[B-Greek] To Diagram or not to Diagram

Elizabeth Kline kline-dekooning at earthlink.net
Tue Mar 14 09:52:44 EST 2006


On Mar 14, 2006, at 3:50 AM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

>  it sometimes makes it easier
> to untie the knots; but don't bind yourself to diagramming as a
> discipline that has some inherent value.

In books such as the Gospel of John there are few places where you  
need to diagram since the syntax is relatively flat (parataxis).  
However, in Luke-Acts or Hebrews or 2nd Peter where the syntax may  
have some depth and the relationship between constituents is  
sometimes obscured by hyperbaton, some sort of notation is useful for  
tagging relationships between constituents. Full blown diagramming is  
an extreme form. There are other ways to  tag relationships which are  
less cumbersome and time consuming. I have a private one which would  
be useless for anyone else.

I don't think diagramming will hurt you but most of the time it isn't  
going to help that much. On the other hand I think the habit of  
producing rough translations is a real vice that should be avoided. I  
will admit that I still fall into it on occasion when reading  
challenging material but nothing in the New Testament is that  
challenging.


Elizabeth Kline







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