A guest post from Chad Whitacre, son of Professor Emeritus the Rev. Dr. Rod Whitacre

Our beloved professor and friend (and my father), Rod Whitacre, left us one final book project before he went singing home on May 22. That project is now complete, and the result is available for free download on WhitacreGreek.com and for purchase at cost on Amazon.

Learning Greek Passage by Passage is a hybrid between the common methods currently available and an inductive method. It begins with several lessons that provide students with an overview of the language, including major features of morphology and sentence structure. After the initial lessons there is a constant focus on the Greek text.

Learning Greek Passage by Passage complements Rod’s Grammar of New Testament Greek (Eerdmans, 2021). It is meant to be useful not only in formal courses but also informal classes in churches or elsewhere, as well as individual study. The New Testament is the primary focus for most people using this method, but you will also be able to read the Old Testament in Greek as well as a variety of other texts, both Christian and non-Christian.

From the preface:

I am grateful to all the students who have studied Greek with me over the years, especially those in recent years who have used various drafts of this method. I am particularly thankful to Tara Jernigan for feedback after she stepped in at late notice to teach the second semester of basic Greek in 2023 when illness prevented me from doing so. Adding a course to her class load, especially an unusual method midstream in a course, was an act of great generosity.

Thank you indeed to Tara Jernigan for finishing out my dad’s last class, and for helping with final corrections to the text.

Rod’s Parting Gift to Us

Rod made it clear that Learning Greek Passage by Passage was to be released for free download and as low cost as possible in print. He wanted it to be his final gift to students everywhere. In God’s providence, I found the following email in my dad’s inbox while preparing the book, from someone who had not heard of his passing.

I have been recently going through your Greek Grammar (A Grammar of New Testament Greek) and I love it. I came across it because I was interested in the new approach with “Learning Greek Passage by Passage: A Modified Text-Based Approach for Koine Greek.” Since then I have been looking forward to the text but I see no sign of it being out there and 2023 is in its second half.

So I wanted to enquire when the text will be ready, and if there is any way I can access it at the moment? Forgive my boldness, I am in love with your work, eager to learn Greek and I want to get into reading ASAP.

I shared the news of Rod’s passing along with the PDF of the book, and received the following reply.

I am in love with your father’s work. He really has been impactful to me in my journey learning Greek, and I am so appreciative of him.

It’s sad to hear of his passing, to me he shall forever live on in my Greek and in his wonderful works.

I leave you with this verse, Psalm‬ ‭116:15‬ ‭(KJV‬‬): “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” We have this precious hope that one day we shall meet Rodney again, I definitely want to be there to meet him and thank him.

By God’s grace, it seems that my dad’s wish for his last book is already fulfilled. Thank you (you know who you are) for being part of this story. How wonderful it is to be able to accompany the publication of Learning Greek Passage by Passage with your encouragement.

The End of the Matter

WhitacreGreek.com has become a long-term archive of my dad’s books and other writings. I intend to do something similar with SingingHome.com.  Thankfully, we will continue to have these pages by which to remember Rod (I’ve added a photo gallery), revisit his teachings, and recall his final days this side of glory.