IN THE ORlGINAL TEXT IT SAYS ... A STUDY OF HEBREW AND GREEK LEXICAL ANALYSES IN ...

182 Pages·2011·6.22 MB·English

by  Benjamin J. Baxter

IN THE ORlGINAL TEXT IT SAYS ...
A STUDY OF HEBREWAND GREEKLEXICAL ANALYSES IN COMMENTARlES
by
BenjaminJ. Baxter, B.Th.
A thesis submittedto
the Faculty ofMcMasterDivinity College
inpartial fulfilment ofthe requirements for
the degree ofMaster ofArts
McMasterDivinity College
Hamilton, Ontario
2008
Master ofArts McMASTERDIVINITY COLLEGE
Hamilton, Ontario
TITLE: Inthe Original Text it Says ... :
A Study ofHebrew and GreekLexical Analyses in
Commentaries
AUTHOR: Benjamin J. Baxter
SUPERVISORS: MarkJ. Bodaand StanleyE. Porter
NUMBEROF PAGES: ix +165
11
McMASTERDIVINITY COLLEGE
Upon the recommendation ofan oral examination committee, this thesis-project by
Benjamin John Baxter
is hereby accepted in partialfulfilment ofthe requirements for the degree of
Master ofArts in Christian Studies
FirstReader and Advisor
4ftf~
Second Reader
~---D-ea-n
111
Date: March24, 2008
ABSTRACT
"Inthe Original Text it Says ... :A StudyofHebrewand GreekLexical Analyses in
Commentaries"
BenjaminJ. Baxter
McMasterDivinity College
Hamilton, Ontario
MasterofArts, 2008
This thesis examines Hebrewand Greek lexical analyses incommentaries that
were writtenafterthe publication ofJames Barr's The Semantics ofBiblicalLanguage in
1961. Commentaries used byevangelicalpastors andthat discuss one ofthe following
four biblical passages are examined: Gen 15:1-6; Isa 53:1-6; Luke 18:1-8; Rom 3:21-26.
Using amodem linguistic approach, it is demonstrated that Old andNewTestament
commentaries evidence many lexical fallacies. In addition, statements are regularly made
bycommentators which do not evince linguistically-nuanced language, and thus could
easilylead pastorsto make errors intheir statements from the pulpit about Hebrewand
Greek words. Inthe hope that evangelical pastors canbecome more ably equippedto
exegete the Scriptures, suggestions are made for how Bible colleges and seminaries can
prepare students to incorporatethe knowledge whichhas been gained from modem
linguistics into lexical analysis.
IV
To myparents, Thomas S. HandJanene E. Baxter,
bywhose words andactions1firstlearnedthe importance ofthe Scriptures;
myfutureparents-in-law, Philip andBrendaMasters,
whofed me andputa roofover myheadwhileI wrote this;
andmy beautifulfiancee, Kaitlin,
who has daily sharedboth thejoy andthefrustration in writingthis,·
I cannotwaitto marryyou.
Thankyou Dr. DavidBarker, one ofmyprofessors atHeritage Baptist College,
for tellingme to "complete myeducation"; itwas theprimaryreason I enrolledat
McMaster Divinity. I'm gladI tookyour advice.
Thankyoufor everythingMarkandStan; I couldnothave askedfor bettersupervisors.
Your encouragement, challengingwords, andwillingness to answer allofmy questions
have been a tremendous blessingover thepasttwoyears.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations ix
1. A Linguistic Approach to LexicalAnalysis. 1
Lexical Analysis and Exegesis 1
Linguistic Principles for Lexical Analysis...... 6
Linguistic Issues and Lexical Analysis 10
LXX Influence onNew Testament Words 16
Pastors, Commentaries and Lexical Analyses 17
2. Methodology 21
Toward a Methodologyfor Examining Lexical Analyses
in Commentaries 21
Lexical Fallacies 26
1. SupportingHebrew andGreek ThoughtStructures
by use ofLinguistic Evidence 27
2. The RootFallacy........................................................................ 28
3. Etymologizing 28
4. Etymologizing: Reverse 29
5. BasicMeaning viaEnglish ~............................................ 30
6. Illegitimate Totality Transfer 31
7. Illegitimate Contextual Transfer 32
8. Illegitimate Informational Transfer 32
9. Defininga Greek Wordvia Hebrew or vice versa 33
10. Illegitimate Central Core ofMeaning 34
11. Equatinga Central Core ofMeaning across Languages.... 34
12. Inadequate Parallels ofWord Usage 35
13. Illegitimate Synonymy.............................................................. 36
14. InhibitingSynonyms............ 37
15. [2+2J= The Meaning ofa Compound Word 37
16. ContextualAmnesia 38
"Literally" 38
Examining Lexical Analyses in Commentaries 39
3. Genesis 15:1-6 45
Lexical Fallacies. 46
VI
Verse 1 46
Verse 3 47
Verse 5 48
Verse 6 48
Linguistically-Nuanced Language :................... 50
Verse 1 50
Verse 2 54
Verse 3 56
Verse 4 56
Verse 6 57
"Literally" 62
Conclusion 63
Fallacies Listed by Commentary 64
4. Isaiah 53:1-6 65
Lexical Fallacies 66
Verse 1 66
Verse 2 67
Verse 4 68
Verse 5 70
Linguistically-NuancedLanguage 71
Verse 1 71
Verse 2 74
Verse 3 76
Verse 4 78
Verse 5 82
"Literally" 87
Conclusion 89
Fallacies Listed by Commentary 90
5. Luke 18:1-8 91
Lexical Fallacies 92
Verse 1 92
Verse 2 93
Verse 6 93
Verse 7 94
Verse 8 95
Linguistically-Nuanced Language 96
Verse 1 96
Verse 2 97
Verse 3 98
Verse 4 100
Verse 5 101
Vll
Verse 6 104
Verse 7 104
Verse 8 107
"Literally" 110
Conclusion .".................................................... 112
Fallacies Listed by Commentary ."..................................................... 113
6. Romans 3:21-26 .". 114
Lexical Fallacies ." ." ." ." .".. 115
Verse 21 115
Verse 22 ." .".......................................................... 121
Verse 23 ." ." ."...... 122
Verse 24 124
Verse 25 130
Linguistically-NuancedLanguage ."............................ 133
Verse 21 133
Verse 22 ."................................................................ 138
Verse 23 141
Verse 24 143
Verse 25 148
Verse 26 150
"Literally" ."......................................... 152
Conclusion ."................................................................... 153
Fallacies Listed by Commentary 155
7. Conclusion 156
Lexical Fallacies and Linguistically-Nuanced Language 157
Training Pastors for Lexical Analysis....... 161
Bibliography.......... 166
V111
ABBREVIATIONS
BAGD Bauer'sA Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament, 2nd edition (1979)
BDAG Bauer'sA Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament, 3rd edition (2000)
BDB The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew andEnglish Lexicon
BHRG A BiblicalHebrew Reference Grammar byvan der Merwe, etal.
EV Englishversions ofthe Bible
HALOT The Hebrew andAramaicLexicon ofthe OldTestamentby Koehler and
Baumgartner
LXX Septuagint; Greekversionofthe Old Testament
MT Masoretictext ofthe HebrewBible
IX
1
CHAPTERONE: A LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO LEXICALANALYSIS
Biblical scholars have for generations recognized the importance ofstudyingthe
biblical languages ofHebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Bible colleges and seminaries offer
courses inthe biblical languages, encouraging future pastors and scholarsto become
familiar withthe languagesthatwere used in composingthe Scriptures. Yet in spite of
this, Cotterell and Turnerwere still able to write in 1989: "Unfortunatelyour system of
highereducation seems designed to keep the disciplines ofbiblical studies and linguistics
isolated from each other, and few theologians have beenexposedevento those aspects of
linguistics which are ofmostobvious relevance to them."! Itis importantthen, to become
familiar withthe significance oflinguistic studyfor exegesis, and inparticular, lexical
analysis.
Lexical Analysis and Exegesis
At its basic level, exegesis is the study ofwhat atext meantatthe time inwhichit
was written.2Intheirintroductory, popular-level book onbiblical interpretation, Fee and
Stuart define exegesis as "the careful, systematic studyofthe Scripture [sic] to discover
!CotterellandTurner,Linguistics, 9.
20sbome,HermeneuticalSpiral, 22.