Conditionals in the NT

 Steve Nicolle and researchers at CanIL are producing a very helpful resource for translating the NT. "Analysis of NT Conditionals by book" analyzes all the "if...then" clauses in the Greek New Testament, verse-by-verse. The resource analyzes the scope of the conditional (using ESV text as base), class of the Greek conditional, inversion of the conditional, level of probability, time orientation, illocutionary force, sample of English translations. It also includes a targeted note about the conditional construction and a list of any parallel passages:

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Nothing like this exists yet for the OT, for the Hebrew text or the Greek Septuagint, but that would be a great project to take on!

French translation of Hebrew and Greek texts of the Psalms

 Ce produit pourrait être très utile aux traducteurs et conseillers de la Bible!: 

https://www.editionsbiblio.fr/etudier/traduction/le-premier-livre-des-psaumes-texte-hebreu-et-grec

(ht: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

Linguistics and New Testament Greek: Key Issues in the Current Debate

INFO: two-day conference last month (April 2019) designed to bring students of the Greek New Testament up-to-date regarding current issues related to linguistics and the interpretation of the New Testament.

The conference looks great!

• Videos of all the presentations are available here. 

• Stephen Levinsohn’s PowerPoint (93 slides) is also available.

• Colleagues recommend these three presentations as the most informative in terms of current directions: Michael Aubrey (The Perfect Tense), Nicholas Ellis (Linguistics and Exegesis), and Steven Runge (Word Order).

This is the list of presenters and their topics:

• Stan Porter (McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada): “Linguistic Schools”

• Stephen Levinsohn (SIL Consultant): “Discourse Analysis” – presentation delivered by Steven Runge

• Thomas Hudgins (Capital Seminary and Graduate School, Washington, D.C.): “Electronic Tools”

• Randall Buth (Biblical Language Center and Institute for Biblical Languages and Translation, Jerusalem): "The Role for Pronunciation in Koine Greek: ἡ προφορὰ τῆς ἀρχαίας κοινῆς γλώσσης" – the introduction and first third of the lecture covers the role of speech in reading pedagogy, something relevant for Hebrew, too, and beyond questions of Greek pronunciation. The end of the lecture has a brief section on exegetical relevance.

• T. Michael W. Halcomb (Pacific Rim Christian University, Honolulu, Hawaii): “Living Language Approach"

• Rob Plummer (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky): “The Ideal Beginning Grammar?”

• Michael Aubrey (Language Editor, Logos Bible Software & SIL): “The Perfect Tense”

• Jonathan Pennington (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky): “Voice (Including Deponency)”

• Con Campbell (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago): “Tense and Aspect”

• Nicholas Ellis (CEO of EDiGlobal, and Grace School of Theology, Houston): “Linguistics and Exegesis”

• Steven Runge (Scholar-in-Residence, Logos Bible Software): “Word Order”

Verbs in Mark 15:19

Recently with a translation team, I asked about the verb tenses used in Mark 15:19. The translation at first read,

And they beat him over his head with reed stick, spat on him and knelt down and bowed down to him. (English Back Translation)

We made two changes in this verse, one regarding the final action of this verse (which is not under discussion here) and the other pertaining to TAM (tense, aspect, mood) (the focus of this post).

The Greek verbs here are all in the imperfect form which lead many scholars to conclude that these actions were not just one blow, spit, and kneel but provided a short "video" of some of the persecution our Lord underwent--whether several different people did these actions in turn or one monolithic group did them over and over again. For example, ESV translates "And they were striking...spitting...kneeling"; NIV and NET add "again and again they struck him..."; and HCSB translates as "They kept hitting..."

Once this was explained to the team, they re-read their verse and discovered that they had translated these actions as happening only once rather than repeatedly. By adding "many times," the team adjusted the TAM to more accurately reflect the repetitive nature of these verbs.

This was a dark hour for our Lord, especially since he bore the wrath of his Father who forsook him. But Jesus endured it "for the joy set before him" (Hebrews 12:2 ESV). And Peter wrote, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). O praise Jesus for his suffering and his efficacious death, "so that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18 ESV)!    

Jesus is Back in Jude

Posted by Dr. Bill Mounce for lovers of Bible translation, textual criticism, and the Bible:

I just got back from the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. One of the things I wanted to see is the new release of the standard Greek text of the New Testament, the NA28. I ran into a grinning Wayne Grudem, and he told me about Jude 5.

This is the only place I recall that the ESV diverged from the NA27 Greek text. The ESV reads, “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus (᾽Ιηοῦς), who save a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” The NET and NLT also have “Jesus.”

NA27 reads κύριος, which is followed by most translations. The RSV left it an indefinite “he,” which was changed to “Lord” in the NRSV.

It actually is a fascinating example of text critical issues. Many different readings, and which one is the more difficult, most likely to explain the others?

What caught my eye initially was Metzger’s comment in his textual commentary. I don’t have access to it right now (and if you do, would you post it in a comment to this blog), but it read almost as a dissenting position, and the primary reason given was theological. The committee did not think that Jude would talk about Jesus being active in the Exodus.

But it seemed to us that the external evidence was stronger for ᾽Ιηοῦς, and we had no theological problem with this reading.

And so it was much to Wayne’s and my delight that we saw that NA28 now reads, ᾽Ιηοῦς. Jesus is back!

The New NA28 (Greek NT)

Announcement
Maybe it is news to you, like it was to me, that the new NA28 is available.

The long-awaited 28th edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece has now been published. Once again the editors thoroughly examined the critical apparatus and they introduced more than 30 textual changes in the Catholic Letters, reflecting recent comprehensive collations. With the intent to make this book more user-friendly, the editors also revised the introductions and provided more explanations in English. This concise edition of the Greek New Testament, which has now grown to 1,000 pages, will continue to play a leading role in academic teaching and scholarly exegesis.

What's new in the 28th edition?
1. Revision and Correction of the Whole Edition

• Newly discovered Papyri listed
• Distinction between consistently cited witnesses of the first and second order abandoned
• Apparatus notes systematically checked
• Imprecise notes abandoned
• Previously concatenated notes now cited separately
• Inserted Latin texts reduced and translated
• References thoroughly revised
• View details

2. Revision of the Catholic Letters

• New reconstruction of the text
• Defining the Consistently Cited Witnesses for the Catholic Letters
• View details

For example, the NA28 says that the text differs from NA27 altogether in 34 places.