A very readable layman's introduction to the "secrets" of how modern Bibles are translated. Chapter 10: Science Comes to the Aid of Bible Translators diagrams how meaning is identified in the Hebrew or Greek and reproduced into English according to the "criterion of closest natural equivalence ... the touchstone of faithful translation--the guarantee of both accuracy and acceptability" (p. 109).

This "closest natural equivalence," which is more widely denoted by the term "dynamic equivalence," itself has been kidnapped by some Bible publishers for their own work--notably the God's Word version. They use the term to mean something between dynamic equivalence and formal ("literal") equivalence. But if you've read this book, you'd know who said it first!

As one review already noted, Volume 1 is useless without the supplement. Unfortunately, I had already submitted my order before finding out this information.

Only the domains are included in this book. This is Volume 1. Volume 1 is essentially useless without the indexes which is Volume 2. Buy the books as a set, ISBN: 0-8267-0343-7

This is the easiest lexicon to use for general translation work, and the fastest one to look things up in. Most lexicons try to give you a feeling for the different kinds of meanings that a word might have, then point you to examples which illustrate each meaning. To really understand them, you have to digest the examples carefully. This lexicon gives fewer examples and more complete definitions, which makes it much easier to grasp the meaning quickly. It also lets you look up words in English and translate them into Greek, which can be useful for exercises that require you to write Greek. To use this lexicon, always start with the second volume and look up the word in the alphabetical list. If you don't, you will never figure out how to use it. For more reviews on lexicons, grammars, and textbooks, see "http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie/littleGreek.html".