Re: How to memorize verb forms...
Somi Chuhon (kittycat@uniserve.com)
Wed, 18 Dec 1996 18:41:37 -0800
At 05:16 PM 17/12/96 +0400, you wrote:
>Jeffrey Gibson wrote;
>>On Tue, 17 Dec 1996, Somi Chuhon wrote:
>>
>>> There's only one place to find "biblical Greek" and that's in the text!
>>> Perhaps the concern to know other verb forms are due to a need to look
>>> outside of the text in order to inform the text of its interpretation (I'm
>>> taking a wild guess here). Frankly, [personal opinion], you don't really
>>> need "outside" Greek to know that the text is saying "inside."
>>
>>This seems to asssume that the full semantic range of a given verb
>>appears in its various instances in biblical literature. Not only is this
>>a questionable assumption with verbs which appear frequently in the NT or
>>LXX, but it hardly applies to hapax legomena. It is doubtful that the
>>meaning, say, of ANASTENAZW (a hapax at Mk 8.12) is available to us from
>>within Mark. My investigations of this word have shown that
>>commentators, working only with the context that the text of Mark
>>provides (and not the wider "outside" context of how the verb was
>>used by other non-biblical writers), are consistently wrong in
>>stating what ANASTENAZW signifies. They generally take it to mean "to
>>express anger or frustration". But in all of the "outside" instances it
>>NEVER means this. Rather it is used to signify and express "dismay",
>>"profound distresss that one is caught up in a painful situation
>>from which there is no escape".
>>
>I must agree with Jeffrey here and add that I know of no dictionary that is
>at all helpful in reading the NT that is not the result of a broad study of
>Greek literature available to us from antiquity. It would be like saying I
>want a dictionary of the English language that contains words and meanings
>that have been used only in church.
>
>I think that we had a similar thread some time ago in which it was clear
>that the most useful tools for the study of the NT are those based on a
>study of the language over a long period and wide geographical areas.
>
Please refer to my comment to Jeffrey...
I am NOT denying historicity or the demeaning "the broad study of Greek
literature" as you put it. What I am concerned with here is how much weight
we put on it to inform us of the itnerpretation of the text.
Concerning the early thread on this topic, did I miss it? I had to wipe out
my entire hard drive twice in these past two months so all the discussions
went along with it. I was hoping to save it so I could read it when my
exmans and papers were done but now it's too late. Would you know where I
could get a hold of it? Thanks.
Somi.
ACTS Graduate Student
Langley, B.C.
Old Testament Studies