I certainly don't mean that a perception of an author's purpose cannot be
or should not be considered as it bears upon a specific Biblical Greek
text, and I wouldn't want to be misunderstood here. It's a matter rather of
proportion and judgment, I'd say: does the larger but still immediate
context of the Greek text of this verse illuminate what the writer intends
this verse to mean? Then by all means bring that context to bear. Can the
meaning of the Greek text of this verse be understood without formulating a
hypothetical structural analysis of the entire document? If it can't, then
I'm inclined to think that one would do better to publish one's own
commentary on that document rather than initiate a higher-critical
discussion of the document as a whole here.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/