New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 4 Volumes

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology is, first, a basic enlargement of the German Theologisches Begriffslexikon zum Neuen Testament. On its first publication in German it was recognized as a major reference work and has since become a more and more widely acclaimed as an important tool for understanding the theology and message of the Bible. Its translation and publication in English, together with the extensive revisions and additions, provide a unique source of information, invaluable to ministers, teachers, and anyone interested in the study as well as the teaching of the Bible. This set features concise discussions of the major theological terms of the Bible that are arranged in English alphabetical order and discusses the use of each key term in classical Greek, the Old Testament, the rabbinic writing, and the New Testament. It also contains a glossary of technical terms, full bibliographies and complete indexes that make the wealth of information in these volumes readily accessible. No prior knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is necessary. This set is second only to Kittel in scope.

Unlock the significance, meaning, and nuances of New Testament words without having to study Hebrew or Greek with this four volume set of New Testament Dictionaries.

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Reviewed by Dominique (Colchester, VT), June 12, 2008

I'm not qualified to comment on the content of these dictionaries, although my research before buying them indicated that they were quite good. I do want to offer one criticism though: The NT dictionary is organized in ENGLISH alphabetical order (unlike the OT dictionary, which is in Hebrew alphabetical order). That makes what should be a simple job much more difficult. The reason it is done this way, I assume, is to make it "easier" for those of us who don't know Greek. However, that doesn't really happen at all. The reason is because a Greek word can be translated a bunch of different ways, and there's no way to easily work backward. If I have the NASB and the word I want to research is "Perfect", I'm powerless to find that word in these dictionaries. The Greek work might be translated as "end" or "complete" in these dictionaries, and I would have no way of knowing that. So whether I know Greek or not, I have to use an interlinear translation to find out what the greek work that I am interested in is. If this was set up in Greek alphabetical order, all I would have to do from that point is look that word up. However, because these dictionaries are set up in English alphabetical order, it adds an extra step of going to the Greek index in the last volume to find out how it's translated and categorized in the dictionaries. More work for no reason. An addtional disadvantage this adds is that since a greek word can be translated as several English words, the descriptions of a word I may be interested in are often scattered throughout several volumes, whereas if it was in greek alphabetical order, they'd all be in one place. I have no idea why they set it up this way. Other than this issue, I think it's a great set (I'd give it 5 stars), and I'm once you get to the info you want, the content is great. However, they made it more of a pain to get there by the way it's set up, and for that I've got to dock a star and a half.

Reviewed by David Kilpatrick (North Syracuse, NY), October 14, 2007

I got this set in 1981! It's super! I can't give it five stars because 1) it's organization is cumbersome (keyed to English words, Greek words grouped thematically-you need the index a lot), 2) You can get 95% of this same information in the abridged volume, which is organized alphabetically by Greek word, at a fraction of the price (I have the abridged volume and love it better than the full set!). With those criticisms aside, this set contains great information on the theological meaning of the words in the NT. You don't get bogged down like you can in Kittel's TDNT. Don't get me wrong, there are many in-depth articles here. If you can only have one of the NT theological dictionaries from among TDNT, EDNT and Spicq, this is probably the one to have (I have and routinely use them all).

Reviewed by Eug (Edgerton, WI), July 05, 2001

As an evangelical Christian, I consider this the best multi-volume NT word study set available. This is due to the liberal presuppositions and Nazi sympathies of Kittel and his work.

Reviewed by Glenn Davis (Plantersville, MS), December 07, 2000

This set is a must for any serious student of the NT Greek. Others who have a deep interest into the meaning of Greek words should seriously consider this set as well. Unlike Vine's or Strong's, this set will open so many avenues for research that only the students with the discipline to put in the effort should consider this set. For those who want just a casual rendition of a word should either stick with Vine's or stay away from the Greek. Along with this set I use Kittell's work, and Robertson's as well. The only "issue" I have with this set is that some of the authors write more on theology than to the actual history and usage of a word. This set is great in that one can set the how words are grouped together, and can learn the relationships between the words. This set does not have a reference for where the words are used (you need a Greek concordance for that work), but it does give a brief history on how a word was used in Classical Greek if applicable, in the Septuagint, in the NT, and also any history, customs, social ties, political ties, etc, that may also pertain to the word. I borrowed a friend's small Kittel when I purchased this set. I am glad I purchased this set before I bought the small Kittel.

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