The Greek-English New Testament: Tyndale House, Cambridge Edition and English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020. 960 pages. $59.99 (hardcover).
The Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge (THGNT) was published by Crossway in 2017, edited by Dirk Jongkind, Peter J. Williams, Peter M. Head, and Patrick James. The THGNT is the product of over ten years of diligent work, based on the nineteenth-century edition of Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, which was used by B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort in preparation of their own widely influential edition published in 1881. As a thorough revision of Treggelles’s edition, the THGNT aims “to present the New Testament books in the earliest form in which they are well attested” (vii). The Greek-English New Testament joins together the THGNT with the English Standard Version (ESV) by presenting the original Greek text with the corresponding English translation.
The Greek-English New Testament includes a brief introduction to the THGNT, which highlights several distinguishing features: orthography, order of books, paragraphs, breathings, accents, punctuation, the apparatus, and the witnesses. Readers will immediately notice that the books in the THGNT are ordered according to the tendency in the manuscript tradition: Gospels, Acts, the Catholic Epistles, the Pauline corpus, and Revelation. Though few manuscripts contain all these books, the order with Acts and the Catholic Epistles preceding the Pauline corpus “predominates and is therefore reflected in this edition” (vii). The section on distinct features such as orthography and paragraphing is particularly intriguing; the latter section offers fresh insight into our understanding of the function and logic of a paragraph.
In summary, readers of the THGNT are exposed to a careful philological approach to the text of the Greek New Testament which prioritizes early witnesses. This includes all papyri, all majuscules from the fifth century or earlier, and a select group of later manuscripts that provide additional support or represent important variations. Because of this approach, pastors and students will want to familiarize themselves with the THGNT. Crossway’s The Greek-English New Testament provides an accessible and enjoyable edition for personal reading and study. For any pastor or student hoping to re-engage with the Greek text of the New Testament, The Greek-English New Testament is the perfect resource to have on one’s shelf.
Jimmy Roh is a Ph.D. candidate in Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
