A GREEK GRAMMAR OF THE NEW TESTAMENT and Other Early Christian Literature F. BLASS AND A. DEBRUNNER A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunnert by ROBERT W. FUNK CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS — THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 1961FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION The candid confession which Blass makes, at the opening of his preface to the first edition, regarding his competence in the linguistic field, permits us to presume that it was entirely in conformity with the author’s intent when the publisher assigned the revision to a linguist who devoted his major effort to precisely this aspect of the work. As a matter of fact, philology and even theology were satisfactorily incorporated into the first and second editions, and L found it necessary to question the numerous text-critical and exegetical notes only in rare cases where I was certain I could offer better. In doubtful cases I did not shy away from a small sacrificiwm intellectus—which one can surely justify vis-a-vis a Blass! The linguistic revision was to contribute primarily, of course, to the sections on phonology and aecidence, since it was in this area (besides lexicography which plays a marginal role in grammar) that Hellenistic studies had made the most progress since the second edition, and that results lay most conveniently to hand (Mayser, Helbing, Crinert, ete.). For this reason, the first two parts have undergone the most change. The saying TroAUs uév 6 Oepioyds, of SE pyaton dAiyor unfortunately still applies to the study of Hellenistic (and Medieval as well as Modern) Greek syntax, and the meager and scattered publications in the area are just sufficient to make the immense gaps which remain painfully conspicuous. The major emphasis in the treatment of NT syntax must, therefore, fall where Blass had demonstrated his mastery, namely on the comparison of NT with classical syntax—an area, all too greatly neglected today. I have striven all the more, at least as far as it is presently possible, to extend these comparisons to the syntax of the LX.X, the Apostolic Fathers, the papyri and inscriptions, as well as of Modern Greek. (I hope I am not misunderstood when I use the expression ‘right’ or ‘correct’ here and there, or occasionally designate a form as ‘better’.) But I beg the reader, in his assessment of the work, to observe the following considerations: it was my intention that the book should retain the character indicated by the title without growing into a Hellenistic grammar, or into an exhaustive handbook, but should remain a practical tool in which theologians, philologians and linguists, pastors and scholars, and students can find, not everything, but as much usable data, analysis and interpretation, and as many bibliographical leads as possible (cf. Table V). Whether the continued existence of this grammar is justified in view of the three NT Greek grammars which have appeared in German since the second edition (Moulton, Radermacher, Robertson-Stocks), let. others decide. A. DEBRUNNERPREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION The question which Albert Debrunner submitted to public judgment in his preface to the fourth edition (1913), as to whether the continued existence of Blass’s Grammatik was justi- fied, has been answered affirmatively by the reception accorded the six editions which followed. The modesty of Professor Debrunner would not permit him to predict that the work, under his hand, would come to oceupy an even more central position among the basic tools found on the shelves of linguists, theologians and students; that it has achieved this status is due in no small measure to his untiring efforts to keep the work fully in the wake of the rapid advances being made durin: g the first half of this contury in the fields of. comparative philology and the history of the Greek language. Friedrich Blass, Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Hi alle-Wittenberg, published the first edition of his Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Griechisch in 1896. It was rendered into English by H. St John Thackeray in 1898, who included the alterations of the second German edition (1902) in two appendices in a second edition (1905). Albert Debrunner, Professor of Indo-European and Classical Philology at the University of Bern during most of his academic life, succeeded to the editorship upon the death of Blass. His initial contribution took the form of a thorough revision, particularly with reference to the sections treating phonology, accidence and word-formation (s. supra, Preface to the fourth edition). In addition, he transformed the rather cumbersome arrangement of the material into a much more perspicuous and legible order by collecting statements and principles into main sections and relegating the wealth of detail, mostly in the form of notes, to subsections (printed in reduced type). This revision appeared as the fourth edition (1913), Debrunner found it necessary, owing to the stress of the times, to alter the format of the work once again in the seventh edition (1943), while at the same timo thoroughly revising and augmenting the text. Many of the notes were now taken out of the text and collected into an appendix at the end of the book, making it possible to issue both a complete and an abbre- viated edition without appendix; aside from the inconvenience caused by this arrangement, the work was again a substantial advance over previous editions. It was in this edition that the author worked in important new manuscript material: the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri (D*, DB", BP"), the Washington (Freer) Gospels (W) and the Washington Manuseript of the Pauline Epistles (I), 9", the Unknown Gospel (Papyrus Egerton 2), and, finally, new manuscript material for Hermas (the Michigan Papyrus, the Hamburg parchment fragment, and the small papyrus fragments). The appendix which was created out of the notes for the seventh edition was retained in the eighth (1949), but in the ninth (1954) it was broken up and inserted in the text at the appro- priate points in a mechanical fashion, thus providing most sections with two subsections. The tenth edition (posthumous) is a reprint of the ninth with typographical corrections. The history of the work may thus be summarized in tabular form: First edition, by F. Blass 1896 Second edition, with corrections and First English edition, trans. H. St John additions 1902 Thackeray 1898 Second English edition 1905 xi