Compact Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament

Souter’s Pocket Lexicon has been in print in one way or another since 1916. It gives information beyond what is available in the commonly used dictionary bound with the UBS text of the New Testament. The book, when originally published, was part of a trilogy, the other two volumes of which were a text of the New Testament in Greek and The Text and Canon of the New Testament.

Souter wrote that his aim in producing the book was “to give the forms of the Greek words in the New Testament and their meanings as exactly as possible, according to the best knowledge available at the present time” (1966 ed., p. iv). He supplemented the definitions with limited but useful citations of texts that supported the given definitions. Souter developed the work with no reference to earlier dictionaries. It was based entirely on William F. Moulton and Alfred S. Geden’s A Concordance to the New Testament, 3rd ed. (Edinburgh: Clark, 1926), ed. William F. Mouton, Prolegomena, vol. 1 of A Grammar of the Greek New Testament (Edinburgh: Clark, 1906).

House, professor of Bible at Geneva Seminary, Colorado Springs, has now issued a revised edition of the older work. He has rearranged the entries, placing the English glosses early in each and revising the definitions to reflect more modern usage. Of most value to many potential users of the work is the inclusion of irregular forms of verbs to facilitate locating the lexical form.

This reviewer welcomes the update, though those who use the UBS text of the New Testament will more readily consult the dictionary included in that volume. One wonders therefore whether House’s book will have a wide appeal.