[B-Greek] Diagramming of Greek Sentences
R Yochanan Bitan Buth
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
Mon Dec 6 04:37:25 EST 2004
Some interesting comment developed on a couple of posts so I will
splice
>>> I wonder if Paul or Matthew diagrammed sentences in the Hebrew
>> Bible?
>>
>> First of all, I don't know if diagramming is that anciant.
... if we followed this to its logical conclusion we would have to
>> wonder if they used a Hebrew lexicon, or a Hebrew concordance,
>> like we do, and
>> if we should eschew such helps because they didn't have or use
>> them.
> Good observations - ...
> If we examine ancient exegetical procedures, we rarely see the
> ancients discussing grammar in the same way as we do today.
> ...
> My argument, therefore, is not that the we shouldn't use tools such
as
> lexicons or software because the ancients didn't have them -
> if I were a Luddite, I wouldn't be writing this message, now would
I?
Actually, I was thinking McLuhan, 'the medium is the message' and you
would be writing Greek.
In the ancient world you learned a language by using it. Grammars were
for people who already knew the language. Ditto for the first Arabic
and Hebrew lexica, organized around word roots. The compilers were
interested in etymology and extra connections. Roger Bacon is supposed
to have written one of the first 'learner's' grammars about Greek and
Hebrew. I haven't seen his but I suspect that they were probabbly more
like the tables we find at the end of books. If anyone has a copy of
Bacon's stuff I would appreciate a desciption and a picture of some
pages.
Randall Buth, PhD
Director, Biblical Language Center
www.biblicalulpan.org
and Director, Biblical Studies in Israel
Hebrew University, Rothberg International School
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
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