What I do when I’m not doing x

June 25th, 2009

I’ve seen several bloggers frequently posting with the subject line of “What I do when I’m not doing x.” I’ve not practiced that, and don’t intend to do so very often, but here a photo that deserves that title. And yes, I’m behind the camera. No, our wagons are not that crooked—the lens and perspective do make it look weird.

Baler01.jpg

Impact minus .1 sec! (When my son, who now owns the family farm, saw I had the camera out, he was determined to “nail” me with a bale. And he did. :) )

Baler02.jpg

The last load.

Wagon01.JPG

And this evening it rained!

Mark 7:19, “cleansing all food”

June 20th, 2009

Mark 7:19 concludes with the words, καθαρίζων πάντα τὰ βρώματα. This phrase (“cleansing all foods”) describes λέγει (v. 18)—not εἰς τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα ἐκπορεύεται (“goes into the latrine”), the immediately preceding phrase in the text. For the participle (καθαρίζων) to modify “going out” (ἐκπορεύεται), it would have to be neuter. The subject of ἐκπορεύεται is the default, built-in pronoun, “it”—the antecedent of which is πᾶν τὸ ἔξωθεν [neuter] in v. 18c. Since the participle καθαρίζων is masculine, it can only agree with the subject of λέγει (18a), the default “he”—the antecedent of which is Jesus.

In other words, the participial phrase does not describe what happens when food is eliminated into the latrine.* That does not make food clean, especially when “clean” (καθαρίζω) refers to ceremonial cleanness!

Also note that this participial phrase comes immediately before another verb of speaking (ἔλεγεν, v. 20) which introduces Jesus’ next statement. Having interrupted his record of the dialog with this parenthetical statement (Mark’s explanation of the significance of what Jesus said), Mark must resume the dialog with another verb of speaking so the reader knows that this is not his editorial comment continuing, but Jesus’ words resuming.

It is the recognition of these grammatical considerations that serves as the basis of the paraphrastic, explanatory translations of v. 19b that are found in almost all modern translations. This is even true of the most formal equivalent translations such as ASV and NASB, as well as others moving towards the center of the formal/functional spectrum: RSV, NRSV ESV, NAB, NJB, ISV, HCSB, NIV, NET and those which set comfortably on the functional end: NLT, GNB, NCB, etc. NIV, e.g., says: (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean”).


*On a related note in the preceding statement:

τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα. Masc acc sg ἀφεδρών, ῶνος, ὁ, “toilet, latrine”; elsewhere in the NT only in the || Matt 15:17. Many translations employ a euphemism, presumably to avoid “potty talk”: “out of his body” (NIV, NCV), “is eliminated” (NASB, HCSB), “is expelled” (ESV, ISV). The NRSV, NET, and NLT are among those which use a formal equivalent: “goes out into the sewer” (see also NJB, NAB). The KJV is also formal, but the obsolete word used is meaningless today: “into the draught” (OED, s.v. “draught,” XIII.45–46, gives usage current in the late 16th and early 17th C. as either “cesspool, sewer” or “privy, latrine”).

Grammar and punctuation of Mark 7:11-12

June 19th, 2009

There is some convoluted syntax in Mark 7:11-1-12 with parenthetical statements and embedded discourse, etc.

11 ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγετε· ἐὰν εἴπῃ ἄνθρωπος τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί· κορβᾶν, ὅ ἐστιν δῶρον, ὃ ἐὰν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ὠφεληθῇς, 12 οὐκέτι ἀφίετε αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ποιῆσαι τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί, …

I’ve translated it like this:

11 but you say, ‘If a man says to father or mother, “Whatever you should benefit from me is Corban” ’ (that is, a gift), 12 then you no longer allow him to do anything for father or mother, …

This is part of a larger statement, but this chunk is self-contained. The preceding is a coordinated statement and the following is an adverbial participle clause.

I have two hesitations. First, I’m assuming this is intended to be a 3d class condition: protasis, Ἐὰν εἴπῃ…; apodosis, οὐκέτι ἀφίετε…. That is the way most translations handle it. But, second, that analysis results in the protasis being a statement by the Pharisees and scribes (quoted by Jesus, direct discourse), but the protasis consists of Jesus’ words describing the consequences of their actions/statement. That seems unusual to me, but I’m not quite sure how else the syntax might be analyzed.

Perhaps I’m missing something here, or perhaps it’s not unusual and I’m just thinking clearly today. Any suggestions?

Thinking about doctoral study?

June 4th, 2009

Here’s a helpful (though brief) discussion of options for those considering doctoral study. It was written some time ago by D. A. Carson and covers DMin, DMiss, EdD, and PhD options (those being the 4 doctorates that TEDS offers, but he evaluates study overseas also).

Muraoka’s LXX lexicon, complete edition released

June 3rd, 2009

I just heard that Muraoka’s lexicon has been released. This is the complete edition (the 2d ed. of 2002 covered Pentateuch and Minor Prophets). I have not yet seen it and can’t find any listings for it on American book sites. Price is 95 Euro, which is about $135.

The Peeters page is here, which gives this info:

Year: 2009
ISBN: 978-90-429-2248-8
Pages: XL-757 p.
Price: 95 EURO

And this page lists it as released last month (not sure if that is April or May).

If anyone has seen this yet or has further info, I’d be happy to have you post it in the comments.

The complete description is as follows:

A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint

Authors: Muraoka T.

Summary:

This complete lexicon supercedes its two earlier editions (1993; 2002).

  • The entire Septuagint, including the apocrypha, is covered.
  • For the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Judges the so-called Antiochene edition is fully covered in addition to the data as found in the standard edition by Rahlfs.
  • Also fully covered are the two versions of Tobit, Esther, and Daniel.
  • Based on the critically established Göttingen edition where it is available. If not, Rahlfs’s edition is used.
  • For close to 60% of a total of 9,550 headwords all the passages occurring in the LXX are either quoted or mentioned.
  • A fully fledged lexicon, not a glossary merely listing translation equivalents in English.
  • Senses defined.
  • Important lexicographical data such as synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, distinction between literal and figurative, combinations with prepositions, noun cases, syntagmatic information such as what kind of direct or indirect objects a given verb takes, what kind of nouns a given adjective is used with, and much more information abundantly presented and illustrated with quotes, mostly translated.
  • High-frequency lexemes such as prepositions and conjunctions fully analysed.
  • Data on contemporary Koine and Jewish Greek including the New Testament taken into account.
  • Morphological information provided: various tenses of verbs, genitive forms of nouns etc.
  • Substantive references to the current scientific literature.

An indispensable tool for students of the Septuagint, the New Testament, Hellenistic Judaism, and the Greek language.

An Evaluation of Mark Driscoll on My 2¢ blog

May 28th, 2009

I don’t usually post this sort of thing, but since a number of my students and other seminarians read my blog–and are also interested in some “contemporary” issues in church and ministry, here’s an evaluation of Mark Driscoll’s ministry that’s worth reading. He’s very popular and has some things right, but read Chris Anderson’s comments on My Two Cents Blog. It’s not brief, but that’s well justified—and makes it worth you taking time to read it.

HT: Dave Doran

Doctoral dissertation sources (US & foreign)

May 28th, 2009

Here is a source of information that I’d not seen before. Thanks to our librarian, Josh Michael, for bringing it to my attention. The page linked here on the TREN site is not long, but it contains a half dozen annotated links to some very valuable information. I’ve long been aware of resources available through UMI or TREN, but these other sources should prove very valuable—especially for those of you doing dissertation research. Some of the links are to substantive articles helpful to researchers, and not just links to online sources. Read all of them–even (perhaps especially) the one titled “Doctoral Dissertations on China and on Inner Asia”—there is far more there than the title suggests.

My earlier post regarding British dissertations (updated here) is newer than the material linked above, so it supersedes some of the info on the TREN site. If you’re writing or preparing to write a dissertation, see also the info that I’ve posted on writing that sort of work.

A different approach to first year Greek examples

May 22nd, 2009

I’ve been toying with some different ways to help students learn Greek. Here is a sample that illustrates two different techniques that might be used very early. The assumption in these examples is that the student knows only the alphabet and has just learned the basic functions of the cases. And he has either a vocab list or a lexicon.

Examples

In these examples, since you have so few pieces of the language to work with, I’ve given you simple verses from the NT in English with only the words in Greek that you should know or can figure out with your lexicon. If you understand the case and function of these Greek words, they will fit into the English sentence given and make good sense. For each one ask yourself, how is this word functioning in the sentence? Is it the subject? the object? a modifier? an indirect object? etc. Be sure you can explain why based on the case of the Greek word, not on what the English says! Some of these are very familiar verses, but don’t rely on what you may have memorized to explain what it means. The word order has been modified and some words omitted to make it manageable for you.

Mark 3:28, Ἀμὴν I say to you ὅτι everything it will be forgiven τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

Mark 6:13, He cast out many δαιμόνια καὶ anointed many ἀρρώστους ἐλαίῳ.

John 1:28, Behold ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ who takes away τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.

John 1:51, You will see τὸν οὐρανὸν opened καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ θεοῦ.

Rom 1:18, ὀργὴ θεοῦ is revealed.

Rom 2:13, οἱ ἀκροαταὶ νόμου will not be justified, but οἱ ποιηταὶ νόμου.

Now you try it…

This time I’ve left the words in their original order and inserted a translation of words you do not know in parenthesis immediately after that word or else added a note regarding word clusters. You will have to identify the function of each remaining word based on its case. Again, don’t guess by what you think makes sense! If you identify the case correctly, you will be able to explain what it means. The questions appended to each statement are designed to help you test your understanding. Some sentences have been adapted and do not read exactly like they do in the original text. If you were to write out a translation, you would need to rearrange the sentence into English word order (subject > verb > object) to make sense.

Matt 3:3, ἑτοιμάσατε (Prepare!) τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου.
The subject of this verb is assumed in English since it is an imperative. It Greek it is a plural “you.” What are they do prepare? How is ὁδὸν described?

Matt 2:19, ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου φαίνεται (appeared) τῷ Ἰωσήφ.
Who appeared? How do you know? What case is the last word and how do you know? Why is it in this case?

1 John 2:15, Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·
Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε = “Do not love!”
ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ = “If anyone loves”
οὐκ ἔστιν = “(it) is not”
ἐν αὐτῷ = “in him”
The word κόσμον occurs twice in this verse; both times it functions the same way. What is the relation between this word and the others in the same clause?
In the last clause (after the comma), how does ἀγάπη function in the clause? How is this ἀγάπη described?

Gen 3:8, ἤκουσαν (they heard) τὴν φωνὴν κυρίου.
What did they hear? How do you know? How is φωνήν described?

Psa 1:6, γινώσκει (he knows) κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων.
(δικαίων is actually an adjective, not a noun, but it acts like a noun here. So long as you know that it means “righteous,” you can understand it.)
Who knows (γινώσκει)? How do you know that he knows (i.e., grammatically)? What does he know? How is ὁδόν described?

Reading

May 14th, 2009

I try not to post trivia too often, but this YouTube video is well worth your time. It’s an “ad” from Am Library Assoc’s booklistonline.com/, but for about 1 min of fun, it’s great.

Does theology affect “doing church” (or academics)?

May 12th, 2009

Here is an article worth reading and pondering:

Look, It’s Rubbish! by Carl Trueman

Does a person’s theology affect the way they do church? I.e., the way they conduct a church/worship service? (Yes, I know, a worship service is only one part of “doing church,” but it’s an important part–and the only part I’m talking about at the moment.) Or you could reverse the question: what does a church/worship service tell you about the planners theology?

Second, Does a person’s theology affect the way they do academics? A related question, though it might not seem to be at first glance.

Trueman’s essay is thoughtful and “spot on.”

HT: Justin Taylor on Between Two Worlds

Grammatical and Syntactical Notes on 2 Timothy

May 11th, 2009

Rick Brannan has just posted a translation of 2 Timothy with a full set of grammar and syntactical notes. Looks like it’s worth adding to your files. This is a compilation of notes that he’s been posting on the PastoralEpistles.com blog over the past few months. It’s all in one pdf file.

A new word in BDAG

May 10th, 2009

One normally turns to BDAG to learn or study Greek words. This morning I learned a new English word from BDAG. As I mentioned last week, I’ve just begun a new series on Hebrews in the adult Bible class at Northmoreland Baptist Church. As I was once again working through the early verses of Heb 1 in my Greek testament I was reflecting on the use of αἰών. It is translated variously in the English translations: ages, world, universe, etc. (see both Heb 1:2, ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας and 11:3, κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αἰῶνας). The note in NET reflects a likely explanation for a word which is normally used in a temporal way, but in these two verses (& possibly others outside Hebrews) is apparently used of a physical entity: “The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods).”

I was curious about what BDAG said about this use, so I flipped it open to the entry for αἰών and began reading:

αἰών, ῶνος, ὁ (Hom.+; gener. ‘an extended period of time’, in var. senses)
1. a long period of time, without ref. to beginning or end,
a. of time gone by, the past, earliest times, readily suggesting a venerable or awesome eld οἱ ἅγιοι ἀπ᾿ αἰῶνος προφῆται the holy prophets fr. time immemorial

“A venerable or awesome eld“?! My first instinct was to grab a note pad and jot myself a note to add a new entry to my BDAG errata page! “Eld” is obviously not a word. I even verified that by grabbing a dictionary that sits by my reading chair. No “eld.” But it sounded so natural. My next instinct was to check the older BAG (i.e., 1st ed.) to see if anything there might suggest the correct wording. Nothing. On a lark I pulled up the dictionary app on my Mac and typed in “eld.” Lo and behold, there is a word “eld.” So that’s my new word in BDAG for today:

eld
noun poetic/literary
old age.
• former times; the past.
ORIGIN Old English ieldu, eldu, of Germanic origin; related to ELDER and OLD.

And now you know it also.

Since I’m on the subject, here’s the answer to my original query of BDAG. The two refs. in Heb are listed under #3, “the world as a spatial concept, the world.” In addition to Heb 1:2 and 11:3, there is also 1 Tim 1:17 and Rev 15:3 v.l., and another dozen from LXX and other koine lit. But then BDAG adds this note: “But many of these pass. may belong under 2.” The #2 listing is for αἰών used “a segment of time as a particular unit of history, age. I’ll let you pursue it from there.

Odd Greek Text in Josephus

May 9th, 2009

The standard critical edition of Josephus (the only one complete) is Niese, Flavii Iosephi Opera (1885-95). One of my students is working on the “Testimonium Flavianum” (a reference to Jesus as “more than a man” and as “Messiah” which appears in Antiquities 18.63). Its authenticity is debated (for good reason, it seems to me).

There is an interesting textual entry in Niese that makes no sense to me in Greek. The text itself reads fine (διδάσκαλος ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡδονῇ τἀληθῆ δεχομένων = and a teacher of men who take pleasure in receiving truth), but the apparatus of Niese is odd. It gives as a variant for ἡδονῇ the following:

ἡδονᾖ ἡδονῆ

(If that’s not clear, the last letter in the first word is an eta with smooth breathing [!], circumflex, and iota sub.)

I’m curious if this is a typo in Niese or if the MS in question (M = Codex Medicaeus) actually has such a form with a final letter adorned with a smooth breathing mark? It is a 13th C. MS, so I assume it is a minuscule and could have such a combination of diacritics, but I’ve never seen a copy of any part of this MS.

I’ve never seen a breathing mark used like this in any Greek I’ve read—but there’s a lot of Greek I haven’t read! :)

I don’t have direct access to Niese (my student has been able to find access to a copy)—even though it’s over 100 years old, it does not appear to be posted online anywhere. Google Books lists it, but no scanned images.

I’ve wondered if there might be a space missing: ἡδον ᾖ ἡδονῆ (though that leaves the first word without an accent, so if that is so, there may be an additional error?). Or perhaps it is an error for ἡδονῃ ᾖ ἡδονῆ?

Does any one have any ideas or further info?


Update: Mike Aubrey just sent me a screen clip of the Niese apparatus at this location:

Niese Apparatus.PNG

See the comments for discussion.

Why you learn Greek

May 3rd, 2009

Why do you have to learn Greek in seminary? Lots of reasons, but here’s a good illustration. I have my first year class of 26 students particularly in mind here. (They just took their final exams on Thurs. and are awaiting the verdict!) This is what you can do now with the Greek you’ve learned. You might not have everything figured out yet, but this is well within your grasp.

This morning I began a new series in the adult Bible class at my church. After spending the last two years in the Gospel of Mark, I’m now embarking on Hebrews. The past month was a survey of Exodus and Leviticus in preparation for Hebrews, but this morning we plunged into the first paragraph of “the anonymous homily.”

If you were reading that paragraph (1:1–4) in almost any English translation, you would probably conclude that there were four or five main statements—which homiletically you might want to convert into as many sermon points. For example, here’s ESV (you know, the one that is advertised as being “essentially literal”? :) But many translations do something similar):

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

But if you look at your Greek text you’d discover that the sentence is structured quite differently. There are really only two main statements—one of them is technically a relative clause, but since that is the one the writer develops, it’s fair to say two (also note the punctuation preceding it). In the text following I’ve bolded the two subject/verb pairs and used a strike-out for all the participles and two finite forms in subordinate clauses (not because they are to be deleted! but to show you which are primary and which are secondary statements).

Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις 2 ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι᾿ οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας· 3 ὃς ὢν ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν ὑψηλοῖς, 4 τοσούτῳ κρείττων γενόμενος τῶν ἀγγέλων ὅσῳ διαφορώτερον παρ᾿ αὐτοὺς κεκληρονόμηκεν ὄνομα.

1. God has spoken.

2. He [Jesus] sat down.

Not only that, but there is no “but” connecting v. 2 to v. 1 as the ESV reads (and NIV, NRSV). By now you’re perhaps in the habit of seeing a “but” in your English Bible and assuming that it’s either ἀλλα or δε, but here you’d be wrong. Why did three major translations add a “but”? Because when you shorten long Greek sentences for English readers (and vv. 1–4 is one long sentence in Greek!), you then have to create connections. Given the transformations of the clauses into sentences and participles into finite verbs in many translations, you have to express the implied contrast somehow. Thus the “but.” In Greek the contrast is implied by the sequence of participle and finite forms. There’s no explicit ἀλλα or δε because it’s not proper to connect a finite and non-finite form with a coordinating conjunction.

If you’ve understood what I’ve just summarized, and you committed to preaching sermons that reflect the structure and meaning of the text, then your sermon on Heb 1:1–4 will have two points rather than four or five.

ESV review

May 1st, 2009

I’ve just published a short, popular-level review article on the ESV in the Baptist Bulletin (May 2009, pp. 14–16). You can find it on my regular ESV page.