[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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