Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics
Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics (BAGL) is an international journal that exists to further the application of modern linguistics to the study of Ancient and Biblical Greek, with a particular focus on the analysis of texts, including but not restricted to the Greek New Testament.
Read Current Volumes Submit ProposalAbout BAGL
Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics (BAGL), in conjunction with the Centre for Biblical Linguistics, Translation, and Exegesis at McMaster Divinity College and the OpenText.org project is a fully refereed on-line and print journal specializing in widely disseminating the latest advances in linguistic study of ancient and biblical Greek. Under the senior editorship of Professor Dr. Stanley E. Porter and Dr. Matthew Brook O’Donnell, along with its assistant editors and editorial board, BAGL looks to publish significant work that advances knowledge of ancient Greek through the utilization of modern linguistic methods. Accepted pieces are in the first instance posted on-line in page-consistent pdf format, and then (except for reviews) are published in print form each volume year. This format ensures timely posting of the most recent work in Greek linguistics with consistently referencable articles then available in permanent print form.
Editorial Board
- Dr. Martin Culy (Briercrest College and Seminary)
- Dr. Paul Danove (Valparaiso University)
- Dr. David Mathewson (Denver Seminary)
- Dr. Matthew Brook O’Donnell (University of Pennsylvania/McMaster Divinity College)
- Professor Dr. Stanley E. Porter (McMaster Divinity College)
- Dr. Jonathan Watt (Geneva College and Reformed Theological Seminary)
- Dr. Cynthia Long Westfall (McMaster Divinity College)
Volumes
-
Volume 13 (2025)
TRAVIS WRIGHT
Prepositions and Perpetual Virginity: Until as a Scalar Item in Matt 1:25
I examine the grammar of Matt 1:25 and argue there is an obligatory scalar inference meaning ‘after but not before.’ I conclude the grammar of Matt 1:25 contradicts the view that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of her son.5-38 AARON JUNG
Information Structure of Peter’s Speech in Acts 2
This study analyzes the information structure of Peter’s speech in Acts 2 using the framework developed for biblical Greek by Stanley E. Porter and Matthew Brook O’Donnell. Refining their approach, the study examines prime/subsequent, theme/rheme, and topic/comment structures to identify grammatically marked and semantically prominent features across phrase, clause, paragraph, and dis-course levels of the speech. The analysis identifies five major topics, with the second and third topical units structurally highlighted. The study ultimately discerns the primary topic and concludes with the central message of the speech: “God raised Jesus.”39-70 STANLEY E. PORTER
Valency Grammar and New Testament Greek Studies
Valency or argument structure—known by a variety of names in similar grammatical models, including valency grammar, word grammar, dependency grammar, and even functional grammar (Allerton, “Valency Grammar,” 301)—has an interesting if somewhat neglected history in light of the popularity of some other linguistic models. Nevertheless, it suggests various levels of hierarchy related to form, structure, and semantics that have often proved helpful in grammatical description. However, there are also some significant limitations to valency as a descriptive model—at the constituent, clause, and beyond levels—that indicate that supplementation is necessary. This paper will provide some positive and negative comments on valency as a grammatical framework in relation to recent study of New Testament Greek from a systemic functional linguistic framework.71-116 STANLEY E. PORTER
Special Section on Discourse Analysis and the Greek New Testament: Introduction117-118 STANLEY E. PORTER
Discourse Analysis and the Greek New Testament: A Contextual Presentation of Porter and O’Donnell’s Discourse Analysis and the Greek New Testament
This paper introduces Porter and O’Donnell’s Discourse Analysis of the Greek New Testament, the focus of discussion in a session of the Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting in 2024. The paper attempts to place Porter and O’Donnell’s introduction to dis- course analysis within the larger context of discourse analysis as a whole and the New Testament in particular. To do so, the paper begins with a brief history of discourse analysis from its inception to more recent developments in the field. It then responds to objections to use of discourse analysis in New Testament study that have hindered its use. The final section summarizes the contributions of Porter and O’Donnell’s volume, which provides a complete discourse analytic, even if it focuses upon the textual metafunction using Systemic Functional Linguistics.119-141 JAMES D. DVORAK
Review of Porter and O’Donnell, Discourse Analysis of the Greek New Testament
This article offers a review of Porter and O’Donnell, Discourse Analysis and the Greek New Testament. The review is not merely an overview of the book’s contents but offers an application of the methodology that is promoted by Porter and O’Donnell. The article discusses the benefits of the model and method presented in the book while also acknowledging potential difficulties of the approach.142-155 DAVID L. MATHEWSON
A Response to Porter and O’Donnell, Discourse Analysis and the Greek New Testament
This review article examines Porter and O’Donnell’s Dis-course Analysis and the Greek New Testament: Text-Generating Re-sources, focusing specifically on their treatment of textual-metafunction components: cohesion and coherence; boundaries and units; and information flow and prominence. Porter and O’Donnell discuss all three of these features and demonstrate how SFL can offer a robust analysis of these three features of a discourse. Although their book offers numerous insights into the application of SFL to those features of discourse analysis, a few questions could be raised about some of their observations and examples. For information flow, there is still clarity needed about how the different levels of information flow relate to each other, and how the level of clause relates to default word order. Another important area for analysis with discourse analysis is prominence. There are several issues that could be addressed further with prioritization or ranking of signals of prominence. This is especially important when a single verb contains conflicting signals of prominence, where one feature indicates background, and another indicates foreground or prominence. However, Porter and O’Donnell have modeled a rigorous approach to discourse analysis that will focus attention on exegesis where it should be: on the text itself.156-169 -
Volume 12 (2024)
YAN MA
A Register Analysis of ἐγώ εἰμι in John 8:24 and 8:28, with Reference to Isaiah 43:10 and 43:25
Biblical scholars dispute the meaning and function of ἐγώ εἰμι uttered by Jesus in John 8:24 and 8:28. This paper proposes a linguistic method that provides a framework to assess the linguistic features of the New Testament text and that may offer new insights into the Johannine ἐγώ εἰμι clauses. By adopting the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this paper conducts a register analysis of ἐγώ εἰμι in John 8:24 and 8:28, with reference to Isa 43:10 and 43:25. Based on this analysis, the paper argues that ἐγώ εἰμι uttered by Jesus in John 8:24 and 8:28 is used intentionally as an allusion to the divine name in the Old Testament, which specifically and powerfully invokes the image of God, and that this wording therefore functions to portray Jesus’ divinity.5-35 A. MOISES ZUMAETA
The Structure and Message of Titus in Light of a Linguistic Thematic Analysis
Vilém Mathesius’s most important contribution to the field of linguistics is the theory of the Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP). According to this theory, the message of an utterance is construed by two content elements designated as “theme” and “rheme.” Mathesius’s analysis was constrained to the clause; however, he indicated that theme and rheme are present at various strata of discourse. By presenting and applying an optimized version of FSP for Koine Greek, this article strives to determine the discourse structure of Paul’s epistle to Titus and hence the central message of its content.37-110 RYDER WISHART
How Syntax Relates to Inflectional Morphology: Paradigm-Linkage in a Systemic Grammar Model with Application to Hellenistic Greek
In this article, I explore the descriptive challenges posed by a richly morphological language like Greek by considering a possible alignment between Gregory Stump’s paradigm-linkage hypothesis and the Cardiff Grammar’s model of syntax and its relationship with semantics and form. I give several minor examples that apply the aligned model to Greek, making the case that Stump’s hypothesis clarifies the Cardiff Grammar’s notion of realization statements—why there are apparently inconsistent patterns in realization—where functional grammars tend to rely on probabilities. This clarity is instrumental for syntactic theorizing for synthetic languages like Greek. Finally, I suggest some of the implications of this argument for the specification of syntactic categories in Greek, whose semantic and syntactic paradigms are, like its inflectional paradigms, shaped in critical ways by morphosyntactic property sets.111-142 JI HOE KIM
Beyond Paragraphing: Using Cohesive Harmony for Grouping Paragraphs
This paper explores linguistic structures beyond the paragraph level, an area often overlooked in modern linguistics despite its importance for interpretation. While discourse analysis is growing, paragraph-level studies remain underdeveloped. I employ Stanley E. Porter’s criteria for paragraphing and apply Ruqaiya Hasan’s cohesive harmony analysis to group paragraphs. Through an analysis of James 1, I argue that verse 13, rather than verses 12 or 16, marks the beginning of the latter half. Two key pieces of evidence support this conclusion. First, verse 13 introduces new similarity chains, establishing a dominant topical thread for the remainder of the text. Second, according to the analysis of chain interaction, the chain of trial, which had been interacting with endurance, begins to interact with lexical items related to truth/falsehood/evil. While preliminary, this paper demonstrates the potential for extending linguistic analysis beyond the paragraph level, offering a promising avenue for further research in discourse and textual interpretation.143-181 -
Volume 11 (2022-23)
YAN MA
A Methodological Proposal for New Testament Discourse Analysis: Rhetorical Structure Theory and its Application to John 8:31–59
Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST), which was originally developed by William C. Mann and Sandra A. Thompson as a functional theory to describe the text structure of written discourse, has been further advanced and incorporated into Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) by Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. This study aims to introduce this new method to New Testament discourse analysis by integrating the features of New Testament Greek. This study also demonstrates the application of RST by conducting a rhetoricalrelational analysis on John 8:31–59 to verify that RST can serve as an effective tool for New Testament interpretation and will offer new insights relevant to New Testament studies.5-36 HOJOON J. AHN
A Textual-Critical Study of Luke and Verbal Aspect
Among 421 variants in the Gospel of Luke revealed from a comparative analysis between TD8 and NA28, this study attempts a textual-critical analysis of five tense-form variants (Luke 7:20, 24, 25, 26; 22:52) in terms of verbal aspect theory. First, concerning their age, geographical features, and genealogical features, the aorist readings (ἀπέστειλεν, ἐξήλθατε) can probably be regarded as superior to the perfect readings (ἀπέσταλκεν, ἐξεληλύθατε). Second, considering the internal evidence revealed via verbal aspect theory, the aorist readings have more weight than the perfect readings. Regarding the reason why Tischendorf chose the perfect tense-form reading even though important MSS (e.g., P75 א B) support the aorist reading, this study suggests that, via Georg B. Winer who was his teacher, Tischendorf had a tense-centered Greek understanding. In addition, concentrating on the perfect tense-form reading of the 4–5c MSS such as A (02) and W (032), this study suggests that the variations involved here may have helped to initiate the change from the reading based on the verbal aspect to a tense-centered reading in the 4c. This study reveals the need for, and significance of, verbal aspect theory for NT textual criticism.37-67 STANLEY E. PORTER
A Natural Language Approach to Koine Greek Exegesis
This paper argues that a natural language approach to the Greek of the New Testament is needed in order to perform the kind of exegesis that recognizes crucial characteristics of Greek as a language and that takes into account important developments in linguistic thought about language. The paper questions many of the ways that exegesis is done in contemporary New Testament studies by failure to use a natural language approach. Two major examples of exegetical approaches are used to exemplify some of the problems that arise when the Greek language of the New Testament is not seen to be a variety of Koine Greek of the Hellenistic or Greco-Roman period.69-100 MARTIN M. CULY
If You Can’t Read, You Can’t Exegete: The Importance of Reading Skills for Greek Exegesis
While all scholars agree that responsible interpretation of the Greek New Testament requires the use of a variety of exegetical tools, it is exceedingly rare to find treatments of hermeneutics or exegesis that address the importance of being able to actually read, rather than simply decode, the biblical text in its original languages. This study considers the ramifications of this gap in exegetical training and practice primarily through illustrating how a lack of fluid reading skills may lead modern exegetes to misread the biblical text in a variety of ways.101-129 JAMES D. DVORAK
Considering the Constraints of Context in the Exegetical Process
Context has often been understood primarily in a literary sense, referring to the text appearing immediately before and immediately following the unit under investigation. Some use the term to refer to the historical setting or situatedness of a text, including such features as the significant people, places, things, and events leading up to and/or existing during the time in which the author lived and wrote. Yet neither of these notions of context is sufficient, and even taken together they do not offer a complete picture. The present article proposes a more complex (yet still workable) and delicate model of context that is rooted in sociolinguistic and cultural anthropological theory.131-165 -
Volume 10 (2021)
PAUL L. DANOVE
Grammaticalizing Resultant State in the New Testament
The New Testament presents twenty-two verbs that grammaticalize the resultant state of an entity undergoing change. This article introduces the method of analysis and description and resolves these verbs into five groups according to the manner in which they grammaticalize resultant state. The introductory discussion develops the method of semantic, syntactic, and lexical analysis and description. The discussion then describes the licensing properties of the verbs in each group, specifies the lexical realization of all observed required complements of the verbs, clarifies the verbs’ interpretation, and illustrates their translation.5-15 NICHOLAS LIST
Synchronic Corpora and Ancient Languages: Theoretical Considerations for Designing a Corpus for Koine Greek
Corpus linguistic research often necessitates large amounts of data (especially for Natural Language Processing tasks), yet this is exactly where ancient language corpora are most deficient. Many ancient language corpora increase their size by extending the temporal coverage of the corpus, allowing for diachronic analysis over an enlarged dataset. Because of this, less attention has been given to the compilation of synchronic corpora for ancient languages. Since temporal demarcation must be strictly controlled, other means of increasing corpus size must be explored. This paper considers a number of important theoretical considerations for the construction of a corpus for Koine Greek, including representativeness, size, and temporal coverage. While this study does present a corpus for Koine Greek, its primary aim is to foreground the particular theoretical challenges that face linguists engaged in synchronic corpus design for ancient languages.17-47 AARON MICHAEL JENSEN
Can ἀλλά and γάρ Really Mark an Inference? A Defense of the “Core Constraint” Approach to Conjunction Lexicography
This article examines passages where the typically corrective ἀλλά and the typically explanatory γάρ are claimed by BDAG to have an inferential sense. By demonstrating that the inferential senses are unnecessary and that here specialized manners of correction and explanation persist, it serves to support an approach to conjunction lexicography which recognizes the fundamental unity of conjunction semantics, known as the “core constraint” approach.49-72 -
Volume 9 (2020)
STANLEY E. PORTER
Where Have All the Greek Grammarians Gone? And Why Should Anyone Care?
Academic and intellectual communities are known for various areas of subject expertise. When one thinks of Greek grammar, including that of the New Testament, one thinks of Germany, and possibly Great Britain, but rarely Canada. An examination of recent trends regarding the study of ancient languages, especially Greek, in various institutions within Canada serves in this paper as an analogy for the study of other, related subjects, indicating some possible reasons why our field of biblical studies is increasingly an embattled subject and what we can do to address some of the issues involved.5-37 PAUL L. DANOVE
The Licensing Properties of Cognate Nouns of Communication Verbs in the New Testament
This article investigates the licensing properties of the cognate nouns of verbs that grammaticalize communication in the New Testament. The preliminary discussion reviews the semantic, syntactic, and lexical requirements of the fifty verbs of communication that have cognate nouns in the New Testament and develops general characteristics of the verbs’ sixty-four cognate nouns. The investigation of the cognate nouns describes their licensing properties, resolves their occurrences into six distinct usages, specifies all observed lexical realizations of required complements, and identifies the conditions for polysemy.39-66 KYRIAKOULA PAPADEMETRIOU
On the Use of the Conjunction Ἵνα in Hellenistic Koine and in the Language of the New Testament: A Possible Latin Influence
The use of ἵνα in Hellenistic Koine and in the New Testament texts has been sufficiently investigated and its linguistic development from Classical Greek to Modern Greek has been outlined. This paper intends to contribute to this discussion, drawing attention to the syntax of the substantive clauses in Latin introduced with the conjunction ut, and suggesting a similar syntax of ἵνα employed as a novel volitional expression in Hellenistic Koine. Concretely, while the prevailing view is that there is an independent parallel development, the present paper aims to reinforce the view that there is a Latin influence in this particular case. The sociolinguistic factors of bilingualism and language interference are highlighted, and for the first time, as far as we know, the Latin translation practice practiced widely in the Roman Empire is suggested as an argument to support this view.67-99 BRETT MILLER
The Associative Semantics of συμμαρτυρέω: A Diachronic Study
Though several scholars have argued that συμμαρτυρέω was readily used without the associative sense ‘testify with or jointly’ prominent in standard lexica, a fresh examination of a wide range of texts discloses an even stronger than expected correlation between the use of συμμαρτυρέω and the occurrence of concordant affirmations in its context. This supports the argument that the verb’s meaning is normally associative after all. Aspects of its extra-biblical use also help to resolve theological objections that have been lodged against it being ascribed an associative sense in the New Testament.101-131 -
Volume 8 (2019)
STANLEY E. PORTER
Recent Developments in Systemic Functional Linguistics: A Review Article
This review article examines two major works comprising a total of six volumes on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). One is a collection in five volumes of selected works representative of the history of SFL from its origins to the present, co-selected by one of the major figures in this linguistic model. The other is a singlevolume handbook to SFL with essays by a wide range of SFL practitioners on an equally wide array of topics.5-32 ZACHARY K. DAWSON
The Problem of Gospel Genres: Unmasking a Flawed Consensus and Providing a Fresh Way Forward with Systemic Functional Linguistics Genre Theory
A wave of research that began in the late 1970s and culminated with Richard Burridge’s What Are the Gospels? in 1992 effectively established the consensus that the Gospels are to be classified as ancient βίοι. In this article, I respond to Burridge’s work to demonstrate that his approach to genre is problematic in several ways, which calls the foundation of the current consensus into question. Following this ground clearing exercise, I articulate a way forward in how to understand the relationship between the Gospels’ genre and their social purpose, which is more in keeping with modern genre theory, especially as it is envisioned by systemic-functional linguists. The last section of the article then demonstrates the potential benefits of using Systemic Functional Linguistics genre theory by means of a sample genre analysis of the Lord’s Prayer in Matt 6:7–13, which demonstrates how to understand the social function of genres and opens an avenue for fresh research into the question of Gospel genres.33-77 DAVID I. YOON
The Transitivity Network and Koine Greek: The (Ideational) Meaning of Galatians 3:1–5:12
Interpreters may tend to reach conclusions on the topic or subject matter of a text without having any criteria for how to determine it. Systemic Functional Linguistics offers a method by which one can determine what the text is about, including at the various levels of clause, clause complex, and discourse. The basis of analyzing the ideational meaning of a text (i.e., the subject matter) is the transitivity network, which exists at the clause level. This article outlines a method for analyzing transitivity in Koine Greek to determine the subject matter of the body of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.79-110 JI HOE KIM
A Hallidayan Approach to Orality and Textuality and Some Implications for Synoptic Gospel Studies
This paper explores how Hallidayan systemic-functional theory and method can advance current discussions of orality and textuality in Gospel Studies. Theoretically, the Hallidayan view challenges Kelber’s view of the discontinuity between oral and written media, establishing a continuum between spoken and written language. An application of Halliday’s method for measuring the degree of orality in a text demonstrates its relevance for Greek texts. As far as the Temple cleansing episodes are concerned (Matt 21:12-17; Mark 11:15–19; Luke 19:45–48; and John 2:13–22), the data conform to the general consensus that Markan language is more spoken language.111-138 -
Volume 7 (2018)
PAUL L. DANOVE
The Conceptualization of Communication in the New Testament: A Feature Description
This article develops five features that describe the conceptualizations of the event of communication grammaticalized by New Testament verbs and uses these features to formulate a model of the observed New Testament usages of communication. The discussion resolves all NT occurrences of verbs that designate communication into one of twenty-one usages with distinct feature descriptions, offers guidelines for interpreting and translating verbs with each usage, and clarifies elements of the conceptualization of communication in relation to specific examples.7-29 NICHOLAS P. LUNN
Categories of Contrast in New Testament Greek
The following aims to provide something lacking in the field of New Testament Greek studies, which is an overview of the various forms in which the logical relation of contrast may be realized in the surface structure of the language. Here seven distinct categories are described, illustrated, and differentiated, with regard to both their inherent relation and their respective connectors. Variations, where such exist, within each basic category are included, along with any sub-categories. A final section demonstrates the relevance of the presentation for the related tasks of translation and exegesis, offering analyses of several texts where there has been some confusion or misunderstanding with respect to the contrasting relation.31-80 JOHN J.H. LEE
Cohesive Harmony Analysis for Ancient Greek: SelPap I:112 and PMich VIII:491 as a Test Case
Ruqaiya Hasan’s Cohesive Harmony Analysis (CHA) is a useful tool to quantifiably predict the degree of the reader’s perception of the coherence of an English text. This work adopts and reconfigures her ideas to make them applicable to ancient Greek texts. This article then applies the modified version of Hasan’s CHA to investigate and compare the degrees of the perceived coherence of two family letters written in the second century AD. Based on the textual analyses, the conclusion is drawn that CHA is a promising tool to quantifiably predict the degree of coherence of ancient Greek texts.81-106 RYDER A. WISHART
Monosemy: A Theoretical Sketch for Biblical Studies
This paper explores linguistic monosemy and the methodological priorities it suggests. These priorities include a bottom-up modeling of lexical semantics, a corpus-driven discovery procedure, and a sign-based approach to linguistic description. Put simply, monosemy is a methodology for describing the semantic potential of linguistic signs. This methodology is driven by the process of abstraction based on verifiable data, and so it incorporates empirical checks and balances into the tasks of linguistics, especially (though not exclusively) lexical semantics. This paper contrasts lowest common denominator and greatest common factor methodologies within biblical studies, with three examples: (a) Porter and Pitts’s analysis of the semantics of the genitive within the Greek case system in regard to the πίστις Χριστοῦ debate; (b) disagreement between Ronald Peters and Dan Wallace regarding the Greek article; and (c) the Porter–Fanning debate on the nature of verbal aspect in Greek. Analysis of the Greek of the New Testament stands to benefit from incorporating the insights of monosemy and the methodological correctives it steers toward.107-139 STANLEY E. PORTER
Aspect and Imperatives Once More
In this paper, I revisit the question of the aspectual nature of the imperative, or rather, examine the aspectual nature of imperatives and some other forms that function alongside the imperative as forms of command and prohibition. I divide my comments into three sections: imperatives and the Greek mood system, verbal aspect and the imperative, and some abiding issues— three in particular—that continue to be raised, despite the discussion that has transpired over the last nearly thirty years.141-172 JOSEPH D. FANTIN
May the Force Be with You: Volition, Direction, and Force: A Communicative Approach to the Imperative Mood
Compared to other grammatical phenomena, the Greek imperative mood has received minimal attention. This article will explore and evaluate the traditional approach to the meaning and usages of this mood. These having been found deficient, an alternate approach will be proposed. The imperative mood will indeed be found to mean “command”; however, a “command” can be understood as harsh and inappropriate in certain relational situations. It will be discovered that communicators use various strategies to nuance and in some cases weaken the force of the “command” depending on the intended purpose of the imperative and the relationships of the participants in a communication situation. Thus, degree of force is one way (among others) to classify an imperative.173-199 JAMES D. DVORAK
“Evidence that Commands a Verdict”: Determining the Semantics of Imperatives in the New Testament
This article discusses the semantics of the imperative mood (directive attitude) in biblical Greek. The author leads into this discussion by first defining “semantics” (meaning) from the perspective of two major interpretive paradigms that are operative in current linguistic studies of biblical Greek: the logical-philosophical paradigm, which undergirds Chomskyan linguistic theory, and the ethnographic-descriptive paradigm, which lies behind Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics. The semantics of the imperative mood is then discussed from each of these perspectives, and it is argued that an SFL approach to the imperative is the most linguistically defensible. Examples are provided from the New Testament.201-223 -
Volume 6 (2017)
JONATHAN M. WATT
From Adams (1885) To Zimmermann (2009): In, With, and Under the Substance of Prepositions
A common closed-class feature of languages, prepositions connote spatial and logical relationships, often (though not always) preceding the noun to which they specify that relationship. Their use is highly idiomatic to a given language, such that their meaning may be best connoted by something other than a general translation equivalent. It is widely theorized that case-marking historically preceded the rise of prepositions, though in Hellenistic Greek (as in earlier forms of English) these have been employed simultaneously. Cross-linguistic consideration of this basic feature of language can be a helpful step toward understanding the role of prepositions in the Greek of the New Testament.5-16 STANLEY E. PORTER
Greek Prepositions in a Systemic Functional Linguistic Framework
Greek prepositions belong to a class of words that are usually called particles. These function words are morphologically invariable and enable their function by indicating some kind of relationship between larger units. This means that prepositions are part of a larger category of words that include not only prepositions but conjunctions, adverbs, and possibly other lexemes. Systemic Functional Linguistics does not have an explicit theory of the preposition. However, prepositions are important within both syntagmatic and paradigmatic structure, and function at various ranks and as components of various structures at those ranks. In this paper, I discuss five topics regarding prepositions: word groups and phrases, types of prepositions, prepositions and other relators, the meaning of prepositions, and the function of prepositional groups within SFL architecture.17-43 LAURENȚIU FLORENTIN MOȚ
Semitic Influence in the Use of New Testament Greek Prepositions: The Case of the Book of Revelation
Semitic influence on New Testament Greek prepositional use has been proposed by various scholars.At times, it turns out that the examples these scholars emphasize are quite unconvincing, many times because their methodologies seem unclear. This article proposes the use of the Second Language Acquisition approach in assessing the degree of Semitic influence on the New Testament Greek prepositions uses and applies it in the case of the prepositional irregularities found in the book of Revelation. Error Analysis is a method whereby the source of a linguistic irregularity is identified and the irregularity is explained. The question of this research is, what is the source of Revelation’s prepositional irregularities? The paper discusses the usage of prepositions such as εἰς, ἐν, ἐκ, µετά, ἀπό, and ἐπί in the book of Revelation, the New Testament, and the Greek language at large. Unclear terminology and inaccurate methodology are two factors that led to the conclusion that the source of the irregular prepositional use in Revelation is mainly Semitic. This paper uses the terminology of Second LanguageAcquisition and its findings drawn from empirical studies about linguistic transfer and facilitation from the mother tongue into the second language. In light of Second Language Acquisition, there seem to be strong arguments that confirm the Greek hypothesis and inform the Semitic explanation for virtually all of John’s peculiar prepositions.44-66 JACOB BULLOCK
Identifying Barriers to Understanding: Using Hill’s Matrix to Examine Contextual Mismatch in Acts 12:15
Relevance Theory offers historical-grammatical interpretation a model of human communication that aids in clarifying the reason modern audiences inappropriately apply their own context to a biblical text. Hill’s matrix, drawing on the model proposed by Relevance Theory, is a tool allowing expositors to explore the inappropriate context readers apply to the biblical text. Hill’s matrix can aid interpreters in the discernment of assumptions as appropriate or inappropriate to apply to a text in a search for authorial meaning. Applying Hill’s matrix to Acts 12:15 an exegete can identify both inappropriate assumptions modern American readers bring to the text as well as those contextual assumptions needed to find authorial meaning which are missing from modern readers’ context.67-98 RYDER A. WISHART
Monosemy in Biblical Studies: A Critical Analysis of Recent Work
This review article critically engages two recent monographs that utilize Charles Ruhl’s theory of monosemy to analyze the New Testament. After outlining Ruhl’s theory, I discuss how Gregory Fewster attempts to model monosemy within the linguistic framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, and how Benjamin Lappenga does so within the framework of Relevance Theory. Each makes important contributions, but I argue that neither has significantly improved on Ruhl’s original model and that some of the modifications of Ruhl’s theory end up being unhelpful or unclear. Nevertheless, both authors have persuasively exhibited the usefulness of a monosemic approach to studying biblical words and texts.99-126 STANLEY E. PORTER AND ANDREW W. PITTS
The Perfect Tense-Form, the Son of Man, and John 3:13, Once More
This article responds to the article by Madison Pierce and Benjamin Reynolds on the use of the perfect tense-form in John 3:13. While we commend their treatment of verbal aspect in their analysis, we offer several points of correction on several issues, including the semantics of the perfect tense-form, the use of the aorist participle, and the conditional clause.127-136 -
Volume 5 (2016)
ALEXANDER ANDRASON AND CHRISTIAN LOCATELL
The Perfect Wave: A Cognitive Approach to the Greek Verbal System
The challenge of reconciling a verbal form’s variety of senses on the one hand and its conceptual coherence on the other is solved, not by positing a highly abstract, semantically invariant core from which each use is derived, nor by simply constructing taxonomies of contextually conditioned senses with “exceptions.” Rather a form’s senses can be arranged diachronically along cross- linguistically consistent and cognitively motivated paths of change from which it becomes apparent that each sense has a direct conceptual relation only to adjacent senses on the path of change. These senses are synchronically organized in terms of prototypicality and fall along a semantic-pragmatic continuum according to conventionalization. Furthermore, senses previously thought of as “exceptional” are also conceptually related, but only indirectly via their common relationship to the overarching path of change.7-121 JAMES A. LIBBY
The Pauline Canon Sung in a Linguistic Key: Visualizing New Testament Text Proximity by Linguistic Structure, System, and Strata
The pruning of the Pauline Canon is considered one of the signal achievements of contemporary New Testament studies. Quite intriguingly, however, no consensus on the Pauline Canon exists among researchers who have actually executed quantitative studies of style in the Greek New Testament (GNT). From the perspective of functional linguistics, no study in the GNT has been executed that uses a linguistically comprehensive set of measures for either the syntagmatic structures, paradigmatic systems, multiple strata or multiple metafunctions of the GNT. In this study we will pursue an approach that, for the first time, visually compares and contrasts these three dimensions in some depth. The advantages of such an approach are its (1) comprehensive selection of linguistic measures across six representative syntagmatic ranks in the GNT, (2) use of two data- driven (rather than ad hoc) feature-selection methods, (3) use of multiple extractive multivariate techniques (correspondence analysis and multiple correspondence analysis) which provide highly interpretable visualizations of the data, and (4) use of a formal experimental design methodology that explores each level of linguistic rank. This study proposes that such an approach provides a meaningful next step to the work of Neumann and Mealand in particular, and that the tighter integration of linguistics and multivariate visualization combines to provide new insights into the textual boundaries of the Pauline Canon.122-201 RONALD DEAN PETERS
A Response to Dan Wallace
Daniel Wallace, in a review of Ronald D. Peters’ The Greek Article: A Functional Grammar of ὁ -items in the Greek New Testament with Special Emphasis on the Greek Article, published in the Review of Biblical Literature, not only challenges Peters’ proposed grammar of the Greek article, but also the scholarship behind the theoretical model. The following is a response to Wallace’s review in which the debate between Peters and Wallace is located in the context of the general characteristics of paradigm shifts in science and scholarship. The presentation relies primarily on Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The thesis of the following response is that, using Kuhn’s framework and terminology, the debate between Peters and Wallace is characteristic of the conflict that inevitably arises between the novel theory and normal science, respectively.202-210 -
Volume 4 (2015)
JOSEPH D. FANTIN
Society and Culture: Aspects of the First-Century World for a More Contextually Driven Exegesis
It is agreed that both context and Greek studies are essential components of the exegetical process. This article explores the function of language itself within society. The focus is not on the typical “meaning” of language as an information carrier but rather on the meaning that the use of particular linguistic elements brings to the communication situation. In other words, I will consider language itself as a social phenomenon. In order to achieve this goal, using Acts 21:27–40 as a test case, I will first consider selective elements of the social and historical context that when understood will contribute to recreating the context of the passage (cognitive environment). Then, with this contextual information activated in the exegetical process, I will consider the social impact of this information on two recorded speech incidents from Acts 21:27–40 resulting in a better understanding of the passage. This will demonstrate that in addition to the informational linguistic meaning, an understanding of the social use of language itself is a valuable tool for understanding the biblical text.7-29 JONATHAN A. WATT
The Living Language Environment of Acts 21:27–40
A sociolinguistic approach to Paul’s language usage in the Jerusalem arrest narratives of Acts 21–22 offers inferences with regard to his specific language choices between Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic during his interactions. However, modern language studies show considerable inter-language penetration that, by implication, complicate conclusions one may reach with regard to the NT situation.30-48 HUGHSON T. ONG
Sociolinguistics and New Testament Exegesis: Three Approaches to Discourse Analysis Using Acts 21:27—22:5 (Paul’s Arrest in the Temple) as a Test Case
This article discusses three distinct types of discourse analysis models—Social Identity Theory and Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), Conversation Analysis (CA), and SFL Register Analysis—and applies them individually to the text in Acts 21:27—22:5 to examine various aspects and elements that comprise the context of situation of the incident of Paul’s arrest in the temple. The main objective is to showcase the relevance and utility of sociolinguistic theories in New Testament exegesis.49-84 JAMES D. DVORAK
“Prodding with Prosody”: Persuasion and Social Influence through the Lens of Appraisal Theory
This article approaches the topic of persuasion from a social perspective rather than rhetorical or socio-rhetorical. This is because, at heart, persuasion—of others or of self—is ultimately a social action in which values are negotiated. Dvorak argues that to analyze the persuasiveness of a discourse requires a sociolinguistic model, and the model that is best suited for the job is Appraisal Theory, which is built upon the theoretical foundation of Systemic Functional Linguistics.85-120 -
Volume 3 (2014)
PAUL L. DANOVE
“Deriving” and Describing Usages of Τίθημι and Τίθημι Compounds in the Septuagint and New Testament
Τίθημι and its compounds present the broadest range of licensing properties of any set of verbal compounds in the Septuagint and New Testament. This article resolves the occurrences of τίθημι and its twenty compounds into twenty–six distinct usages. The discussion of each usage “derives” the event that the verbs grammaticalize, specifies the conceptualization of the event associated with each usage, describes the syntactic and semantic requirements for verbs with the usage, identifies the observed lexical realizations of required complements, and illustrates occurrences of the verbs with the usage. The discussion then summarizes the relationships among the usages, proposes a further basis for relating the events, and notes the possibility of polysemous interpretations of verbal occurrences.5-30 JAMES D. DVORAK AND RYDER DALE WALTON
Clause as Message: Theme, Topic, and Information Flow in Mark 2:1–12 and Jude
Too often, study of the biblical text degenerates into rudimentary word studies, leaving aside larger syntactic and logical connections. This paper proposes that careful study should include considerations of genre, register, prime, subsequent, theme, rheme, topic, and comment. To demonstrate this, it applies a Systemic Functional approach to Mark 2:1–12 and the book of Jude.31-85 S. M. KRAEGER
Whence and Whither Greek Verbal Lexicography and Pedagogy: A Diachronic Review
Ever since the advent of the printing press, the Latin West and its lexicographic inheritors have used the first person singular indicative verb form (e.g., λύω) as the lemma of the Greek verb. There are historical reasons for this. These historical reasons for using the indicative form, however, are not coextensive with those by which modern lexicographers operate. This issue significantly overlaps with pedagogical concerns. The present article seeks to sketch a basic history of Greek verbal treatments toward a reevaluation of lexicographic and pedagogic practice regarding the ancient Greek verb.86-119 STANLEY E. PORTER
The Usage-Based Approach to Teaching New Testament Greek
This paper emphasizes the importance of both methodological and pedagogical dimensions of elementary Greek grammars, and then briefly surveys several different approaches found in current gram- mars. The paper takes what is called the usage-based approach, in which grammar is introduced roughly according to frequency of use so that students are reinforced in learning the grammar that appears most frequently in the Greek New Testament. Porter, Reed, and O’Donnell’s Fundamentals of New Testament Greek is used as the example of such an approach.120-140 -
Volume 2 (2013)
PAUL L. DANOVE
Features of the Conceptualization of Transference in the New Testament
This article develops five features that describe the conceptualizations of the event of transference grammaticalized by New Testament verbs, and uses these features to formulate a model of the possible New Testament usages of transference. The discussion resolves all New Testament occurrences of verbs that designate transference into one of eighteen usages with distinct feature descriptions, and considers the usages of transference predicted by the feature model but not realized in the New Testament.5-28 JONATHAN M. WATT
Diminutive Suffixes in the Greek New Testament: A Cross-Linguistic Study
Diminuted word forms in the Greek New Testament have much in common with their counterparts in other languages, and typically convey smallness, slightness, affection, or derogation. In some cases their meanings are “faded” or “bleached” and do not convey anything different from the base form of the word, as happens also in other languages. Diminutive usage can express solidarity and common values in certain speech communities, and may be doing so in some New Testament passages.29-74 STANLEY E. PORTER
θαυμάζω In Mark 6:6 And Luke 11:38: A Note On Monosemy
The utility of the lexical semantic theory of monosemy is demonstrated. Negative associations with θαυμάζω in Mark 6:6 and Luke 11:38 are due to co-textual features and not inherent to the word itself.75-79 GREGORY P. FEWSTER
Symbolizing Identity and the Role of Texts: Proposals, Prospects, and Some Comments on the Eucharist Meal
Where does text fit into a theory of social identity? Social groups consistently emerge and maintain their existence in relation to (sacred) texts: Christians with their Bible, Muslims with the Qu’ran, or socialists with Das Kapital. This is neither new nor surprising in- formation. Critics are intensely aware of how individuals and groups engage in ongoing processes of identification in relation to the sacred text. In this article, I explore the relationship between social context and text and the constructive potential between the two. What are mechanisms that trigger and maintain social change vis-à-vis text and how can these dynamics be productively analyzed? It has become popular to invoke certain constructivist views of social dynamics and, in particular, to marshal the notion of “identity” as a powerful means for social-boundary maintenance and change. In relation to that pro- pensity, this article is meant as an assessment of methodologies that may be equal to this task, touching on various theories of language and the construction of social identity, followed by exploration of a particularly promising avenue developing from theories of ecosocial semiotics.81-108 HUGHSON ONG
Can Linguistic Analysis in Historical Jesus Research Stand on its Own? A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Matthew 26:36-27:26
This article applies various sociolinguistic and multi- lingualism theories to analyze the linguistic situation of the episodes of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and trial in Matt 26:36–27:26. It demon- strates that the linguistic complexities of a multilingual society, in which Jesus lived, must have warranted the use of language varieties in various sociolinguistic contexts, in order for people from various social groups to interact with and accommodate each other. Thus, against Loren Stuckenbruck’s assertion, in a recent essay “‘Semitic Influence on Greek’: An Authenticating Criterion in Jesus Research?” in Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity, that “For historical Jesus research, linguistic analysis does not and cannot stand on its own” (94), this article otherwise contends that an episode, saying, or action of Jesus, independent of other criteria, may be deemed authentic without resorting to detection of a Semitic Vorlage behind the Greek text to signal “authentic material.”109-138 -
Volume 1 (2012)
WALLY V. CIRAFESI
ἔχειν πίστιν in Hellenistic Greek and its Contribution to the πίστιϛ Χριστοῦ Debate
This article argues that the construction ἔχειν πίστιν in Hellenistic Greek is a nominalized ideational metaphor that is semantically related to the finite verb πιστεύειν. Therefore, when the construction possesses a genitive modifier, the function of the genitive is disambiguated as denoting the object of πίστιν. This understanding of ἔχειν πίστιν + the genitive has significant implications for interpreting the construction in Mark 11:22, Jas 2:1, and Hippolytus‘s De Antichristo 61:26.5-37 GREGORY P. FEWSTER
Testing the Intertextuality of ματαιότηϛ in the New Testament
Adapting Michael Hoey‘s lexical priming theory, this article provides a new rubric for the evaluation of intertextuality in the New Testament. This article tests the veracity of the claim that the lexeme ματαιότηϛ functions to invoke the language of Ecclesiastes. Romans 8 mirrors some of the language of Ecclesiastes, while Eph 4:17 has strong ties to Rom 8, creating an intertextual chain via the lexeme ματαιότηϛ.39-61 HUGHSON ONG
Language Choice in Ancient Palestine: A Sociolinguistic Study of Jesus’ Language Use Based on Four “I Have Come” Sayings
This article relates to the criteria of language authenticity in historical Jesus research and inquires into the lingua franca of Je- sus’ social environment. It demonstrates via sociolinguistic principles that Palestine was a multilingual society, establishes that various so- cial groups necessitate the use of language varieties, and addresses the issue of language choice—the occasions and reasons multilingual people use their native tongue over and against their second language. The objective is to show in four “I have come” sayings in the Synop- tics that, with high probability, Jesus’ internal language was Aramaic, and his public language was Greek.63-101 STEVEN E. RUNGE
Relative Saliency and Information Structure in Mark’s Parable of the Sower
This study applies the cognitive model of Chafe and Givón, and the information-structure model of Lambrecht as applied by Levinsohn and Runge to the Markan explanation of the Parable of the Sower (4:14–20). The primary objective is to identify and analyze other linguistic devices, besides demonstratives, which might clarify the apparent prominence given to the unfruitful scatterings in Mark’s account. This study provides the necessary framework for comparing Mark’s pragmatic weighting of saliency to that found in Matthew and Luke’s accounts in order to determine whether Mark’s version is con-sistent with or divergent from the other traditions.103-125
Submissions to BAGL
BAGL accepts submissions in five categories, and are to be labeled as such at the time of submission:
- Articles
- Explorations
- Notes
- Responses
- Reviews/Review articles
Submission Guidelines
- Submission should include an abstract not longer than 100 words and identification of the type of article (which will be included at the time of posting and publication)
- For style please consult the McMaster Divinity College Press Style Guide
- Articles can be submitted by completing the Journal Article Submission Form
Submissions not following the style guide will be returned to the author for revision before being considered by the editors. Assessment and response will be made within two months of submission. Accepted submissions should be posted on-line within two months of acceptance.
-
Articles
Articles include full-length and fully-developed pieces that are expected to reflect a clear linguistic methodology, and where pertinent application to pertinent texts. Articles that utilize the latest in electronic data-bases and search capacities are encouraged, but the range of articles is not limited to such research. Some studies will offer focused and detailed treatment of particular issues in Greek language study, while others will offer more broad-ranging treatments of linguistic phenomena. Articles that survey and assess recent research are also welcome.
-
Explorations
Explorations include more tentative and exploratory pieces that do not reflect the same development as articles but are worthy of publication in order to generate interest and response and enable further development of their ideas. In some ways like “working papers,” these explorations are still expected to reflect clear methodological reflection, even if their approach and conclusions are more tentative and exploratory.
-
Notes
Notes include short notes or discussions of an idea which are not extensive enough to be a full article or exploration and ideas which are still in development or in response to other publications.
-
Responses
Responses include responses to any other postings made in this journal. Submissions in this category can vary in length. Responses should not simply repeat material in previous postings, but should accept knowledge of the previous work and advance discussion.
-
Reviews/Review Articles
Reviews and review articles include reviews of books, articles, software or theories relevant to the scope of the journal. Reviews of individual books, articles or software will not be published in print, but will be posted in a special review section. Review articles—consisting of reviews of multiple related books, articles, software or the like will be treated like other articles and will be posted and then published in print. Review articles should be substantial in content and scope.