We rarely think about the way languages work because communicating in our native tongue comes so naturally to us. The Bible was written in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—languages no modern reader can claim to have a native understanding of. A better understanding of how language works should help us understand the Bible better as we seek to discern the original intent and meaning of each biblical author. In this book, you will get a basic introduction to the field of linguistics—its history, its key concepts, its major schools of thought, and how its insights can shed light on various problems in biblical Hebrew and Greek. Numerous examples illustrate linguistic concepts, and technical terminology is clearly defined. Learn how the study of language can enhance your Bible study.

The essays in this volume arose out of the Society of Biblical Literature section on linguistics and Biblical Hebrew and have been selected to provide a summary and statement of the state of the question with regard to a number of areas of investigation. The sixteen articles are organized into sections on phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse analysis, historical/comparative linguistics, and graphemics.

In 2016, the Centre for Biblical Linguistics, Translation, and Exegesis (CBLTE), a research center located at McMaster Divinity College, hosted the annual Bingham Colloquium. Scholars from around North America were invited to participate in a collegial and collaborative dialogue on what is currently happening (or could happen) at the intersection of linguistics and biblical studies, particularly in regards to the linguistic study of biblical languages, their translation, and the way that linguistic methods can contribute to the interpretation of the biblical texts. This volume of essays publishes many of the presentations that took place at the Colloquium.

Writing, reading, and interpretation are acts of human minds, requiring complex cognition at every point. A relatively new field of studies, cognitive linguistics, focuses on how language and cognition are interconnected: Linguistic structures both shape cognitive patterns and are shaped by them. The Cognitive Linguistics in Biblical Interpretation section of the Society of Biblical Literature gathers scholars interested in applying cognitive linguistics to biblical studies, focusing on how language makes meaning, how texts evoke authority, and how contemporary readers interact with ancient texts. This collection of essays represents first fruits from the first six years (2006–2012) of that effort, drawing on cognitive metaphor study, mental spaces and conceptual blending, narrative theory, and cognitive grammar. Contributors include Eve Sweetser, Ellen van Wolde, Hugo Lundhaug and Jesper T. Nielsen.

Many linguistic tools and methods are applied to biblical texts in order to gain meaning from them. Such applications do not always take into account the perspective of the investigators, the presuppositions of the method used and the nature of the material to which it is applied. These are all factors that influence the meaning obtained from the text. Sue Groom takes us through the pitfalls and limitations of the various methods available and considers textual transmission, diachronic and dialectical variation and the impact these have on the relationship between reader, author and text. Combining a critical account of long established approaches to Hebrew meanings with a lucid introduction to newer and more recent methods such as lexical semantics and text linguistics, this illuminating read will be of interest to those who have previously studied Hebrew as well as those who know no Hebrew or would like to start somewhere.

The primary aim of God, Language and Scripture is to provide guidance in the use of biblical languages. Secondarily this volume initiates the reader to the wonders and workings of language and points out how language is often misused, especially in regard to the Bible. This volume, however, in no way anticipates all the ways of mishandling language. Silva's emphasis is on 'global' rather than detailed concerns (though selected specific examples are used) of how language is misused. The book includes an account of the birth and growth of modern linguistics, an appreciation of its interdisciplinary character, particularly its ties with literary criticism, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and science. It surveys all levels of language description, but emphasizes the semantic and stylistic aspects of grammar and syntax, vocabulary, and discourse. In addition, it considers the transmission of the Bible (textual criticism and translation) as a mode of linguistic communication and interpretive process.

Since James Barr’s work in the 1960s, the challenge for Hebrew scholars has been to continue to apply the insights of linguistic semantics to the study of biblical Hebrew. This book begins by describing a range of approaches to semantic and grammatical analysis, including structural semantics, cognitive linguistics and cognitive metaphors, frame semantics, and William Croft’s Radical Construction Grammar. It then seeks to integrate these, formulating a dynamic approach to lexical semantic analysis based on conceptual frames, using corpus annotation. The model is applied to biblical Hebrew in a detailed study of a family of words related to “exploring,” “searching,” and “seeking.” The results demonstrate the value and potential of cognitive, frame-based approaches to biblical Hebrew lexicology.

Hebrew for Biblical Interpretation teaches elementary Hebrew with a specific focus on the tasks of biblical exegesis. This innovative textbook combines the features of a traditional grammar with exercises in reading and interpreting the Hebrew Bible. Grammatical descriptions are clear, concise, and systematic, and vocabulary is introduced in descending order of frequency. All words occurring more than 100 times in the Hebrew Bible are taught, and attention to grammatical indicators reduces the need for rote memorization of paradigms. The integration of grammar and exegesis helps to motivate students and makes the textbook well-suited to seminary courses, while those who teach in university settings will find the textbook useful because the focus is on scholarly biblical exegesis, not theological interpretation.

This work offers students the most current discussion of the major issues in Greek and linguistics by leading authorities in the field. Featuring an all-star lineup of New Testament Greek scholars--including Stanley Porter, Constantine Campbell, Stephen Levinsohn, Jonathan Pennington, and Robert Plummer--it examines the latest advancements in New Testament Greek linguistics, making it an ideal intermediate supplemental Greek textbook. Chapters cover key topics such as verbal aspect, the perfect tense, deponency and the middle voice, discourse analysis, word order, and pronunciation.