Words

Grammar Crash Course: Inflection and Tense

November 25, 2022 By Peter Krol

When we observe the Bible, one fundamental thing to take notice of is the grammar. Grammar always matters, as language cannot function without it. But in instructional literature such as epistles, grammar’s importance is elevated to the point where grammar always wins.

But what is it, precisely, students of the Bible ought to know about grammar? I’ve already written about the parts of speech. This post will now explain the concepts of inflection and tense, which function like personality traits for words.

Definitions

Inflection refers to the minor changes in words to signal their functions or attributes. For example, the word “run” can change to runs, ran, or running to signal how the word functions in a sentence. Those differences are called the inflection.Words can change inflection based on many factors, including:

Number. Singular or plural.
Gender. Masculine, feminine, or neuter. In English, it is typically only pronouns that have gender built into them (he, she, it).
Person. First person (talking about oneself: I, me, we, us), second person (talking to someone: you), or third person (talking about someone: he, she, it, they).
Case. Subject (I, we, he, she, they), or object (me, us, him, her, them).

Tense refers to different verb forms and functions. In English tense almost always has to do with time (past, present, or future), though the original languages of the Bible use tenses in ways other than with respect to time.

Past tense refers something that completely in the past. I ran. He swam. They believed.
Present tenses refers, believe it or not, to something taking place in the present. I run. He swims. They believe.
Future tense refers to actions completely in the future. I will run. He will swim. They will believe.

Some tenses add more nuance to this simple sense of time:

Present perfect tense refers to something that happened the past that has ongoing ramifications in the present. I have run. He has swum. They have believed.
Past perfect tense refers to something that happened in the distant past that had ongoing ramifications until the near past. I had run. He had swum. They had believed.
Past progressive tense refers to something in the past that was continuing for a time or was incomplete. I was running. He was swimming. They were believing.

English has 6 more tenses that are much less common, especially when it comes to Bible study. So I will spare you further detail.

Why It Matters

Inflection and tense are some things we ought to observe of the words in a passage to help us follow an author’s train of thought. For example, notice how Paul shifts between second person (“you”) and first person (“we”) in Ephesians 2:1-10. Many people read right through the paragraph without noticing the shifts, but some have suggested that the shifts carry interpretive weight. Could it be that “we” refers to Jewish believers and “you” refers to Gentile believers among Paul’s audience? Eph 2:11, 14 suggests that there may be something to this. But we must observe closely in order to be able to evaluate the argument being made.

The verb tenses in a passage such as 1 Peter 5:1-5 highlight the passage’s argument. The brackets of what happened in the past (1 Pet 5:1) and what will happen in the future (1 Pet 5:1b, 4) ought to motivate a certain set of behaviors in the present (1 Pet 5:2-3). Paul uses a similar past-present-future approach to craft his argument in 2 Timothy 1:8-18. Know how the grammar works, and you’ll be better equipped to come along for the ride.

Grammar Crash Course: Parts of Speech

November 11, 2022 By Peter Krol

But what is it, precisely, students of the Bible ought to know about grammar? The first thing to learn is the parts of speech, which function in a sentence like tiles in a mosaic.

Definitions

A noun is a person, place, or thing. Examples: God, Jesus, disciple, house, Israel, field, covenant, bread, water, faith.

A pronoun replaces a noun so the writer doesn’t have to keep repeating the noun. Examples: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, they, them, yourself, myself, themselves. Pronouns can also be possessive: my, your, his, her, their, our. An antecedent is the noun that came earlier, which the pronoun now replaces. For example, in the sentence “Peter wrote his blog post,” the pronoun “his” refers to the antecedent “Peter.”

A verb shows what something is or does. Examples of being verbs: am, is, was, were, are, be, being, been, become. Examples of action verbs: sit, eat, run, said, believe, fight, went, worshiped.

An adjective modifies (describes) a noun in some way. Examples: green, beautiful, holy, wise, tall, foolish, slow, high, great, all.

An adverb modifies something other than a noun (usually a verb or adjective) in some way. Examples: very, nearly, slowly, inside, soon, completely, never.

A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses in some way. Examples: and, but, or, therefore, because, since, when, if, however.

A preposition describes the location of something in time or space. Examples: to, in, with, behind, before, around, under, above, by, near, after, along.

Some words can occur as more than one part of speech. The context and syntax must determine the word’s use in the sentence. For example, consider the word “for.” In Eph 1:20 it serves as both a conjunction (“For by grace”) and a preposition (“for good works”).

Why it Matters

Why should students of the Bible be able to observe and recognize the parts of speech? Because these parts of speech are the building blocks of communication. If the goal of interpretation is to determine the author’s main point in a passage, we need to have some objective way for figuring that out. The parts of speech are not sufficient in themselves to signal the author’s main point, but it is not possible recognize that main point without first recognizing the functions of the most pertinent parts of speech in the discourse.

For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:4-7, Paul describes love in lavish terms. “Love” is a noun (the thing under scrutiny). He stacks up a pile of adjectives (describing the noun): patient, kind, arrogant, rude, irritable, resentful—describing what love is or is not. He also stacks a pile of verbs, describing what love does or doesn’t do: envy, boast, insist, rejoice, bears, believes, hopes, endures. The idea of this brief paragraph is to paint a word picture of what love is and does.* That is a good start toward following the train of thought in the entire letter, which is all about how the Corinthian church is currently not any of the things that love is, and they need to grow up.

For another example, Ephesians 1:7-10 uses the pronouns he, him, and his many times. In each case, we need to figure out who is the proper antecedent: God the Father, or the Lord Jesus Christ? In Eph 1:7, “in him” and “his blood” certainly refer to Christ. But what about “his grace” in Eph 1:7 or “he lavished” in Eph 1:8? They could still be referring to Christ, but are you sure? And then what about “his will” and “his purpose” in Eph 1:9? Is that still Christ, or is it back to the Father? Because the “he” of “he set forth in Christ” must have the Father as the antecedent. So the details of the parts of speech make a real difference on what exactly you conclude is happening in this extended blessing of the Triune God!

More crash courses in grammar and syntax are on their way.

*With this example, I am helping English-speaking students of the English Bible learn to observe their English grammar. Greek scholars will point out that, in the original text, the words I’ve listed are all verbs; none of them are adjectives. That doesn’t change the point, however, that some of the verbs describe what love is, and other verbs describe what love does.

What the Dictionary Taught Me About Bible Study

May 25, 2018 By Peter Krol

I don’t watch many videos online. I almost always skip them when people link to them. But when blogger Mark Ward says, “This video is fantastic,” I pay attention. Mark shares my love for linguistics and for careful, contextual Bible study, so I respect his recommendations on such things.

So I now share with you Anne Curzan’s TED talk entitled, “What Makes a Word ‘Real’?” And I echo Mark’s evaluation. This video is fantastic. Watching it may be your best-invested 17 minutes all week. I believe you’ll find the video to be quite impactful, and I wish I had some way to incentivize your watching of it.

Curzan explains how language changes over time, and she peels back the curtain on the editing of dictionaries. I appreciate her comment that the dictionary is probably the only book we’re trained never to think critically about. But we should. Below the video, I’ll trace some implications for Bible study.

What does Curzan’s presentation tell us about Bible study?

Because languages can change drastically every hundred years, word studies are far less important than book studies when we come to the Scripture. Our chief goal should be to understand how each author uses his language; our goal should not be to tap into the history of the Bible’s vocabulary.
“No dictionary is the final arbiter of what words ‘mean.'” This is no less true of Bible dictionaries and lexicons than it is of modern English ones. The difference, of course, is that biblical languages are now dead and no longer changing. But those languages (particularly Hebrew) changed so much over the time the Bible was written that it’s irrational to think we can look back over their millennia of use and identify the single “true meaning” of any biblical word. Just think of the American Heritage Dictionary’s contradictory entries for the word peruse.
Just like in contemporary word usage, biblical authors felt free to make up new words to suit their purposes (I think of “more than conquerors” in Romans 8:37 as an example). In such cases, they likely were aiming more at emotional impact than technical precision.
We must be careful not to read current theological categories back into the words of Scripture. The Scriptures must stand on their own, in their own context. For example, when the New Testament uses the word “church,” the authors do not always have in mind what we think of as “church” (a local congregation, meeting at least weekly for worship services, with a pastor, a budget, a building, a set of by-laws, and an annual meeting). “Preach” is not always referring to the sermons presented by the ordained minister on Sunday morning.

Words are beautiful things, as long as we notice how they’re used and don’t expect them to carry loads they simply can’t bear. Consider this video your invite to a fruitful understanding of basic linguistics. And please don’t defriend me over it.

Check it out!

4 Simple Language Principles

May 16, 2018 By Peter Krol

Mark Ward writes about “4 Simple Language Principles That Will Improve Your Bible Study.” He’s writing to the Bible student who wants to learn Greek or Hebrew. Or possibly to the person who wants to use original language tools well. You know, the sort of person who can be heard saying things like, “What the Greek word here really means is…”

Ward offers some excellent advice for these folks, and for the rest of us, when he encourages us to learn first how all languages work. Then we’ll be in a better place to understand how Greek and Hebrew work.

His principles are as follows:

Usage determines meaning.
Usage determines meaning—no, I mean it.
Look at every level of meaning, not just the word level
Learn linguistic and literary labels

These principles are so important, especially the first two. Many people tend to think words have specific meaning built into them inherently, like a code. But words only have meaning according to how real people use those words in real communication. Another way to put it is that we assume words get their meaning from the dictionary. But we fail to realize that dictionaries get their word meanings by listening to people use words in conversation (for real: see this TED talk). And therefore, word meanings are constantly changing over time.

Ward’s musings on this topic are worth reflecting on.

Check it out!

How a Veteran Preacher Finally Learns to Read a New Testament Epistle

May 26, 2017 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Talbot Davis, pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Charlotte, NC, and author of five books with Abingdon Press. You can follow his blog or find him on Facebook.

Editor’s Note: We are delighted to publish guest writers who come from different sectors of Christianity—and who reach different conclusions—than we do, as long as they share our assumptions and wrestle directly with the biblical text. Talbot’s arguments are worth considering, even though we differ with some of his conclusions.

I have been reading the New Testament for a long time, but I realize that I am only now learning how to read its epistles correctly. And to read the New Testament well, you need to read the epistles (Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, et al) accurately.

Here’s what I’ve recently discovered: For years, I have read those documents as if they are examples of modern American letter writing. But that’s not what they are. They are instead examples of ancient Greek speech-making. And there is a world of difference between those two genres.

One of the best texts to observe what I’m talking about is the beginning of letter to the Ephesians. Check out the opening twelve verses, keeping in mind that Paul is himself Jewish, while Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey, is populated primarily by Gentiles.

And keep in mind that Ephesians was dictated before it was written, and that, when delivered to Ephesus, it was read out loud before ever being studied in silence.

Notice in particular all the references to “us” and “we” in this section.

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of OUR Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed US in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose US in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined US for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given US in the One he loves. 7 In him WE have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on US. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to US the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him WE were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that WE, who were the first to put OUR hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:3-12, NIV)

If you read this according to the rules of modern American letter writing, all the “us” and “we” references are a way of including you, the reader, into what the author is saying. So those who are modern American Christians assume from the beginning that Paul is including the original Ephesians as well as the current readers into these opening words.

Except that’s not what he is doing. Remember: Ephesians is not an example of modern American letter writing. Instead, it is ancient Greek speech-making.

And in the argument Paul builds for Ephesians, WE and US refers to Paul and his kin: the Jews. You get the gist of what he is doing if you imagine that he is standing on a platform with two fellow Jews addressing a room full of Gentiles. And with each “we” and “us” he points to his Hebrew colleagues on the stage.

Verse 12 is especially critical to this understanding: “We, who were the first to put our hope in Christ . . . ” Who were the first to hope in Christ? Not the Ephesians! Meaning this section can’t be inclusive. Instead, Romans 1:16 tells us who were the first to hope in Christ: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

A-ha!

(By the way, understanding that “we” are the Jews and not the broader, fledgling Christian community goes a long way to explaining all the references to predestination and to being “chosen.” Well, yes. That’s how we understand God’s relationship with Israel.)

Back to Ephesians. After that lengthy opening section with all its focus on “we” and “us,” everything changes at 1:13:

13 And YOU also were included in Christ when YOU heard the message of truth, the gospel of YOUR salvation. When YOU believed, YOU were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing OUR inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14, NIV)

The transition from “we” to “you” is instantaneous, dramatic, and purposeful. Imagine that Paul suddenly points to his audience: AND YOU (Gentiles!) WERE INCLUDED IN CHRIST JUST LIKE WE WERE!

It’s a compelling example of ancient Greek speech-making, not modern American letter writing.

From the beginning, then, Ephesians is about this divine fusion of “we” and “you”; the creation of something brand new out of “us” and “them.”

If you naively assume that “you” are included in the “we” of the first twelve verses, you miss the entire point of the book.

The Word Study Fallacy

September 9, 2015 By Peter Krol

Writing for The Master’s Seminary, William Barrick explains the problem of over-occupation with word studies (scroll to page 19 of the doc):

Study of the words alone will not present us with a consistent interpretation or theology. This is one of the misleading aspects of theological dictionaries/wordbooks. One learns far more about obedience/disobedience or sacrifice and sin from the full statement of a passage like 1 Sam 15:22–23 than he will from word studies of key terms like “sacrifice,” “obey,” or “sin” in the text.

He explains briefly why word studies are easy and popular. But he shows with a few good examples that they simply will not do. We do far better to learn how to study passages than to study words.

Check it out!

You Can’t Resist Immorality with an Empty Weapon

April 7, 2014 By Peter Krol

Ken (2008), Creative Commons

In Proverbs 7, Solomon unmasks immorality’s deception to help us stand against it. But we won’t be ready to skirmish unless we first lock and load. You can’t win a battle with an empty weapon.

1 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words. (Prov 7:1-5, ESV)

Observe Key Words

First observe three key words: “keep,” “my,” and “words.”

Keep

The word “keep” is repeated 4 times.

The first 3 repetitions are all parallel. Keep my words. Keep my commandments. Keep my teaching. “Treasure up my commandments” is sandwiched in the middle and fits the idea well. We should get the idea that keeping the commandments is not the same thing as obeying the commandments (what we usually mean by “keeping a command”). It has more to do with treasuring, storing, valuing, or guarding.

The one who keeps the commandments is the one who hungrily savours every word and fends off any threat of dilution, forgetfulness, or spin.

Notice now the twist in verse 5. This compulsive hoarding of wisdom (and keeping it close) will keep you from the forbidden woman (that is, from immorality). When you keep (protect) wisdom, wisdom keeps (protects) you. Thus the opposite should come as no surprise: The one caught by immorality is the one who has failed to guard wisdom (the one who lack sense – Prov 7:7).

My

Observe next how Solomon likewise plays with the word “my,” a pronoun of possession. There’s a reason possession is nine-tenths of the law.

“My son” – you, the audience, are a possession of the one speaking to you.

“My words,” “my commandments,” “my commandments,” “my teaching” – the words of wisdom are a precious possession, but freely available to you.

“Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister'” – keeping the words of wisdom will teach you a thing or two about possession. You’ll learn intimacy from the one who was intimate with you.

“Words” bracket this stanza. The one who keeps Solomon’s words (Prov 7:1) is kept from immorality’s smooth words (Prov 7:5).

For this reason, I write. For this reason, we speak truth to one another. This battle will always be one of words. Which words will rule your heart? Whose promises will you treasure deep within?

Observe Structure

Now that we’ve noticed how the key words are used, we can fit the pieces together. This stanza is structured as a chiasm, a pretty common literary device in ancient literature where the second half is a mirror image of the first half. The point is often to draw attention to the center.

A Keep my words – Prov 7:1

B Life-giving commandments become the apple of your eye – Prov 7:2

C Make sure these words fill your heart and are bound on your fingers – Prov 7:3

B’ Intimate insight/wisdom becomes your sister – Prov 7:4

A’ Be kept from immorality’s smooth words – Prov 7:5

The Main Idea

Like an arrow, the passage’s structure points right to verse 3. Something must be written on the tablet of your heart. The words found there will seep out of your fingers into your everyday choices. Solomon already covered this ground in his formula for change in Prov 4:20-27: Wisdom must come in the ears, through the heart, and out the fingertips.

Now he gets specific and applies his formula to the realm of sexual temptation.

If you’re tired of capitulating and want to get in the ring with your sexual sin, your training begins now. You must hear the words of wisdom. You need to get them inside, and you need to keep them there. Guard the commands, memorize the Word, serve the Lord. Your fight doesn’t begin when you’re looking at seedy websites. Your resistance begins long before.

The battle is coming, and your cartridge is empty. You need to fill it with rounds of ammo. Check the safety. Clean the barrel. Let’s lock and load.

But know this, soldier. You’ll still lose this battle if your hope lies in your ability to pack your own ammo. If that’s all you get from this post, you’re doomed.

What you need is a companion. An intimate friend. A sibling (Prov 7:4).

Your hope is in that wisdom which came down from heaven to be your friend. That man of wisdom who called you “Mine” long before you considered him yours. The Word (John 1:1) whose Father can keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy (Jude 1:24-25).

When he unzips you and steps inside, immorality won’t ever stand a chance. It’s no longer a fair fight.

What to Observe: Words

September 1, 2012 By Peter Krol

Douglas Wilson wrote, “Words are the bricks with which you build. Buy the bricks before starting on the wall” (Wordsmithy, Moscow, ID: Canon, 2011, p.104). He was advising aspiring writers to study etymology and ancient languages. I’ll commandeer his point to encourage those who study the Bible to begin with the beginning.

Books of the Bible were constructed from stories. These stories were built from episodes. Episodes arose by gatherings of paragraphs. Paragraphs disemboweled produce sentences. Sentences dissect into words. Words are our bricks. Let’s observe them to start.

I’ll use Luke 2:1-21, NET for a sample text. It’s a pretty familiar text for many Christians, so we’ll work hard to observe it well.

First, notice a theme to key words in the first few verses

decree
Caesar
Augustus
empire
registration
Quirinius
governor
Syria
city of David – 2 times
house and family line of David
firstborn son
Lord – 2 times
glory
Savior
Christ
vast, heavenly army – a phrase that explains what angels are

What stands out? Major attention is drawn to power, glory, and governing authority. There’s some tension between Imperial authority (represented in Caesar and his underlings) and God’s authority (represented in his son).

Let’s keep looking at another class of words

Joseph
Nazareth
Bethlehem
Mary, who was promised to be married to him
expecting a child
the time came to deliver
child wrapped in strips of cloth – 2 times
laid in manger – 3 times
no place for them in the inn

This group lends itself to another theme: that of unpredictable lowliness.

I’ll mention one final set of observations regarding word choice in Lk 2:11:

Today your Savior is born in the city of David
He is Christ
He is the Lord

The narrator, through the angel, communicates loads of information simply by his word choice.

What is a “Savior”? One who saves. A hero. A rescuer. He’s not the guy who runs out of the burning building to save his own life; he’s the guy who runs into the burning building to save others’ lives.
What is a “Christ”? We need some background help on this one, but “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means “Anointed One.” What on earth is an “anointed one”? We don’t have those anymore! Think of it as someone inaugurated and sworn into office. The narrator wants us to know that Jesus has a job, and he’s authorized by God to execute that job.
What is “the Lord”? It’s what the Jews of old would call God himself. Flip through your Old Testament, and see how often the word LORD shows up in all caps. That represents instances where God’s personal name (something like Yahweh, but we can’t know for sure how it was pronounced) was used in the Hebrew text, but translation traditions hand it down to us as simply “LORD.” The narrator wants us to know, through the angel’s proclamation, that Jesus is, in fact, God.

I’m beginning to move into interpretation, so I’ll hold off until we get to that step in the OIA process. Your take-home point for now is: the first part in how to study the Bible is to observe (not just see, mind you, but truly to observe) the words on the page.

Five Things to Observe

August 31, 2012 By Peter Krol

You sit down with your Bible, and you’re ready to study it. You pray and open the page to the right spot. Then…what? You see lots of ink and paper. You’ve heard these verses before.

You’d like to go deeper, and you don’t want to let familiarity get in the way. But what exactly can you do? What should you begin to observe?

Derek Bridges (2006), Creative Commons

Here are some ideas to get you started:

WORDS: Pay attention to the words. Count up how many times different words are repeated. Notice how different things are described or labeled.
GRAMMAR: Identify the subject, verb, and object of a sentence. What are the main verbs? Who is doing what, and where and how are they doing it?
STRUCTURE: How does the passage fit together? Break it into paragraphs. Pay attention to transitions.
GENRE: Is this poetry or prose? A letter or a narrative? Who is the author? Who is the original audience?
MOOD: What tone of “voice” is the author writing with? Does the passage inspire action, invoke emotion, or challenge assumptions?

Here’s an exercise for you to consider. Let’s just take one verse: John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (ESV).

Use the five categories above to help you get started, and try to write 50 observations on that one verse.

Mention one of your observations in the comments below, and let’s see how many we can come up with!