After a lengthy hiatus, I would like to return to the importance of context in interpreting Scripture. In the last post, I wrote about literary context – the kind of writing in which a passage occurs.
The next topic I would like to discuss we could call linking words. Many churchgoers have heard this heuristic of Bible study: If you see the word therefore, ask what it is there for. And that idea is what I mean. We need to notice linking words that connect a passage with what comes before it or after it. That means noticing conjunctions (and, but, for, since, therefore, although, etc.) and repeated words and phrases.
Noticing these sorts of details is crucial to understanding what the writer of Scripture is trying to get done with the passage at hand. In a talk given at the Worship God 2009 conference, John Piper quipped that he spends two or three years with his students at Bethlehem just helping them see conjunctions. (Yes, John Piper quipped.)
An example should help us see how important conjunctions and repeated words are. In 2 John 1:4, the apostle John rejoices that the Christians he is addressing are following the truth. In v. 5 he writes “and now” (kai nun in Greek), indicating not a new command (entole) but a renewed emphasis on an old command to love one another. John tells us in v. 6 that we love God by obeying his commands, and goes on to say that the command we must obey is to love one another. Many commentators take vs. 4-6 and 7-11 as separate units. But notice that in v. 7 the apostle uses the conjunction “for” (gar) to link our love with the problem of false teachers. Through the use of conjunctions and a repeated word, the apostle is telling us that our love for one another within the church is vital to standing firm as a community against the danger of false teaching.
Noticing conjunctions and repetition will make us better students of Scripture, and it will help keep us from using a passage of Scripture for different purposes than that for which it was intended.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Justin,
You seem to be exploring the area that text linguistics deals with, not really syntax as it was defined by traditional grammar where nothing above the level of the clause/sentence was considered the domain of syntax.
In biblical studies circles this is typically called discourse analysis. The standard reference work on this is Steven Levinsohn's Discourse Features of New Testament Greek_ (2nd ed. 2000, SIL). This is probably the most difficult book you will ever read on NT Greek.
Hi Stirling,
Thanks for posting your comment. I clicked over to your blogs, and it humbles me that someone with your technical knowledge of Greek would take the time to look at what I've written. I appreciate the book recommendation as well -- as my knowledge of NT Greek grows, I would like to pick it up.
I think I could have been more careful in my writing. What I specifically wanted to draw attention towards, in a non-technical way, are the ways word selection shows us how a pericope functions. You're correct that "syntax" is not the right label, and I am changing the post to reflect this.
Thank you again!
Justin
Justin,
Actually most grammarians would not have any objections to discussing conjunctions under the rubric of syntax. So there is really nothing wrong with your post.
The text linguistics people had taken a somewhat different approach to conjunctions and particles.
Post a Comment