The semantic organization of the entry γίνομαι in Greek New Testament lexicons. A comparativestudy

Abstract

After consulting the entry γίνομαι in the Louw-Nida (L-N) and Bauer-Danker (BDAG) Greek New Testament dictionaries, it is found that these dictionaries do not explain why γίνομαι changes in meaning and translation in the different contexts and which criteria are followed for the organization of this entry. In the first part of this paper we present an abbreviated entry of what will appear in the sixth fascicle of the Diccionario Griego-Español del Nuevo Testamento (DGENT) in process of publication, and a new organization of it is proposed considering the various aspectual values of γίνομαι that cause the changes in meaning and translation in context. After that we present a brief criticism of this entry in the cited dictionaries to finish comparing their definitions –when given– with those of the DGENT.