Putting the Pieces Together

“The title says it well: ten seasoned scholars bring together important facets of discourse analysis in the Systemic-Functional (i.e., Hallidayan) Linguistic tradition that press beyond mechanistic conceptions of language and encourage consideration of the semantics of circumstantials, the roles of semantic units, the interpretation of conditional particles, speech functions, cohesion and coherence, register analysis, and the import these play today as we draw personal, social meaning from ancient texts.”


—Jonathan Watt, professor of biblical studies, Geneva College





“In a world where interpretations of the Bible abound, but credible arguments for those interpretations are often lacking, this volume showcases the value of using modern linguistics as an indispensable tool for more objectively assessing competing readings of the biblical text.”


—Martin M. Culy, founding editor, Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament





“It is impossible to discuss biblical languages anymore without recourse to insights from linguistics. But what is needed more and more are clear examples of how insights into linguistics actually affect the way we interpret biblical texts. We need to see linguistic theory modeled in application to biblical texts. This collection of essays does just that. Especially for those who learn by seeing examples at work, this collection of essays will be a welcome tool to understanding how linguistics actually ‘works’ in the use of the Hebrew and Greek languages for biblical interpretation. I highly recommend this volume.”


—David L. Mathewson, associate professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary