IN THE ORlGINAL TEXT IT SAYS ... A STUDY OF HEBREWAND GREEKLEXICAL ANALYSES IN COMMENTARlES by BenjaminJ. Baxter, B.Th. A thesis submittedto the Faculty ofMcMasterDivinity College inpartial fulfilment ofthe requirements for the degree ofMaster ofArts McMasterDivinity College Hamilton, Ontario 2008 Master ofArts McMASTERDIVINITY COLLEGE Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Inthe Original Text it Says ... : A Study ofHebrew and GreekLexical Analyses in Commentaries AUTHOR: Benjamin J. Baxter SUPERVISORS: MarkJ. Bodaand StanleyE. Porter NUMBEROF PAGES: ix +165 11 McMASTERDIVINITY COLLEGE Upon the recommendation ofan oral examination committee, this thesis-project by Benjamin John Baxter is hereby accepted in partialfulfilment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master ofArts in Christian Studies FirstReader and Advisor 4ftf~ Second Reader ~---D-ea-n 111 Date: March24, 2008 ABSTRACT "Inthe Original Text it Says ... :A StudyofHebrewand GreekLexical Analyses in Commentaries" BenjaminJ. Baxter McMasterDivinity College Hamilton, Ontario MasterofArts, 2008 This thesis examines Hebrewand Greek lexical analyses incommentaries that were writtenafterthe publication ofJames Barr's The Semantics ofBiblicalLanguage in 1961. Commentaries used byevangelicalpastors andthat discuss one ofthe following four biblical passages are examined: Gen 15:1-6; Isa 53:1-6; Luke 18:1-8; Rom 3:21-26. Using amodem linguistic approach, it is demonstrated that Old andNewTestament commentaries evidence many lexical fallacies. In addition, statements are regularly made bycommentators which do not evince linguistically-nuanced language, and thus could easilylead pastorsto make errors intheir statements from the pulpit about Hebrewand Greek words. Inthe hope that evangelical pastors canbecome more ably equippedto exegete the Scriptures, suggestions are made for how Bible colleges and seminaries can prepare students to incorporatethe knowledge whichhas been gained from modem linguistics into lexical analysis. IV To myparents, Thomas S. HandJanene E. Baxter, bywhose words andactions1firstlearnedthe importance ofthe Scriptures; myfutureparents-in-law, Philip andBrendaMasters, whofed me andputa roofover myheadwhileI wrote this; andmy beautifulfiancee, Kaitlin, who has daily sharedboth thejoy andthefrustration in writingthis,· I cannotwaitto marryyou. Thankyou Dr. DavidBarker, one ofmyprofessors atHeritage Baptist College, for tellingme to "complete myeducation"; itwas theprimaryreason I enrolledat McMaster Divinity. I'm gladI tookyour advice. Thankyoufor everythingMarkandStan; I couldnothave askedfor bettersupervisors. Your encouragement, challengingwords, andwillingness to answer allofmy questions have been a tremendous blessingover thepasttwoyears. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations ix 1. A Linguistic Approach to LexicalAnalysis. 1 Lexical Analysis and Exegesis 1 Linguistic Principles for Lexical Analysis...... 6 Linguistic Issues and Lexical Analysis 10 LXX Influence onNew Testament Words 16 Pastors, Commentaries and Lexical Analyses 17 2. Methodology 21 Toward a Methodologyfor Examining Lexical Analyses in Commentaries 21 Lexical Fallacies 26 1. SupportingHebrew andGreek ThoughtStructures by use ofLinguistic Evidence 27 2. The RootFallacy........................................................................ 28 3. Etymologizing 28 4. Etymologizing: Reverse 29 5. BasicMeaning viaEnglish ~............................................ 30 6. Illegitimate Totality Transfer 31 7. Illegitimate Contextual Transfer 32 8. Illegitimate Informational Transfer 32 9. Defininga Greek Wordvia Hebrew or vice versa 33 10. Illegitimate Central Core ofMeaning 34 11. Equatinga Central Core ofMeaning across Languages.... 34 12. Inadequate Parallels ofWord Usage 35 13. Illegitimate Synonymy.............................................................. 36 14. InhibitingSynonyms............ 37 15. [2+2J= The Meaning ofa Compound Word 37 16. ContextualAmnesia 38 "Literally" 38 Examining Lexical Analyses in Commentaries 39 3. Genesis 15:1-6 45 Lexical Fallacies. 46 VI Verse 1 46 Verse 3 47 Verse 5 48 Verse 6 48 Linguistically-Nuanced Language :................... 50 Verse 1 50 Verse 2 54 Verse 3 56 Verse 4 56 Verse 6 57 "Literally" 62 Conclusion 63 Fallacies Listed by Commentary 64 4. Isaiah 53:1-6 65 Lexical Fallacies 66 Verse 1 66 Verse 2 67 Verse 4 68 Verse 5 70 Linguistically-NuancedLanguage 71 Verse 1 71 Verse 2 74 Verse 3 76 Verse 4 78 Verse 5 82 "Literally" 87 Conclusion 89 Fallacies Listed by Commentary 90 5. Luke 18:1-8 91 Lexical Fallacies 92 Verse 1 92 Verse 2 93 Verse 6 93 Verse 7 94 Verse 8 95 Linguistically-Nuanced Language 96 Verse 1 96 Verse 2 97 Verse 3 98 Verse 4 100 Verse 5 101 Vll Verse 6 104 Verse 7 104 Verse 8 107 "Literally" 110 Conclusion .".................................................... 112 Fallacies Listed by Commentary ."..................................................... 113 6. Romans 3:21-26 .". 114 Lexical Fallacies ." ." ." ." .".. 115 Verse 21 115 Verse 22 ." .".......................................................... 121 Verse 23 ." ." ."...... 122 Verse 24 124 Verse 25 130 Linguistically-NuancedLanguage ."............................ 133 Verse 21 133 Verse 22 ."................................................................ 138 Verse 23 141 Verse 24 143 Verse 25 148 Verse 26 150 "Literally" ."......................................... 152 Conclusion ."................................................................... 153 Fallacies Listed by Commentary 155 7. Conclusion 156 Lexical Fallacies and Linguistically-Nuanced Language 157 Training Pastors for Lexical Analysis....... 161 Bibliography.......... 166 V111 ABBREVIATIONS BAGD Bauer'sA Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament, 2nd edition (1979) BDAG Bauer'sA Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament, 3rd edition (2000) BDB The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew andEnglish Lexicon BHRG A BiblicalHebrew Reference Grammar byvan der Merwe, etal. EV Englishversions ofthe Bible HALOT The Hebrew andAramaicLexicon ofthe OldTestamentby Koehler and Baumgartner LXX Septuagint; Greekversionofthe Old Testament MT Masoretictext ofthe HebrewBible IX 1 CHAPTERONE: A LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO LEXICALANALYSIS Biblical scholars have for generations recognized the importance ofstudyingthe biblical languages ofHebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Bible colleges and seminaries offer courses inthe biblical languages, encouraging future pastors and scholarsto become familiar withthe languagesthatwere used in composingthe Scriptures. Yet in spite of this, Cotterell and Turnerwere still able to write in 1989: "Unfortunatelyour system of highereducation seems designed to keep the disciplines ofbiblical studies and linguistics isolated from each other, and few theologians have beenexposedevento those aspects of linguistics which are ofmostobvious relevance to them."! Itis importantthen, to become familiar withthe significance oflinguistic studyfor exegesis, and inparticular, lexical analysis. Lexical Analysis and Exegesis At its basic level, exegesis is the study ofwhat atext meantatthe time inwhichit was written.2Intheirintroductory, popular-level book onbiblical interpretation, Fee and Stuart define exegesis as "the careful, systematic studyofthe Scripture [sic] to discover !CotterellandTurner,Linguistics, 9. 20sbome,HermeneuticalSpiral, 22.