Lexical aids for students of New Testament Greek
"- Metzger takes up each book individually, summarizing contents, problems, and significance. Interest is enhanced by a style of presentation which relates the book to a wealth of historical, literary, and artistic allusions, Susanna being a good example (pp.107-113): this apocryphal addition to Daniel is "among the earliest detective stories ever written"; puns in the Greek are brought out even more clearly than in E.J. Goodspeed's American translation; and usages of Susanna by Church Fathers in typology and later by medieval drama are also noted. Then follow chapters, eye-opening even for the reader who knows something about the topic, on the Apocrypha and the New Testament, its history in the church, and, in a wonderfully far-reaching section, its influence in literature, music, art, and even cast-iron stove decoration among the Pennsylvania Dutch! Erudition becomes utterly charming as the role of the Apocrypha is unfolded in Columbus' discovery of America, John Bunyan's spiritual development, or the case of Williams Whiston (Josephus' translator) and the "Rabbit breeder," Mary Toft. We are also indebted to Metzger's scholarly eye for picking up a recently discovered essay by John Henry Newman on why, in his Anglican days, he could not receive the Apocrypha as canonical (pp. 172 f.). Appendices on English translation of the Apocrypha, including projects in process, and on the New Testament Apocrypha, notably Metzger's own rendering of the episode in the Acts of Paul on "The baptized Lion," complete the work." Publisher
Print Book, English, 1955