On Ralph Earle

From: Edgar Foster (questioning1@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Jun 24 1998 - 10:01:22 EDT


Wm Boyd has asked about Earle's work as have others. I will briefly
give my observations about this work.

Advantages:

Ralph Earle's work is a quick reference guide to NT semiotics. It also
contains comments on NT books, ranging from Matthew to Revelation.
Earle does not get bogged down in his explication of a word's semantic
range or significance. Furthermore, his work serves as a nice
springboard to what others have said about a word's meaning. Earle's
work contains comments from BAGD, Westcott, and Lightfoot (among
others).

Disadvantages:

Much of what Earle says will not be new for scholars, nor in depth.
Some of his explanations are loaded with theological bias, and many
comments are too simplistic. At times, Earle doesn't comment enough on
a word, and he relies heavily on the diachronic approach.

Overall:

IMHO, Earle's book is worth having. He has some very interesting
discussions on words like MORFH or MUTHOS. The work also guides you to
certain articles in TNDT and other important commentaries. The price
is reasonable, and Earle is an erudite. He has taught Greek for about
forty years, and he helped translate the NIV. If nothing else, at
least it can serve as a quick and handy tool for the busy exegete.

Yours,

Edgar Foster

Classics major

Lenoir-Rhyne College

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