Relationship of grammar to exegesis

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Jul 24 1998 - 08:26:31 EDT


A former list-member, in the course of an exchange over several days, has
argued that we B-Greekers actually suppose that NT exegesis is nothing more
than grammatical analysis. He challenges me to make the statement directly
on-list: "We are focusing on syntax, which contributes to our
understanding of passages in the Greek NT, but grammar alone is not a
sufficient basis for understanding."

I don't have any problem with that assertion, and I would assume that there
are few, if any, list-members who would not agree with it 100%.

To me this is self-evident. Would anyone disagree with the following
statement?

"Few, if any, B-Greekers make the simplistic assumption that determining
the precise meanings of words in context, parsing the verbs, nouns, and
adjectives and construing the syntax of a Biblical Greek verse, is
sufficient to unlock all the meaning in that verse. But most, if not all
B-Greekers, do assume, I think, that one must do this spade-work with a
text before serious exploration of the broad range of questions involved in
exegesis of the text in question. What we postulate is not that exegesis is
nothing but grammar, but that grammatical analysis is a SINE QUA NON in the
exegetical process."

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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