Re: reason for b-greek/ATT: Eric Weiss

From: Edgar Krentz (ekrentz@lstc.edu)
Date: Fri Dec 11 1998 - 04:12:06 EST


>On Thu, 10 Dec 1998 08:56:00 -0800 Eric Weiss <eweiss@gte.net> writes
>(snip):
>
>>"Unless you can read Greek, you have decided to let someone else tell
>you what the Bible says."
>
>I have a question regarding the above statement. Even if we do study
>Greek, aren't we still relying on others to tell us what the Bible says?
>As I study the language, I rely on BAGD, Thayer, Vincent, Louw & Nida,
>Wallace, Vine, Mounce, B-Greekers, etc., to explain the definitions of
>terms, and the grammmatical/syntactical/morphological (etc.) nuances of
>the language. How can I be certain that they are correct? Unless I
>become VERY expert at the language, to the point of being able to examine
>and possibly challenge scholarly research, I have to rely on these people
>and hope that they are correct. It seems to me that any way it is
>sliced, I am relying on someone to tell me what the Bible says, even as
>the big-Greekers also had to rely on others. What can be said, I think,
>is that the odds of coming up with an accurate translation of given
>passages in the NT are better if I allow language scholars to tell me
>what the Bible says, than if I rely on those who are deficient in
>biblical languages. And to do that I'm not certain I need to know much
>about NT Greek. Or could I be mistaken?

The above is on target, in the main. I add only my personal take on it. It
is inherent in the very nature of thought and language, since language
always comes to one as part of the tradition, mores, ethos, etc. of a
people.

Having said that, one should also add that the inherited scholarship can be
checked out by (1) reading extensively in the literary and non-literary
texts of the language studied; (2) recognizing that all of the "scholarly"
literature listed above (LSJ, BAGD, Louw-Nida) is written by people who
know more or less about the language studied; (3) I read as many ancient
theorists about language as possible, e.g. Plato's CRATYLUS, Dionysius
Thrax, and the rhetoricians. (4) and I look at the historians of language,
like Steinthal, etc. (4) I trust grammarians who read widely in the
literature of the NT era outside the NT more than others, e.g.
Blass-Debrunner and Robertson over Mounce,etc.

I personally give more credence to works that reflect wide knowledge of the
language that goes far beyond knowledge of the GNT. Hence LSJ has more
authority for me than Abbott-Smith's excellent NT lexicon. I read Louw-Nida
with a bit of suspicion, because they do not give me sufficient textual
evidence to ratify or reject their statements-even as I use their work with
appreciation.

And having said that, I add that I learn from all of the above--though very
little from introductory grammars, which over-generalize for didactic
purposes, necessary, but leaving much to be unlearned as one advances in
the knowledge of the language.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Edgar Krentz
Acting Dean, Fall Quarter 1998
Professor of New Testament Emeritus
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 E. 55th Street
Chicago, IL 60615 USA
773-256-0752
e-mail: ekrentz@lstc.edu (Office)
        emkrentz@mcs.com (Home)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

---
B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:10 EDT