Don

Carson has the wrong attitude on the lexicons.

First one needs to know what a lexicon IS.  It is simply a collection by the editor of various examples of usage of a word with their derived meaning.  Some think a dictionary DEFINES a meaning for a word, this is not correct, USAGE defines the meaning and a dictionary or lexicon follows along after usage.

A lexicon is a work of humans and can be improved as more info is gathered about usage.  Archeology is continually making advances and the latest info not in lexicons yet is there.  A lexicon is simply trying to form an organized base of knowledge based on what was (thought to be) known at the time it was edited.

The LSJ lexicon is about ALL ancient Greek, the Bauer lexicon is about NT Greek; so one should immediately see that Bauer is a subset of LSJ.  Furthermore, Bauer might think some meaning in LSJ is not a meaning in the NT and so not list it, but if it SHOULD BE the meaning, then Bauer can be misleading.  The point is that Bauer in trying to be helpful can actually be unhelpful.

However, many theologians use Bauer all the time and LSJ rarely.  Using Bauer MOST of the time is not a problem, but one needs to be willing to go to LSJ as needed.  However, when doing that one is playing in a bigger pond, which is more challenging.

Another aspect of the NT is that it was written in Koine or Common Greek.  It was NOT a special theological language, it was the language of the common people.  Some of the authors wrote in a very refined style, some not, but it was all intended to be able to be read by the literate.