1 [= MT Psa. 91:1].

l.  The VGNTS includes exerts from books cited in the print edition of VGNT which is now either out of print, no longer available, or very hard to find. Occasionally, Moulton and Milligan redirects the reader elsewhere, without providing any additional information themselves on a particular word.  For example, for the entry Κανά (Kana, “Cana”) they have only “See F. C. Burkitt Syriac Forms, pp. 18f., 22.” In the VGNTS the information from those source cited is incorporated into the lexical entry where deemed helpful (See entry G2580).

m. In cases where the discussion on the particular form of a word centers around NT text-critical issues, relevant information is provided in the footnotes.

n.  Unfortunately, one of the greatest challenges for the student of papyrology and epigraphy is that sources are frequently listed under more that one catalogue identifier. For example Syll 364 is no. 364 of the second edition of Dittenberger’s Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum. But it is also listed as Syll^.3 797, and again as IMT SuedlTroas 573. This can be confusing and frustrating when attempting to look up a given source.  This enhanced version of VGNT addresses this challenge by providing several additional catalogue identifiers inside square brackets.  For example, Syll 364 [= Syll^.3 797 = IMT SuedlTroas 573].