Dr J o d y A. B a r n a r d
reviewing work
Since 2013 I have been supplying various professional reviewing services, such as peer reviews and book reviews. The purpose of peer review is to maintain academic standards and to determine an academic paper's suitability for publication, whereas the purpose of book reviews is to summarise and evaluate published works for the benefit of the reading public. If you are interested in either of these services, or variations thereof, you are welcome to contact me to make an enquiry.
Here is a sample of one of my book reviews. A shorter version of it was published in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament 37.5 (2015): 122-123.
Description from the back:“This Hellenistic Greek reader is designed for students who have completed one or more years of Greek and wish to improve their reading ability and gain a better appreciation for the diversity of the language. The seventy passages in this reader reflect different styles, genres, provenances and purposes, and are arranged into eight parts according to their level of difficulty. Grammatical support and vocabulary lists accompany each passage, and a cumulative glossary offers further assistance with translation. Students are led to a deeper understanding of Hellenistic Greek, and a greater facility with the language.”
The Table of Contents and Front Matter may be viewed here and a free on-line supplement, including over thirty additional reading samples, may be accessed here (click Resources > Resources).
This book includes an impressive range of biblical texts, para-biblical texts (apocrypha and pseudepigrapha), which are often indispensable for understanding the biblical texts, and many other Hellenistic Greek texts (letters, magical papyri, inscriptions, philosophical tractates) which helps situate all of the above within a wider Greco-Roman context. As you would expect, the reading samples begin simple and gradually become more difficult, culminating in a selection of advanced Greek passages. You will need to be conversant with McLean’s New Testament Greek Introduction (or an equivalent) in order to begin this book, and be prepared for some significant learning curves along the way, particularly with regard to vocabulary. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that those who are able and willing to put in the effort will not only be “led to a deeper understanding of Hellenistic Greek”, but will also gain some precious insights into the Hellenistic Greek World more generally.
Some of the highlights include: (1) The advocacy of the native/historical Greek pronunciation which, unlike the so-called “Erasmian” pronunciation used by most academics, is how most, if not all, of these texts would have originally sounded. (2) The use of an actual ancient manuscript (P46) to represent Paul’s Letters, thereby treating the reader to an historical text that was actually used in antiquity, although this raises the question why other texts were not treated similarly. (3) Exposure to the Iota adscript. Unless one reads certain ancient inscriptions and/or manuscripts directly, you are unlikely to encounter this feature of the language in the edited texts which usually convert it into the much more familiar iota subscript. (4) Encountering some of the distinctive features of the dialects (e.g., Doric, Attic) in the Common Greek of the Hellenistic era is also helpful, and rightly reminds us that the dialects did not suddenly disappear with the emergence of Hellenistic Greek. (5) The sheer range and diversity of texts represented here is truly impressive, and they are all introduced in a most helpful and informative manner.
Unfortunately, the book is plagued by typographical errors (e.g., pp. xxxi, 23, 24, 34, 38, 46, 60, 62, 82, 83, 86, 87, 105, 114, 119, 120, 121, 126, 127, 134, 140, 150, 155 (n. 3), 157, 162, 165, 176, 190, 193, 206, 212, 226 (n. 1), 233, 245, 248, 252, 266, 268, 269, 277, 279, 283), but they are minor, and mostly obvious. Note also that the Iota adscript first appears in the Documentary Papyri (pp. 144, 147). McLean discusses this feature in his Introduction (p. xxxiii), and notes its use in the Inscriptions (pp. 301-84) and the Apocalypse of Peter (p. 235), but neglects to mention its appearance in said papyri. Given that the intended audience is unlikely to be familiar with this ancient feature of the language, one might easily be vexed by its abrupt appearance. It is perhaps also worth noting that this “reader” is in fact intended to facilitate translation, like most books of its kind. For those looking to attain comprehension in the target language, this will be of limited value. Overall, this is a useful resource, and I would consider using it as a basis for guiding those with a good grasp of basic Greek into a deeper and more varied experience of the language.