Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Greek

The Best Part about Knowing the Biblical Languages

by

Scott J. Hafemann, “Is it genuinely important to use the biblical languages in preaching, especially since there are many excellent commentaries and pastors will never attain the expertise of scholars?” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 3:2 (1999): 86–89 (formatting added):

One hour with the text is worth ten in secondary literature. . . .

But I have saved the best for last. Knowing the biblical languages enables us to do something very few commentaries ever do: trace the flow of the argument of the text. [Read more…] about The Best Part about Knowing the Biblical Languages

Themelios 36.3

by

TGC published the latest issue of Themelios this morning.

I contributed two book reviews:

  1. Review of John Dickson, Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership. (I highlighted this book last month.)
  2. Review of Steven E. Runge, Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament: A Practical Introduction for Teaching and Exegesis.

Note also Rod Decker’s “An Evaluation of the 2011 Edition of the New International Version.” (It revises a paper I mentioned in July.) Related to Decker’s article is a recent unpublished one:

William W. Combs. “The History of the NIV Translation Controversy.” A paper presented at the Mid-America Conference on Preaching in Allen Park, MI (hosted by Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary). October 20, 2011 (MP3).

The Best All-Around Book on Bible Translation

by

Next month I’m planning to teach a class called “Greek Reading” at Faith Bible Seminary, and they asked me to devote a half-day to the topic of Bible translation.

I’ve spent a good deal of time studying New Testament Greek. For example:

  • I’ve read the Greek New Testament almost daily since 1998.
  • I took ten semesters of Greek in college and seminary (not including many other courses that built on that foundation), finishing with Don Carson’s “Advanced Greek Grammar.”
  • I passed Greek proficiency exams at two seminaries.
  • I graded Greek proficiency exams at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
  • I passed the comprehensive exams that Don Carson wrote for my PhD in NT at Trinity, which requires the student to sight-read the Greek NT.
  • I’ve taught nearly twenty introductory and intermediate semester-long Greek courses on the college and seminary level.
  • I’ve written papers and publications that deal largely with Greek exegesis.

But my knowledge of NT Greek is merely novice-level compared to the best NT professors and Bible translators. Further, I had never thoroughly studied the topic of Bible translation.

This class has given me the opportunity to read over 100 books and articles in my library on Bible translation. As with just about any subject, the more you study it, the more you realize how much you don’t know. (That’s one reason I’m planning to interview Craig Blomberg during class next month.)

I recommend other helpful resources at the end of this post, but one book stands out as the best all-around resource on Bible translation that I’m aware of:

Gordon D. Fee and Mark L. Strauss. How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007.

It has at least seven strengths: [Read more…] about The Best All-Around Book on Bible Translation

Nooma Blooper

by

Rob Bell further undermines his credibility in the Nooma DVD Store | 016:

And then, the Bible says [in Mark 3:5] that Jesus looked around at them in anger. Jesus gets angry. Now this story was first told in the Greek language, and there’s a subtle nuance to this word “anger” in the Greek language. It’s in what’s called the aorist tense, which is a technical way of saying that Jesus’ anger is a temporary feeling. It comes on him, and then it leaves him.

Response:

  1. “Anger” is a noun, not a verb, in Mark 3:5. The participle περιβλεψάμενος (“After looking around at”) is aorist.
    • καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ᾽ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρα.
    • NET: After looking around at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
  2. Even if Bell had correctly parsed the word he was highlighting, his point is still guilty of the aorist tense fallacy. The aorist tense is not “subtle” or “technical.” It’s the default tense that communicates the very least about a particular action. (See, e.g., D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies [2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), 67–73.)

This is not an isolated example. When Bell talks about ancient history, customs, language, etc., he not infrequently undermines his credibility.

Related:

  1. See Greg Gilbert’s thoughtful reviews of Nooma videos 1-19: parts 1 | 2 | 3.
  2. C. J. Mahaney, “Rob Bell, the Pastor’s Task of Discernment, and My Heart“
  3. D. A. Carson comments on Rob Bell’s ministry
  4. Pat Abendroth, “Rob Bell makes me angry: a pastoral response to Velvet Elvis“
  5. Ken Silva, “Is Rob Bell Evangelical?“

Update:

  1. Justin Taylor highlights this post followed by some related comments.
  2. Justin Taylor highlights this post again followed by more related comments.
  3. Kevin DeYoung, “This is Not Good“

Con Campbell’s Blogged Mini-Series on Verbal Aspect

by

One month ago I posted on “Con Campbell’s Primer on Verbal Aspect Theory.”

Constantine R. Campbell. Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008 (coming November 1, 2008). 159 pp.

This week Campbell blogged a five-part mini-series on his book on a Zondervan blog:

Related: Andrew David Naselli, “A Brief Introduction to Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 17–28.

Con Campbell’s Primer on Verbal Aspect Theory

by

I’ve previously highlighted two of Con Campbell’s books written primarily for NT scholars:

  1. Con Campbell’s Book on Verbal Aspect Released in Carson’s SBG Series
  2. Con Campbell’s Second Book on Verbal Aspect Released in Carson’s SBG Series

After studying verbal aspect theory a bit, I recognized that nearly everything written on the subject was by scholars and for scholars. I attempted to bridge that gap a little with a short journal article: “A Brief Introduction to Verbal Aspect Theory in New Testament Greek” (Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 [2007]: 17–28). Now Con Campbell has superbly bridged the gap with a short book. I’m grateful that Zondervan is publishing a reasonably priced, reliable, concise primer by Con Campbell for students and pastors as well as scholars:

Constantine R. Campbell. Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008 (coming November 1, 2008). 159 pp.

It is clearly written, addressing the subject in a logical order with helpful subdivisions and diagrams. (See the table of contents followed by a sample chapter.) It also includes exercises with an answer key as well as a short glossary of key terms (which is important to make sense of the lingo for linguistics!) This would make a fine supplementary text for a Greek class on any level.

More product info is available here, including an impressive group of endorsements by the following scholars:

  1. William D. Mounce
  2. Steve Walton
  3. D. A. Carson
  4. Stanley E. Porter
  5. Peter T. O’Brien
  6. Rodney J. Decker