Linguistic Analysis

of the

GREEK

New

Testament

Studies in Tools, Methods, and Practice

STANLEY E. PORTER

Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2015 by Stanley E. Porter

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Porter, Stanley E., 1956– author.

Linguistic analysis of the Greek New Testament: studies in tools, methods, and practice /

Stanley E. Porter.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 978-0-8010-4998-9 (pbk.)

1. Greek language, Biblical. 2. Bible. New Testament—Language, style. I. Title.

PA810.P56 2015

487′.4—dc23

2014046440

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are the author’s translation.

Dedicated to

Lorraine DeHaan Porter

and

Wendy J. Porter

Two Extraordinary Women of God

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part 1 Texts and Tools for Analysis

1. Who Owns the Greek Text of the New Testament? Issues That Promote and Hinder Further Study

2. Analyzing the Computer Needs of New Testament Greek Exegetes

3. “On the Shoulders of Giants”: The Expansion and Application of the Louw-Nida Lexicon

4. The Blessings and Curses of Producing a Lexicon

Part 2 Approaching Analysis

5. Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation

6. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Exegesis

7. Sociolinguistics and New Testament Study

8. Discourse Analysis: Introduction and Core Concepts

9. The Ideational Metafunction and Register

10. Time and Aspect in New Testament Greek: A Response to K. L. McKay

11. Three Arguments regarding Aspect and Temporality: A Response to Buist Fanning, with an Excursus on Aspectually Vague Verbs

12. The Perfect Tense-Form and Stative Aspect: The Meaning of the Greek Perfect Tense-Form in the Greek Verbal System

Part 3 Doing Analysis

13. A Register Analysis of Mark 13: Toward a Context of Situation

14. The Grammar of Obedience: Matthew 28:19–20

15. Verbal Aspect and Synoptic Relations

16. Study of John’s Gospel: New Directions or the Same Old Paths?

17. Method and Means of Analysis of the Opponents in the Pauline Letters

18. 1 Timothy 2:8: Holy Hands or Holy Raising?

19. Greek Word Order: Still an Unexplored Area in New Testament Studies?

20. Proper Nouns in the New Testament

21. Hyponymy and the Trinity

Bibliography

Index of Ancient Sources

Index of Modern Authors