[B-Greek] B-Greek Year End Awards

Mark Lightman lightmanmark at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 14 08:44:20 EST 2010


B-Greek Year End Awards:
 
MOST DISCUSSED TOPIC:  Pedagogy.  
 
BEST SUBJECT LINE:  Blue Harris, “Here we go again.” (Luke 22:70)
 
MORE HEAT THAN FWS AWARD: Interlinears.
 
BEST NICK NAME FOR BROOKE FOSS WESTCOTT:  “The co-Hort.”
 
BEST GREEK AUDIO:  Vasile Stancu, LXX Jonah.
 
http://www.vasile-stancu.ro/greaca_audio-en.htm 
 
Jonah is a particularly good text to listen to because the Hebrew-based syntax 
is simple and easy to internalize.  Vasile’s reading is dramatic and includes a 
special sound effect for God’s voice, which really helps in the comprehension. 

 
BEST B-GREEK SPIN-OFF:  Louis Sorenson, Schole.
 
http://schole.ning.com/
 
 
BEST WRITER OF CONVERSATIONAL ANCIENT GREEK ON SCHOLE NOT NAMED CARL CONRAD:  
Donald Cobb.
 
GREEK VOWEL THAT IS PRONOUNCED IN THE MOST DIFFERENT WAYS:  Eta (η) Six. 1.  a 
as in bad (Restored Attic.)  2. ay as in bay (North American Erasmian. 3. e as 
in pet (British Erasmian.) 4. ay as in bay in open syllables, but e as in pet in 
closed syllables (French and Romanian Erasmian.) 5. ee as in feet (Modern 
Greek.)  6. n as in not (People who are still learning the alphabet.)
 
2010 CURRENT EVENT MOST OFTEN MENTIONED ON LIST:  The B.P. oil spill.
 
BEST ORIGINAL QUOTE:  Barry Hofstetter, “Become your own lexion.”
 
BEST ADAPTED QUOTE:  George Somsel. “Context is King,” adapted from the 1858 
speech of Senator James Hammond of South   Carolina.  “No, you dare not make war 
on cotton…Cotton is king.”
 
George’s dictum should be shouted EPI TWN DWMATWN.  Context is not only King, it 
is an absolute sovereign, limited by no Parliament, checked by no constitution 
or grammar or lexicon.  When he was told that the House of Representatives was 
preparing to impeach him for bombing Cambodia, Richard Nixon said “They can’t 
impeach me for that.  The President can bomb anyone he wants.”  When it comes to 
Greek, King Context can do anything it wants.  If you forget everything you have 
ever read on B-Greek, remember this one thing and you will be fine:  “You dare 
not make war on King Context.”
 
BEST CAMPAIGN SLOGAN IF YOU ARE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT (OF THE AMERICAN 
PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY): “Read my lips.  No new grammatical categories!” 

 
MOST READER’S GREEK NEW TESTAMENTS PUBLISHED DURING ONE CALENDAR YEAR: 2010, 
with three: Zondervan’s combined Greek and Hebrew, VTR’s, based on the Byzantine 
Text, and UBS’ new one with textual notes. The ratio of Reader’s Greek New 
Testaments to people who actually READ the Greek New Testament now stands at 10 
to 9. 

 
BEST EXPLANATION FOR WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON WITH GREEK VOICE:  Michel de 
Montaigne,  “When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing 
herself with me more than I with her.”
 
HIGHEST RECORDED GRONT SCORE:  2 Clement,  Close to the Greek of the NT  9, Easy 
Greek  8, Good Greek  6, Total  23. 

 
LOWEST RECORDED GRONT SCORE:  Linear B Pylos Tablet Ae134, Close to the Greek of 
the NT  1, Easy Greek  2, Good Greek  0,  Total  3.
 
BEST GREEK NEW TESTAMENT PUBLISHED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE DURING CALENDAR 
2010:  The Vest Pocket Greek New Testament, published in Greece by Apostoliki 
Diakonia, but made available in the States by Rob Leedy of Bob Jones University 
Book Store:
 
http://www.bjucampusstore.com/ePOS?this_category=136&store=468&item_number=2800840058821&form=shared3%2fgm%2fdetail.html&design=468

 
Even the maps are in Greek!  Honorable mention goes to the terrific new SBL GNT 
by Michael Holmes and Rick Brannan.
 
B-GREEK PERSON OF THE YEAR. BEING THE AWARD GIVEN TO THE PERSON WHOSE POSTS WERE 
OVERALL THE MOST HELPFUL DURING CALENDAR 2010: Yancy Smith.  His posts are 
always informative and interesting.  Check out his argument that DIKAIOSUNH in 2 
Peter 1:1 means not righteousness but love. 

 
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/2010-April/053295.html
 
 
Yancy also had the best joke of 2010:  “I am not a linguist, nor a son of a 
linguist.”
 
MOST CONSECUTIVE WORDS IN THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT THAT START WITH THE SAME 
LETTER:   Romans 13:7b,  seven straight tau’s. ἀπόδοτε πᾶσιν τὰς ὀφειλάς, τῷ τὸν 
φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν 
τιμήν.   …TWi TO TELOS TO TELOS TWi TON…
 
THE YOGI BERRA HE’S 100% HALF-RIGHT AWARD:  Carl Conrad,  That when learning 
Greek, grammar is a necessary evil.  Carl is 100% half right. 

 Mark L
Φωσφορος 


FWSFOROS MARKOS



      


More information about the B-Greek mailing list