[B-Greek] Summary of the Danker vol.

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Sun May 2 15:09:50 EDT 2004


*Biblical Greek Language and Lexicography: Essays in Honor of Frederick W. 
Danker,* ed. B. Taylor, J. Lee, R. Burton, and R. Whitaker (Grand Rapids: 
Eerdmans, 2004).

This should not be considered a formal review of the Danker Festschrift, 
just a few notes now that I've finished reading it. Overall this is a very 
substantive volume that is well worth it's price. The individual chapters 
are diverse; some are broader in scope, others are very narrowly focused 
and quite technical. In most (not all) cases it is obvious why the 
individual chapters were selected for inclusion. (Unfortunately, chapters 
are not numbered, making reference a bit clumsier than necessary.)

The brief bio (xviii-xxi) provides a helpful glimpse into Danker's life. 
Those who are in the throes of doctoral work might be encouraged to note 
that it took Danker 20 years to finish his Ph.D.! He began work in 
classical Greek at the Univ. of Chicago in 1943, but did not graduate until 
1963! About 10 years of this time was spent in pastoral ministry (at least 
1946-54, perhaps longer).

Probably the most valuable chapter in the entire volume is the major essay 
by Danker himself, "Lexical Evolution and Linguistic Hazard" (1-31), which 
was the paper that he read at SBL in 1999 to introduce BDAG. This contains 
much historical perspective on the lexicon as well as providing an intimate 
glimpse into the process of lexicography. A few of my favorite quotes from 
Danker's pen:

"Lexicographers have ... responsibility to protect the poetic power of a 
word within a phrase from obliteration by bland prose" (22).

"A lexicon also should not be party to ideological distortion. Liturgical 
committees frequently bowdlerize otherwise clearly defined areas of 
scriptural text" (23).

"Refuge in sanctified vagueness, despite the patina of centuries of usage, 
is not a lexical gesture devoutly to be greeted. Indeed, such a practice 
may invite liability to the charge of linguistic incest" (24).


Most directly related to BDAG is the careful evaluation of the definitions 
and glosses in the review by Terry Roberts (53-65; formerly published in 
RBL). His comments make it obvious even to lexical neophytes just how 
complex a task it is to define words--esp. in the context of a bilingual 
dictionary.

One of the broad articles is that by John Lee, "The Present State of 
Lexicography of Ancient Greek" (66-74; Lee is one of the co-editors [with 
G. Horsley] of the current project to replace Moulton & Milligan's lexicon 
of the papyri). This helpful survey provides a interesting peek into the 
task of lexicography, including the confession that "the concise, seemingly 
authoritative statement of meaning can, and often does, conceal many 
sins--indecision, compromise, imperfect knowledge, guesswork, and, above 
all, dependence on predecessors" (66).

William Johnson discusses "Greek Electronic Resources and the 
Lexicographical Function" (75-84), particularly from the perspective of a 
classicist involved with the TLG project. Just exactly what should a 
lexicon be and do? The answer is much broader than providing translation 
glosses.

Another well-known lexicographer, Takamitsu Muraoka, writes a brief article 
on LXX lexicography (85-90). The challenges of a lexicon of the LXX are 
involved, of course, with the relationship to the Hebrew text.

This is followed with a brief article by Barclay Newman (91-93) recounting 
the history and process of his slender dictionary. Interesting, but not 
earth-shaking.

Richard Whitaker then tackles the related topic of Greek concordances, 
demonstrating that the very arrangement and contents of a concordance often 
overlaps the concerns of the lexicographer (94-107).

The next four chapters are specialized studies related to Septuagintal 
lexicography. Katrin Hauspie (the 'H' of the LEH LXX lexicon) evaluates the 
LXX entries in the last two supplements to Liddell-Scott (108-25), and 
then, with Erik Eynikel (the 'E' of LEH), provides a careful and complete 
discussion of the word DRAKWN in the LXX (126-35). The third LXX article is 
Bernard Taylor's semantic study of SPEUDW. He traces the complexities of 
Greek-Hebrew semantics and the "interlinear" paradigm assumed by the NETS 
translation project (of which he is the translator for 1 Reigns (= 1 Sam). 
Cameron Boyd-Taylor then applies the concept of register from systemic 
linguistics to matters of the lexicon in the LXX, asking when LXX usage may 
be considered evidentiary for the meaning of a Greek word (i.e., and not 
due to interlinear Hebrew). This is one of the longer and more technical 
articles (149-66).

Then follow four chapters addressing the relationship of grammar and 
lexicon. Bernard Taylor's second chapter in the volume is titled "Deponency 
and Greek Lexicography" (167-76). Aspect, the topic of three chapters, is 
addressed by Randall Buth, "Verbs Perception and Aspect: Greek Lexicography 
and Grammar" (177-98--and yes, the title should, I think, have had a comma 
added); Trevor Evans, "Future Directions for Aspect Studies in Ancient 
Greek" (199-206); and Stanley Porter, "Aspect Theory and Lexicography" 
(207-22, perhaps one of the most technical articles). These four do not 
agree on everything related to aspect, but they surely surface some key 
questions and suggest direction for what needs to have further work. (Any 
PhD students looking for a diss. topic related to grammar will find at 
least a half dozen ideas in these three chapters.) Overall, it is 
interesting to see just how much agreement there is on aspect theory here. 
Although the differences might too easily be magnified out of proportion, 
Buth, Evans, and Porter are essentially agreed on what aspect is and that 
it is one of the key elements of the Greek verbal system. But I must be 
careful not to begin writing another article on these three chapters! :)

The last chapter, written by James Voelz, addresses semantics, in 
particular, entailment: "External Entailment as a Category of Linguistic 
Analysis" (223-30). Verbal nouns and adjectives are the primary focus as 
Voelz considers how the verbal element of such words affects our definition 
of the Greek word as well as other elements of meaning that are inherent in 
their use in a particular context.

Following a selected bibliography of Danker's works, there are nearly 30 
pages of indexes (reference, Greek, Hebrew, subject) that will be a 
valuable tool to access these essays.

There is only one major wart to be found in this otherwise significant 
book. One chapter has been omitted from the above summary--one that baffles 
me as to why the editors would allow it to be published. It does not make 
much positive contribution to the discussion (other than a few personal 
glimpses into Danker's work). It is rather an uncharitable rant against the 
UBS/NA text and Kurt and Barbara Aland in particular. It not only lacks 
coherence and relevance, but it is in extremely poor taste for a 
Festschrift, which ought to contribute to the honoree, not interject 
personal vendettas against others--especially when those others are the 
editors of the current German edition of Bauer's lexicon--one of whom is 
now dead and cannot defend himself. Were I associated with this volume as 
editor, publisher, or recipient, I would be embarrassed to have this 
chapter included. Regardless of the circumstances which precipitated its 
writing, an apology would seem appropriate.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rodney J. Decker, Th.D., Assoc. Prof./NT
Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, USA
www.NTResources.com
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