The Greek Imperative Mood in the New Testament
A Cognitive and Communicative Approach
300th Edition
Published on 27. June 2011
XVI, 406 pages
978-1-4539-0049-9 (ISBN)
Description
The imperative mood as a whole has generally been neglected by Greek grammarians. The Greek Imperative Mood in the New Testament: A Cognitive and Communicative Approach utilizes insights from modern linguistics and communication theory in order to propose an inherent (semantic) meaning for the mood and describe the way in which it is used in the New Testament (pragmatics). A linguistic theory called neuro-cognitive stratificational linguistics is used to help isolate the morphological imperative mood and focus on addressing issues directly related to this area, while principles from a communication theory called relevance theory provide a theoretical basis for describing the usages of the mood. This book also includes a survey of New Testament and select linguistic approaches to the imperative mood and proposes that the imperative mood is volitional-directive and should be classified in a multidimensional manner. Each imperative should be classified according to force, which participant (speaker or hearer) benefits from the fulfillment of the imperative, and where the imperative falls within the event sequence of the action described in the utterance. In this context, sociological factors such as the rank of participants and level of politeness are discussed together with other pragmatic-related information. The Greek Imperative Mood in the New Testament is a valuable teaching tool for intermediate and advanced Greek classes.
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Joseph D. Fantin
The Greek Imperative Mood in the New Testament
A Cognitive and Communicative Approach
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03/2010
Peter Lang Verlag
€122.50
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Person
The Author: Joseph D. Fantin is Associate Professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary where he earned his Ph.D. writing a dissertation on the Greek imperative mood. He also earned his M.A. in linguistics at Michigan State University and an additional Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield writing in the area of the Greco-Roman contexts of Paul. Fantin's research interests include the first-century world, Greek language and linguistics, exegetical method, and exegesis of the prison epistles. Fantin is the author of The Lord of the Entire World: Lord Jesus, A Challenge to Lord Caesar? (forthcoming).
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- List of Illustrations xi
- List of Abbreviations xiii
- Acknowledgments xv
- Prologue 1
- Chapter 1. Introduction 5
- The Need for this Study 6
- Linguistics and Communication 16
- Synchronic Analysis 22
- Descriptive Approach 25
- Structural Approach 33
- A Greek Perspective 33
- The Linguistic System as a Relational Network 34
- The Nature of Communication 43
- Semantic and Pragmatic Distinction 60
- Preliminary Methodological Considerations 65
- Limitations 66
- Summary and Overview 69
- Chapter 2. The Imperative Mood in New Testament and Linguistic Studies 73
- Introduction 73
- The Imperative in New Testament Greek Studies 73
- The Meaning of the Greek Imperative Mood 73
- The Range of Usage of the Greek Imperative Mood 76
- The Tenses Used with the Imperative 88
- The Imperative in General Linguistic Studies 99
- Speech Act Theory 99
- Various Theoretical Linguistic Approaches 111
- Summary 118
- Chapter 3. Semantic Analysis 121
- Introduction 121
- Definition and Existence 122
- Method 129
- Identifiable Idiomatic Expressions (Idiomatic Lexemes) 131
- Toward a Semantic Meaning of the Imperative Mood 133
- Imperative Semantics 1: Internal Considerations 135
- Imperative Semantics 2: External Comparisons 156
- The Distribution of the Imperative 193
- The Imperative as a Volitional-Directive 196
- Summary 197
- Chapter 4. Pragmatic Analysis 199
- Introduction 199
- Definition and Method 202
- Factors Contributing to the Force of an Imperative 206
- Politeness and the Imperative 208
- Higher- to Lower-Rank 221
- Lexemic Meaning of the Verb Itself 221
- Strategy 1: Words of Asking 224
- Strategy 2: Indirect Third Person 227
- Lower- to Higher-Rank 231
- Strategy 1: Words of Asking 233
- Strategy 2: Terms of Honor 236
- Strategy 3: Indirect Third Person 240
- Addendum: Prayer and the Imperative 244
- Other Observations about Force 247
- Guidelines for Determining the Force of an Imperative 248
- Event-Initiation and the Imperative 251
- The Notion of Benefit and the Imperative 258
- Negation and the Classification of Imperatives 265
- The Third Person Imperative (Further Comments) 265
- Who is the Recipient of the Third Person Directive? 267
- Third versus Second Person: Clues to the Choice of Person 279
- The Rare Negative Third Person Aorist Imperative 284
- The Third Person and Some Clausal Relationships 285
- Acts 2:38 and Our Study 286
- Summary 289
- Conditional Imperative?: Problems and a Solution 290
- The Problems with the Conditional Classification 291
- The Solution: Multilevel Analysis 292
- Ephesians 4:26 and Our Study 303
- Summary 306
- The Imperative and the People of God: Some Concluding Thoughts 307
- Summary 309
- Chapter 5. Conclusion 311
- Appendix 1: Modern Linguistics: Select History, Use in New Testament Studies and in this work, Evaluation, and Proposals for Future Use 315
- Appendix 2: General Comments on Grammatical Mood 341
- Appendix 3: Semantic and Pragmatic Distinction: A Brief Evaluation of a Recent Approach 343
- Appendix 4: Synoptic Mood Parallels 347
- Appendix 5: The Imperative + kaí + Future Indicative Construction: Examples in the New Testament 357
- Bibliography 375
- Ancient Reference Index 393
- Illustrations
- 1 Moods in the Greek New Testament 6
- 2. Simple linguistic system 36
- 3. A stratified view of a linguistic system in relation to other aspects of communication 38
- 4. Basic communication (code model) 44
- 5. Code model of communication 45
- 6. Second and Third Person Imperatives 82
- 7. The Voices of the Imperative Mood 84
- 8. Tenses of the Imperative Mood 88
