Word Study on James 2:8-11

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Following the steps indicated in the Lecture 3, complete a word study on each of the important words in James 2:8-11.

Submit the assignment as a paper (500-750 words).

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.


BIB-355 Lecture 3

Principles of Interpretation − Dealing with the Text

Introduction

In order to accomplish the task of bridging the gap between the ancient author and modern interpreter, organizing the study of the biblical text into clear principles and procedures is imperative. As shown in the diagram in Lecture 1, the interpreter must examine the author and original recipients of the text and their historical situation, examine the biblical text itself as a work of literature, and consider the text in its canonical setting as the whole Bible. The steps set out here consider first the text, then the historical/social and literary context, followed by the canonical setting of the passage.

The first principle of biblical exegesis is dealingwith the text, the passage of Scripture that has been chosen or assigned to study. For this week's assignments, the student is assigned a text to exegete. There are three necessary tasks that must be carried out in examining the lexical and grammatical elements of the text. These steps give the interpreter a clear idea of what the text itself is saying.

Analyzing the Sentences

Common sense might say that the exegete should start by examining the individual words. However, the meaning of the text is not found in the words, but in the sentences. The basic unit of thought in language is not the word, but the sentence. Words must be put into a sentence structure before they can come to have the meaning the author intends. The student needs to analyze each sentence to discern what statements or thoughts are intended by the author.

This is done by subjecting each sentence to a diagramming process. In order to do this, the student must be able to recognize the basic elements of the sentence. These basic elements are displayed in a diagram which highlight them and show their relationship to one another more clearly.

What are the basic elements? Every sentence has at least two basic elements: the subject (usually a noun or pronoun) and the predicate. The subject is the doer of the action, and the predicate is the word that expresses the action (e.g., run, jump) or state of being (e.g., is, was, will be). These two together form a clause, a subject-verb combination. Many sentences have a third basic element, a verb complement. There are three different kinds of complements: the direct object (receives the action of the verb), the indirect object (who the action is done for), or for state of being verbs, a predicate noun or adjective. Use the "Diagramming a Sentence" resource to practice identifying these elements in a sentence.

A sentence might also have modifiers (words, phrases, or sub clauses) that go with one or more of the basic elements. An adjective might modify the subject, direct or indirect object, or predicate noun. An adverb might modify the verb. Prepositional phrases are usually used to modify nouns or verbs. Other phrases like infinitives and participles can function as one of the basic elements or can be used to modify a basic element. Even sub clauses (subject-verb combinations that are not the basic elements) can be used as modifiers of basic elements.

Another important kind of word seen in sentences are connector words, or conjunctions (words such as "and," "but," "or," "although"). In the diagram, these words are put on a vertical line between the sentences, words, or phrases they connect.

The idea of the diagram is to put the basic elements on the main line in the order subject-predicate-verb complements. Then the modifiers of each basic element are arranged under the element it modifies, each on its own line. When all the words, phrases, or units (such as sub clauses or infinitives) of the sentence are arranged, the student can see much more clearly the main ideas and their relationships to one another. The "Diagramming a Sentence" resource gives several example sentences that have been diagrammed. The student should practice diagramming sentences using the illustrations and instructions in this resource.

Diagramming the Paragraph

A paragraph is a grouping of sentences that addresses one main idea and functions together as a unit. Some linguists maintain that the paragraph, not the sentence, is the basic thought unit of language. Finding the central statement of the paragraph is important, as is how that statement is made through the interrelationship of several sentences. In a paragraph there is one main statement with several "modifier" statements, or sentences, around it. Be aware that the main statement may not be the first sentence in the paragraph; often it is not.

Steps should be taken to diagram the main theme and flow of thought in a paragraph. Since students have already analyzed the sentences carefully, they are ready to distill the statements of the paragraph into one sentence expressing the central theme or statement. This statement should be a simple sentence, written in the student's own words (not using a quote from the paragraph). After identifying the most important idea in each sentence, deciding how each sentence relates to the main theme of the paragraph is necessary. One of the sentences will state the main theme most clearly, and all the other sentences will in some way modify that sentence. The diagram is designed to make these relationships clear for analysis.

Consult resources for an example of a paragraph diagram and to learn how to lay out the diagram. Also, in Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, there is a list of ways that sentences can relate to one another listed under adverbial types (p. 267). Use these resources in order to carry out the exegesis assignment.

Word Study

At this point in the exegesis, searching out the meaning of some of the more significant words in the focal passage is necessary. The reason such a word search is important is that a word does not have a single meaning, but a range of meanings. Consider the sentence, "I see what you are talking about." The word "see" in English has many meanings (consult any dictionary). In this sentence, it could mean "to perceive with the eye" or"to understand."In Scripture, the precise usage of a word is important, so a word study is necessary.

The first step is to select the words to be studied. Any word or words that are crucial to the main theme of the passage should be considered. Also, words that are "loaded" or that have a broad range of meanings (such "faith" or "righteousness") should also be considered. Perhaps words that are important for the larger context (the book) of the focal passage should also be examined. Any word the exegete finds unclear in some way should be studied. Identifying names of places, people, or events with which the exegete is not already familiar is also helpful. A reference to Abraham may be clear, but a reference to Ahab may need to be explored.

Next, the exegete must determine the original Hebrew or Greek word that underlies the English word selected. Remember, the exegesis must look at the text from the author's perspective and the words he used. A good concordance is a helpful resources to use. There are several good online concordances such as blueletterbible.org.

Now it is time to study the word carefully. Using a concordance or a Greek or Hebrew lexicon (if Greek or Hebrew words are recognized), determine the range of meanings that the word had in the author's day. By reading the passage and considering the flow of thought and the use of the word in the sentence, determine which of the various meanings was intended by the author in the specific sentence in which it occurs. Do not assign a meaning to it that is not consistent with the context of the word. The criterion is not what sounds good, but what the original author intended.

Conclusion

Since dealing with the text is only the first step in the exegetical process, the conclusions about the meaning of the text should be tentative. However, it is helpful to highlight important discoveries from the work thus far. Highlight the main theme of the paragraph, the flow of thought, and important relationships between ideas. Note the various possible meanings of important words. All the information gathered so far is the basis for the next steps.

Reference

Merriam Webster's collegiate dictionary. (2003). Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

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Guide to Exegesis Use a translation of your choice for this course. It is preferable that you use a non-paraphrase translation like the NASB, KJV, ESV, or NIV. Do not use any commentaries for any of these steps except for discovering and discussing textual variants. Also, use source citations to indicate sources and resources. Include a bibliography (APA style required). Section One: Analyzing the Sentences and Paragraph 1. Give a diagram for each sentence and a diagram for the paragraph. With the paragraph diagram, give a one sentence summary of the main point of the paragraph. Section Two: Word Studies 2. Pick out the important words to study (including historical, geographical references). 3. Do a word study on each one. Section Three: Analyzing Historical and Sociological Context 1. Determine the significant historical information about the book (author, date, occasion, purpose, recipients). Give a summary of the historical situation of the book. 2. Determine from the historical information and a search of the passage the important sociological and cultural features reflected in the passage. Investigate them. Especially investigate any references within the passage to social customs or ideas that need to be explored and explained. Discuss what light they shed on the passage. 3. In the exegesis, deal with these issues, especially how they relate to the meaning of the passage. Note the relationship of this information to the ideas of the passage. 4. If the passage is set in another historical setting beside that of the author (historical narrative, for instance), discover and evaluate this aspect of the text. Section Four: Analyzing Literary Context 1. Survey the book and become familiar with its flow of argument and outline. Give an outline of the book (does not need to be too extensive if the book is long). 2. Note the main theme of the section of the book in which the passage is located. How does the passage fit into the section? 3. Note the relationship of the passage to the paragraphs before and after it. How does it fit into the flow of thought? 4. Discuss how the literary context limits or illumines the meaning of the significant ideas in the passage. © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Section Five: Analyzing Literary Aspects 1. Determine the literary genre of the book your passage is in. Discuss how the genre might limit or guide the interpretation of the passage. 2. Determine the literary form of the passage (if it has a special literary form), or special literary forms within the passage. 3. Note what significance the genre and form have on the interpretation of the passage (literal? figurative? Etc.). 4. Identify and discuss all the figures of speech in the passage. Section Six: Preliminary Summary of the Passage 1. List your conclusions so far about the passage, including the following: a. Main idea of the passage (paragraph diagram) b. Summary of what the paragraph says about this idea (paragraph diagram) c. How the passage functions in the section/book (analysis of context, literary analysis) d. Background issues (historical, social) the author is involved in and/or dealing with in this passage (historical and social context) e. Questions about the passage for further study Section Seven: Theological Exegesis 1. You have determined the main idea of the paragraph. Now research what this author says about the idea in the rest of the book, and in other works by the same author. 2. Research what other portions of Scripture say about this idea (Rest of New Testament or Old Testament, sections of New Testament or Old Testament) 3. Summarize the "theology" of your idea as determined from this study. Note how it relates to the passage. 4. Pick out any other ideas in the passage that need to be illumined by theological exegesis. Use the same procedure on those ideas. Section Eight: Exegesis Summary 1. Bearing in mind all you have learned about this passage, in one paragraph summarize what the passage is saying. This should be more than a rewording. Section Nine: Application/Significance 1. List and discuss the levels and areas of application that pertain to the passage. Elaborate on how the ideas of the passage would express themselves in these levels and areas. 2. Identify your own pre-understandings and expectations of this passage. Discuss how they might influence the way you interpret and apply this passage. 3. Choose one of the levels/areas of application and discuss a particular application of the ideas of this passage in that level/area (be specific). © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. BIB 355 Biblical Interpretation and Application SAMPLE EXEGESIS James 1:19-21 NOTE: This sample is not drawn out completely, nor are the bibliographical references complete. This is given as an example of doing the exegesis. Section One—Establishing the text 1. Textual Variant #1 1:19 “My dear brothers, take note of this” (NIV) --Reading #1. NIV has “take note of this” (in Greek iste/). This reading is supported by the older and better manuscripts like Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and papyrus 74. Also this is Greek text underlying the translation in RSV, NASB, Holman Bible, and most other modern translations. --Reading #2. The second reading found is “Wherefore, my beloved brethren” (KJV) (or “Therefore” or “So then”). The Greek word is hoste/. This reading is supported by the Textus Receptus (the “majority text”), consisting of later manuscripts. This is the Greek text underlying the KJV translation, as well as older translation like Young and Darby. --I believe the NIV text is the better. It has the support of the older better witnesses and the great majority of modern translations. (NOTE: If there is more than one textual variant in your passage, deal with it the same way I have dealt with variant #1 above) 2. Punctuation differences --NIV, NRSV, Holman, and many others have a colon after “take note of this:” This clearly indicates that the following statements (of vv.19-21) are what the author intends for them to take note of. --The NASB and RSV have a period after this opening statement (“This you know, my beloved brethren.”) The period indicates that this statement could be taken as concluding the statements of the previous section (1:16-18) or introduction to 1:19-21. This punctuation is not as clear in its meaning --The evidence is mixed and cannot be decided with certainty. I will go with the NIV punctuation since most modern translations (and the Greek text editors) interpret the phrase as an introduction for 1:19-21. The address “My dear brothers and sisters” is more logically taken as introducing something rather than concluding something. 3. Paragraph boundaries --V.19 should be the beginning of the paragraph. It is possible that the first phrase “My dear…of this” might be the end of the paragraph before but I will take it as the beginning of the 1:19-21 passage (as noted above). --V.21 begins with a connecting word “Therefore,” which indicates the author intends that it be taken with vv.19 and 20 and the exhortation on how to listen and avoid anger. V.22 could logically be an extension of that exhortation to listen, © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. seems that the author is taking the exhortation in a new direction (deceiving oneself). --Based on this reasoning I will believe the paragraph as found in NIV is the correct division. (NOTE: For this exegesis, use the text, punctuation and paragraph boundaries in the NIV regardless of what your decision is about the text, punctuation, and paragraph boundaries) Section Two—Analyzing the sentences and the paragraph 1. Analyzing the sentences. (This diagram is based on NASB. You should use NIV for the assignments in the modules) you know ¦ │ my beloved brethren ¦but ¦ everyone let. . .be ¦ │ ¦ │ ¦ │for ¦Therefore │ the anger ¦ │ ¦ │of man ¦ ¦ (you) receive │ │ │ │putting aside │ │in humility this quick to hear │slow to speak and │slow to anger does not achieve the righteousness │of God the word │implanted │which is able to save your souls all filthiness │ and │all that remains of wickedness 2. Analyzing the paragraph Theme of the paragraph: Do not let anger be your response to difficult circumstances. │ (main theme) │ everyone │ │(result) │ │(introductory) │ │ let│…be │ │(you) │ │You │ quick… receive the word know this Section Three--Word studies © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. “brothers” (v. 19)—The Greek word adelfoStrong’s #80) can mean brother in the literal, familial sense. The Shorter Lexicon (Gingrich) says that the word can refer to the group of believers. Here James is addressing the church, as individuals and as a group. (Gingrich, Shorter Lexicon) “anger” (vv. 19,20)—The Greek word  not only has the meaning anger, but also can mean indignation, even a judgmental attitude or action (such as punishment) (Gingrich). It seems that seems that “anger” is the best sense here, although “judgmentalness” fits in the context here well. “righteous life/righteousness” (v.20)—The word  can mean uprightness, a righteous requirement (of God), mercy or charitableness, justice, or even salvation (Gingrich). With the qualifying phrase “ of God” attached, the word probably should be taken as “what God requires or wants” (Gingrich). “humbly” (v.21)— “save” (v.21)— Section Four—Identifying historical and social context Authorship There are several James’s in the Bible qualified to write this epistle. The two that seem most likely are James the apostle, who was martyred in AD 44, and James the brother of Jesus and pastor of the Jerusalem Church (died AD 63). Since this epistle seems to be written especially to a Jewish Christian congregation, the second mentioned James, the pastor of the Jerusalem church, would likely be the author. It is unlikely that the epistle was written as early as AD44 (Guthrie, for this whole section). Date Most scholars say that since the Jew/Gentile controversy so evident in Acts 15 does not seem to be reflected in the epistle, it must have been written either before the controversy (AD 48,49) or close to the end of James’ life and after the controversy had died down. Date is about AD 62,63. Recipients Reference to the synagogue (2:2) and the address “to the twelve tribes who are dispersed” (1:1) would seem to indicate that the epistle is written to Jewish believers primarily. However, this epistle could be taken as James’ word to the church in general. Several references in the epistle indicate that the congregation(s) addressed were mainly poorer people who had been suffering because of poverty and low economic © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. status (1:9; 1:12; 2:6,7 and others). There must have been some rich ones in the congregation, too, however (4:13;5:1). Occasion and purpose Why did James write this epistle? The epistle does not give any sure answers. It would seem that James wants to help the hurting congregations deal with the economic depression and conflict they are going through. The letter is structured like a series of sermons. If that is the case, then the letter was a “book of sermons” sent out to the churches to help them live the Christian life faithfully (be “doers of the word”) during hard times. Sociological and cultural features Reference has already been made to the economic status of the recipients. We need to imagine a poorer congregation struggling with their poverty and against their rich, oppressive neighbors (maybe even those within the congregation). In those days, although the economy of the Roman Empire was fairly vigorous, there was no extensive system of welfare (outside of Rome), at least for the Jews and other marginal groups like Christians. Poverty could be exceptionally difficult. The many references to suffering and “humble circumstances” should be interpreted in this light. Reading our passage in this light, the references to anger would be James’ dealing with the impatience and frustration of economic oppression, perhaps. He encourages gentleness (humility, vs 21) which is opposite of violent resistance and rebellion. “Save your souls” would perhaps then refer not to spiritual salvation but to rescue from the harsh effects of their plight. Only by staying faithful to God’s Word, the Gospel, would they find effective help. Section Five--Analyzing the literary cotext Outline of the book The book of James has the following major sections, according to the NIV Study Bible (Barker). I. Greetings 1:1 II. Trials and Temptations 1:2-18 III. Listening and Doing 1:19-27 IV. Favoritism Forbidden 2:1-13 V. Faith and Deeds 2:14-26 VI. Taming the Tongue 3:1-12 VII. Two Kinds of Wisdom 3:13-18 VIII. Warning against Worldliness 4:1-17 IX. Warning to Rich Oppressors 5:1-6 X. Miscellaneous Exhortations 5:7-20 Outline of the section The section of the book in which the passage is located is outlined as follows: © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. III. Listening and Doing 1:19-27 (my subtitle: How God’s Word/The Gospel should be received by a Christian) A. Listening instead of anger 1:19-21 B. Doing instead of just hearing 1:22-25 C. Religion is more doing than saying 1:26,27 Our particular passage stresses the problem of reacting in anger, and the remedy for such reaction—“receive the implanted word.” A clue to what he means by “word” (vs 21) is in v.18 “brought forth by the word of truth” (the Gospel?), v.23 “hearer of the word” (implies that it is a spoken word, a Gospel sermon?), v.25 “perfect law, the law of liberty” (probably the royal law, 2:8, the law of love), which was Jesus’ summary of all the ethical law and requirements of God. Perhaps “implanted” is not just the Gospel message, but all the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. This means studying and putting into action the teachings of Jesus. Whether this would include all other biblical instructions is not clear. Section Six--Analyzing literary aspects 1. Dealing with the genre Genre It is fairly obvious that the book itself is not one long, carefully constructed argument, such as the epistle to the Romans. It is a series of loosely connected “sermonettes” with a general theme of Christian living, especially in hard times. It has a greeting, as an epistle would, but no other parts of the book show the characteristics of a letter. We call it an epistle, but the body of the letter displays more the characteristics of Christian wisdom literature delivered in the form of sermons If we take it as a series of sermons, then each section must be interpreted independently from the ones before and after—each on its own merits (lower degree of cotextuality). We must expect that James is dealing with more practical matters, and giving instruction in dealing with the more mundane things of life and theology (not a lot of heavy theology). Literary character of the passage V.19—the brief, practical nature of v.19b, and the parallelism of its structure, would indicate James either used a proverb already known to him and the recipients, or made up a proverb for this part of the sermon. It has the character of a proverb. V.20—Also has the feel of a proverb, especially the antithetical parallelism. The introduction (v.19a) “This you know” might be James’ way of saying, “You know this little proverb.” 2. Figures of speech © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. V.19—“quick” and “slow” are normally used of movement, not actions such as hearing and speaking. These should be taken as metaphors, meaning “ready and willing to hear, not so ready and willing to speak or get angry.” Our proverb says, “Count to ten before you speak!” V.21—“filthiness” is a common metaphor for moral (Gingrich, s.v. ). V.21—“implanted” comes from the realm of agriculture, putting the seed into the soil so it will grow and produce. The action referred to here is the listening to, study of, and the putting into practice the word/Gospel. Section Seven--Preliminary summary of the passage Considering all we have found so far, we can make these preliminary conclusions abut the meaning of the passage. 1. In vv. 19-21, James is introducing a section on hearing and doing God’s Word. 2. The central theme of this passage is dealing with anger 1) by listening carefully before speaking or acting 2) by consciously putting aside anger (“filthiness”) or any other unrighteous attitude similar to anger, and 3) by studying God’s Word and heeding what it says, especially about anger. 3. This problem with anger was perhaps manifesting itself in the church, so was a problem that involved corporate action. 4. It is certainly possible that anger wasn’t the only manifestation.  can also be indignation, judgmental statements or actions, punishing type actions done hastily and in anger. 5. We must remember that this anger might have been justified in the eyes of the congregation because it was a response to economic oppression and a reaction to rich people. James disallowed this response as unrighteous with God. 6. The power of God’s Word studied and applied is an important presupposition to James’ thinking. God’s Word is “powerful”. It can change attitudes and keep one from making bad judgments and taking harsh, harmful actions. But, the Word is not as effective as it could be if the congregations members did not decide to put aside (repent of) the wrong attitudes or actions. 7. The fact that this is Jewish wisdom indicates that further study in such books as Proverbs would shed light. Also, the fact that the Word (v.21) is the Gospel teachings of Jesus (I assume), studying further what Jesus said about anger will directly shed light on James’ ideas here. Section Eight--Theological exegesis 1. The theme of Anger In James—James does not speak of anger again, although he talks about powerful forces which compel one to use the tongue destructively (3:5,6,9). 3:16 speaks of earthly wisdom which creates “disorder and every evil thing.” In the same passage gentleness © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. and righteousness are mentioned, as in 1:19-21. 4:11 speaks about slandering and judging one another. Since James connects speaking and anger in our passage, these cited passages would indicate that James had a rather strong feeling about using the tongue (words) in anger. James’ remedy for angry, judgmental speech is to beware of the power of the tongue (3:8), and to let divine wisdom control our minds (3:13), thus helping to guard one’s speech from anger. In the New Testament—Anger is not automatically a sin. Mk.3:5 says that Jesus was angry at the people in the synagogue who objected to him healing on the Sabbath. Paul said, “Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your anger” (Eph. 4:26). Anger has its place. Paul recommends, as a remedy to anger, that one put aside the negative attitudes such as bitterness and replace them with kindness and love (Eph. 4:31, 32). James also recommended this sort of putting aside in our passage. Paul encourages especially forgiveness. In the Proverbs—First, Proverbs recognizes the connection between anger and speech. Pr. 15:1 recommends using gentle speech to deal with anger. Second, Proverbs clearly warns against the danger of letting anger have its way (19:19; 30:33). Pr. 14:29, which may be the source for James 1:19, encourages being slow to anger because quicktemperedness leads to folly/destruction. Third, Proverbs sees the wisdom of seeking to substitute anger with gentleness (15:1). Pr. 21:14 encourage giving a gift to turn away anger. Summary—Obviously, James and the other NT writers took their theology of anger straight from the wisdom literature of the Jewish tradition. Anger has its place, but must be treated very cautiously, because it is a very strong emotion and can quickly lead to unrighteous actions. One of the chief and most effective tools of anger is the tongue. The Bible suggests clearly that anger can be replaced with kindness, gentleness, and love, and this with the help of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23). 2. The theme of Word implanted In James— In the New Testament— Section Nine--Summary of the exegesis The theme of the paragraph is how to deal with anger, especially in situations that are difficult and seem to justify anger. James taps the simple yet profound wisdom of the ages to make some suggestions as to how to deal with the problem. He suggests a strategy for avoiding anger (don’t speak hastily, count to ten). Also, one must clear one’s heart and mind of other unhealthy and destructive attitudes and actions that both arise from anger and produce more anger (put these things aside). Also, James recommends © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. that one fill one’s mind with God’s thoughts and attitudes (receive the implanted word). If God’s wisdom rules the mind, anger will be more easily controlled. Section Ten—Application/Significance 1. The level of interpersonal interaction is the primary milieu of this exhortation. Listening and anger are most pertinent in an interpersonal setting. Some areas of life that this issue is relevant for are family life (relation between husband/wife, brother/sister, and many others). Also the area of relations between friends. 2. Concerning my own preunderstandings and expectations, I identify my own tendency to become impatient and angry with others. I must be careful to clearly understand what the author means by anger and not define it in such a way as to avoid the implications of the text. 3. In the husband/wife area, it is important for the husband (or the wife) to develop deliberate techniques and perspectives for listening carefully without reacting first. Maybe the old “count to ten” technique. SOURCES CITED Barker, K. ed. (1985) The NIV Study Bible. Zondervan Bible Publishers. Gingrich, F. (1965) Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. University of Chicago Press. Guthrie, D. …….. Strong, J. (n.d.) ……. NOTE AGAIN: This sample is to show the form for exegesis, not to show the complete form for everything. You must use APA form and follow all instructions in the assignment. © 2015. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Diagramming a Sentence By: Mike Baird Step 4—Analyzing the sentences. In this step, the exegete will first follow a procedure that will allow a careful look at the statement of each sentence. The sentence is the basic unit of thought in language, so it is critical to consider the structure of each sentence and what it is saying within itself. Such a careful look at the sentence reduces the impact of the exegete’s presuppositions, his or her preconceived understanding (which may or may not be accurate) of what the verse or passage says. The structure of the sentence. Every sentence has several basic elements that combine to form a thought that is understandable to the human mind. In analyzing the sentence, one must identify these basic elements and note their relationship to one another in order to get a clear picture of what the statement is. You have already done this in reading and understanding the author’s paragraph. Your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary allows you to make sense of these sentences. What are the basic elements that you are looking for? At its simplest, the sentence will have two elements—a subject and a predicate. The subject of the sentence (or a clause within the sentence) indicates who is doing or, if the verb is passive, receiving the action of the verb.1 The predicate is the word or phrase in the sentence that affirms (or describes) the action or state of being (if it is a “to be” verb). In many if not most sentences, there is a third basic essential element, the complement, which completes the action of the verb. There are three kinds of complements. For verbs that describe an action that is being An example of a passive verb would be, “The ball is being seen.” In sentences like this, the verb directs its action at the subject. 1 ©Copyright 2010 by Mike Baird. Reprinted from Chapter 6 of Biblical Interpretation: A Wholistic Approach (Unpublished). Reprinted with permission. done to something or someone (a transitive verb), there will be a direct object and perhaps an indirect object. The direct object indicates who or what is “being done,” who or what is receiving the action of the verb. The indirect object indicates who (or sometimes what) receives the benefit (whether positive or negative) of the action of the verb upon the direct object. Some verbs, such as the “to be” verb (an intransitive verb), do not describe an action being done on an object, but rather affirm a state of being. “To be” verbs (linking verbs) have as their complement what is called a predicate complement, a word or phrase that indicates what the subject “is.” So, there are at least two, sometimes three or four, basic elements for each sentence—the subject, the predicate, and the complement (direct object, indirect object, or predicate complement). If grammar is not your favorite subject, maybe some examples will help to clarify these important functions and relationships. Identify the basic elements of this sentence, the subject and the predicate: 1. He is lying. The subject of the sentence is the pronoun “he.” He (whoever he is, the context will tell) is the one doing the action. The predicate is the phrase “is lying.” Be careful to identify the predicate correctly; it is often a phrase like this one. The verb in this sentence is an intransitive verb, it does not required a direct object; it does not need one to make the statement complete. Now analyze the next sentence, identifying the subject, predicate, and complement: 2. The crowd sees the fireworks. What is the subject of the verb? (crowd). What is the verb, the action? (sees). Notice that this sentence has a complement, a direct object. The action of seeing is directed at the “fireworks,” the direct object. One can identify the object of the verb by asking, “What (or who) is being seen?” or “Who or what is receiving the action of the verb?” Note also that the subject has a 2 word working with it (“the”), a modifier, so that the full subject is not one word but a phrase, “the crowd.” The same case occurs with the direct object, “the fireworks.” The next sentence has four basic elements, the subject, verb, direct object, and indirect object. Identify the basic elements of this sentence: 3. Joe gave him the book. The subject is “Joe,” the verb is “gave,” the direct object is “the book.” “Him” is the indirect object. He (whoever “him” is) is not the direct object—“him” is not the what or who that Joe is giving, that is the “book.” In the sentence, the book is being given “to him” or “for him.” Often in a sentence, the indirect object is indicated by a helping word (a preposition) “to” or “for.” Sentence #3 could be stated, “Joe gave the book to him.” Notice the three basic elements in the following sentence: 4. The scenery was beautiful. Notice that the verb here is the “to be” verb. This kind of verb does not take a direct or indirect object. Rather, the complement of a linking verb (“to be” verb) is the predicate complement, the word that describes in some way the subject of the “to be” verb. In this sentence, the word “beautiful” is the complement. Notice also that the “to be” verb in this sentence is not functioning in the same way as in sentence #1 (He is lying). There the verb is the whole phrase “is lying,” not just the “is.” It is helpful to learn the distinction between these two uses of the “to be” verb. A sentence then has two, sometimes three or even four, basic elements. Things can get more complex in a sentence, of course. Many sentences have more than one subject/verb combination. 5. Joe is lying as he gives the book to Frank. 3 There are two subject/verb (with complements) combinations in this sentence- “Joe is lying” and “he gives the book to Frank.” When you have two (or perhaps three or four) subject/verb combinations in one sentence, each one is called a clause. So in sentence #5, you have two clauses. Note that one of the clauses is the main grammatical statement of the sentence (“Joe is lying”) and the other clause says something about that statement—“as he gives the book to Frank” tells when Joe is lying. As you analyze a sentence, it is necessary to identify every clause separately, and then identify the main clause (the main grammatical statement) and any subclause or subclauses. It is possible for a sentence to have two main clauses working together as parallel statements. It is important to identify this as well. So, at the core of the sentence is a subject/verb combination, a main clause. But most sentences have more words or phrases than just the subject, verb, and complements. Every other word or phrase (or even subclause) in the sentence will be functioning as part of one of the basic elements of the main clause. These other words or phrases are called modifiers. For instance, in sentence #2 the first “the” functions with the core subject “crowd.” We could say that the word “the” here modifies the subject “crowd.” All units (words, phrases, or subclauses) in a sentence will be modifying one of the basic elements of the main clause. A sentence can have subject modifiers or direct object modifiers like the “the” that goes with “crowd” and the “the” that goes with “fireworks” in sentence #2. You can add subject and direct object modifiers to sentence #2 to see how this looks. 6. The large crowd sees the spectacular fireworks. This sentence has its basic elements (“crowd,” “sees,” and “fireworks”) and modifiers for two of the basic elements (“the” and “large” working with the subject and “the” and “spectacular” working with the direct object). 4 In addition to basic elements and their modifiers, there is one other important kind of word in many sentences. Some word are used to connect main elements and modifying units to one another, words like “and” or “but” or “as” (see sentence #5 above, where “as” connects the subclause to the main clause). These connectors, or conjunctions as they are sometimes called, give important indications of the relationship between the various units and elements of the sentence. As noted above, modifiers are not always single words. A modifier can be a word, or a phrase, or even a subclause. It is helpful to describe more precisely the various units that can be part of a sentence. Sentences are made up of units, which are not always just a single word. Some units are phrases, like the prepositional phrase, a preposition and its object. The particle, a verb form ending in “ing” or “ed” (like “lying” in sentence #1), might have several words working with it in a phrase. The infinitive is another important unit, usually involving the word “to” in front of the verb form, “to do” or “to teach.” An infinitive can have words working with it as well (such as “to teach a class”). In such an infinitive phrase, the words function as a unit and should not be separated in analyzing the sentence. A subclause is another kind of a unit found in the sentence. Each one of these various units can function as a basic element—a subject, an object, or a predicate complement. Diagramming the sentence. To analyze each sentence in the focal passage, the exegete should use a structural diagram that shows clearly the basic elements and their modifiers. The idea of a structural diagram is fairly simple: (1) put the basic elements of the main clause on one line (the “main line”), (2) put each one of the modifiers under the main line and connected with the basic element that it modifies, and (3) put the connectors (where they occur) on a line between the words or units they connect. 5 The following examples show sentence #6 and #5 in diagram. the crowd  large sees the fireworks  spectacular The basic elements are on the main line and all other elements (the modifiers) are on lines below the element they modify. Notice that the basic elements are in the order subject-verb-direct object. The order subject-verb-verb complement (direct object before indirect object) should be followed regardless of the order of these elements in the sentence you are diagramming. There are no connectors in this sentence. Joe is lying as  he gives the book to Frank The basic elements are on the main line and the one modifier in the sentence (the subclause “he gives the book to Frank”) is under the element it modifies with the connector word “as” on the line between the two. The subclause here tells the reader when the action “lying” occurs. Through these diagrams the exegete has shown who is doing the action, what the action is and what it is directed at, and what the modifiers in the sentence say about the main statement of the sentence. If every sentence in the passage is diagrammed and arranged together in order, the exegete can inspect the passage noticing more clearly the correlations between the subjects of the paragraph, their actions, and the various modifications found in the passage. Practice diagramming. If you feel the need to practice diagramming to get a better idea of the concept and procedure, try your hand at diagramming the sentence, “Can a man break iron—iron from the north—or bronze?” (Jer. 15:12 [NIV]). When diagramming, it is best to use a blank page and a pencil since your understanding of the sentence will change and grow as you begin to look at it carefully in this way. Do not hesitate to make changes in your diagram until 6 you are sure you have identified the main clause and the modifiers that belong with each element. The diagram of Jeremiah 15:12 is found in Figure 1 (below). In the appendices, there are several other sentence diagrams you can use for practice. These will introduce more complex types of sentences and diagramming techniques. Analyzing the sentences. The exegete should conclude the first part of Step 4 with a paragraph summarizing the insights gained from the sentences diagrams. The exegete should notice the basic statements of each sentence in the passage and how they relate to one another conceptually. Notice any pattern or flow of thought that is clearly established. In doing this exercise, the exegete may also come to some better insight about the textual variants or a clearer understanding of the literary elements of the passage. Every such insight should be noted in a summary paragraph. 7
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