Relative difficulty of GNT books

Eric Weiss eweiss at
Sun Aug 4 01:01:03 EDT 2002

Based on a vocabulary-acquisition approach, the following is from REFRESH YOUR GREEK by Wesley J. Perschbacher. His book contains the entire text of UBS-3 (corrected) and assumes a prior knowledge of all words occurring 50x or more in the Greek New Testament, the Basic Vocabulary List he prints at the beginning of the book. Pershbacher writes:

"Suggested Reading Order of New Testament Books from the Easiest to the Most Difficult, Based on Frequency of Vocabulary Words Used in Each Book

"One may begin reading with any book. However, if one wishes to build vocabulary, the following order is suggested. The vocabulary system included in this volume is based on the sequence given. The list reflects only the frequency of vocabulary words used in the respective books. It does not reflect comparative difficulty from the point of syntax. From that
perspective, Acts, 2 Corinthians, and Hebrews would be among the more difficult New Testament writings.

1. 1 John
2. John
3. Revelation
4. Matthew
5. Mark
6. Luke
7. Acts
8. 1 Corinthians
9. 2 John
10. Romans
11. 2 Corinthians
12. 1 Thessalonians
13. 2 Thessalonians
14. Ephesians
15. Philemon
16. Galatians
17. 3 John
18. Colossians
19. Hebrews
20. Philippians
21. 1 Peter
22. 2 Peter
23. 1 Timothy
24. James
25. 2 Timothy
26. Jude
27. Titus

Eric S. Weiss

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