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Frederick William Danker (; July 12, 1920 – February 2, 2012) was a Christ Seminary–Seminex Professor Emeritus of New Testament at the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Chicago, Illinois. LSTC is a member of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), a consortium of eleven area seminaries ...
, Illinois. Danker was a noted New Testament scholar and the pre-eminent
Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...
for two generations, working with
F. Wilbur Gingrich Felix Wilbur Gingrich (27 September 1901 – 19 October 1993) was an American educator, scholar of Biblical Greek, and Christian layman who spent his entire career working with students at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Gingrich publi ...
as an editor of the ''
Bauer Lexicon ''Bauer's Lexicon'' (also ''Bauer Lexicon'', ''Bauer's Greek Lexicon'', and ''Bauer, Arndt and Gingrich'') is among the most highly respected dictionaries of Biblical Greek. The producers of the German forerunner are Erwin Preuschen and Walter Baue ...
'' starting in 1957 until the publication of the second edition in 1979, and as the only editor from 1979 until the publication of the 3rd edition, updating it with the results of modern scholarship, converting it to
SGML The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML; ISO 8879:1986) is a standard for defining generalized markup languages for documents. ISO 8879 Annex A.1 states that generalized markup is "based on two postulates": * Declarative: Markup should des ...
to allow it to be easily published in electronic formats, and significantly improving the usability of the lexicon, as well as the typography. Earlier English-language editions of the ''Bauer Lexicon'' were essentially translations and adaptations of
Walter Bauer Walter Bauer (; 8 August 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a German theologian, lexicographer of New Testament Greek, and scholar of the development of Early Christianity. Life Bauer was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, and raised in Marburg, ...
's German dictionary into English. Danker’s dictionary was essentially an entirely new work. He reportedly worked on the lexicon 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 10 years.


Career

Professor Danker received his formal training at
Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...
, where he satisfied requirements for a B.D. degree with a dissertation on the function of the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hebel) within the book of Qoheleth. He then undertook his PhD studies at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, Department of Humanities, in classical studies, with special interest in
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
,
Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...
, and the Greek tragedians, finally writing a dissertation on "Threnetic Penetration in Aeschylus and Sophocles". From 1954 on, Danker taught at the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...
's
Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...
in St. Louis, when he joined the team of Arndt and Gingrich and helped produce the second edition of BAG, then called ''BAGD''. In 1974, he left with the majority of faculty members to form Concordia Seminary in Exile, also known as
Seminex Seminex is the widely used abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile (later Christ Seminary-Seminex), which existed from 1974 to 1987 after a schism in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The seminary in exile was formed due to the ong ...
. On the voluntary dissolution of Seminex in 1983, Danker chose to go to the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Chicago, Illinois. LSTC is a member of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), a consortium of eleven area seminaries ...
, where he taught until his retirement in 1988. He then began his magisterial work on the ''BDAG'', upon which completion the lexicon was finally released in 2000. Having already produced ''BDAG'' (3rd ed) during his so-called "retirement", he spent his last years preparing ''The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament'' which is not a condensation of ''BDAG'' but an entirely new, although shorter, lexicon of the New Testament.


Awards and recognition

In 2004, a
festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
with the title ''Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography: Essays in Honor of Frederick W. Danker'' () was published to celebrate Danker's work, including 18 essays on biblical Greek language and lexicography.


Personal reflection

"In a personal interview I conducted with him in January, 2003, I asked Prof Danker about his own education at Concordia Seminary, where William Arndt was his professor. He told me of a course where they translated the entire NT in two semesters! He described also his Ph.D. in Classics at the University of Chicago and his return to teach at Concordia, where he stayed until the seminary divided in the seventies when he went to Seminex and then to the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. I asked Professor Danker if he could confirm the rumor circulating about him “on the street.” That of course his interest, and he responded: “Oh, what is that?” I told him that there was a rumor that he had worked continuously on the 3rd edition of the lexicon for twelve hours each day, six days a week, for ten years. I should not have been surprised that his humble response was simply, “Well, we did take vacations." It is a memory that I will always cherish and I tell my students about it often. He also whispered to me that he had another project in the works. When his 400-page Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament appeared in 2009, I recalled that “can you keep a secret?” remark! Frederick W Danker was a pains-taking scholar, the likes of which the Christian world has rarely seen. But I close with something else that I learned about the man that day. He apologized that he had to end the interview because he wanted to pay a pastoral visit in the hospital to an ailing colleague." (
William Varner William C. Varner is an American biblical scholar. He is Professor of Biblical Studies & Greek at The Master's University. Varner studied at Bob Jones University, Dropsie College, Biblical Theological Seminary, Gratz College, and Temple Univ ...
)


Frederick W. Danker Depositorium

The Frederick W. Danker Depositorium is located within the Overton Memorial Library on the campus of
Heritage Christian University Heritage Christian University is a private bible college in Florence, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university is governed by a Board of Directors, all of whom must be active members of the Churches of Christ. Aca ...
in
Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...
. In April 2010, Danker informed the staff of the Overton Memorial Library that he would be giving his entire personal library and papers to OML. The process officially began in October 2010 and continued until shortly after his death in February 2012. Housed within the Danker Depositorium are files of research conducted by Danker, personal correspondence, published and unpublished writings by Danker. and memorabilia from his home and office.


Works

* ''A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.'' 3d ed. University of Chicago Press. . * ''The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament'' . * ''2 Corinthians - Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament'' . * ''Benefactor: Epigraphic Study of a Graeco-Roman and New Testament Semantic Field'' . * ''A Century of Greco-Roman Philology Featuring the American Philological Association and the Society of Biblical Literature'' . * ''Creeds in the Bible (Biblical monographs)'' ASIN: B0006BOYBE. * ''Invitation to the New Testament Epistles IV: A commentary on Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2.'' * ''Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study'' . * ''Jesus and the New Age: A commentary on St. Luke's Gospel'' .


References


Sources

* * Rykle Borger, ''Remarks of an Outsider about Bauer's Wörterbuch, BAGD, BDAG, and Their Textual Basis'', pp. 32–47, Biblical Greek language and lexicography: essays in honor of Frederick W. Danker, ed. Bernard A. Taylor (et al.). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. .


External links


Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography: Essays in Honor of Frederick W. Danker. Review by Edgar Krentz.Leading New Testament Greek scholar donates extensive library to Heritage Christian UniversityTribute to Frederick Danker by Rodney J. DeckerLutheran School of Theology at Chicago News Release: "Frederick W. Danker, professor emeritus of New Testament, dies"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danker, Frederick W. 1920 births 2012 deaths American male non-fiction writers American lexicographers 20th-century American Lutheran clergy Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago faculty People from Frankenmuth, Michigan Clergy from St. Louis University of Chicago alumni Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people Concordia Seminary alumni