Grace Institute: Bible Study Methods: Observing the Structure

Bible Study Methods Grace Institute for Biblical Leadership Spring 2005

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Observing the Structure

Observing the Grammar – Syntactical Analysis

The Need for Syntactical Analysis

God does not think or speak in English. Nor does God think or speak in Greek, Hebrew, Arabic or any human language. Yet God has chosen to communicate His truths through human language. Therefore the deep spiritual truths of God had to be simplified so that it can be communicated in a form which we can understand. This does not reduce the truth of the Bible, but rather, it elevates human language as it becomes the vessel which contains the very Word of God.

Because God has chosen language as the means by which to communicate with us, we must become experts at the use of language. Observation of the structure of language becomes imperative in our bible study methodology. This structure, which we call grammar, serves as the building blocks in language, and becomes the focus of our next observation exercise.

While the most accurate structural observations uses the original languages, observing the structure of our English translations is also extremely valuable. However, this is where using a literal translation becomes critical. The grammar of the original languages is often lost in a dynamic equivalence. However, a more literal translation will more closely match the grammatical structure of the original. While this clearly sacrifices readability, it serves us well in our grammatical observations.

Syntactical Analysis Defined

Syntactical Analysis is a bible study methodology used to rearrange the text to highlights the grammatical ideas and relationships within the text.

Importance of Syntactical Analysis

•  Syntactical analysis requires the reader to make basic grammatical observations of the text.

•  Syntactical analysis highlights the key words and phrases, helping us to determine which words to select in our word study.

•  Syntactical analysis helps to determine the outline of a text.

•  Syntactical analysis will raise additional interpretative questions.

•  Syntactical analysis will require the reader to begin making some interpretative decisions. These interpretations, however, must be restrained to the context of grammatical interpretations, and not a wholesale interpretation of the text. That remains for the next step.

A Grammar Review

Parts of Speech

Words are the basic building blocks to language. Each word in a language can be grammatically categorized as a part of speech.

•  Nouns – The name of a person, place, thing or idea.

•  Common nouns – the general descriptive name of a person, place or thing (table, dog, church, man, automobile) .

•  Proper nouns – the name of a particular person, place or thing (Bob Smith, Oregon, Grace Community Fellowship).

•  Pronouns – Words which substitute for a noun. (I, my, me, we, our, us, you, your, he, his, him, she, her, it) .

•  Verbs – Words which declare the action in a sentence (kick, run, think, believe).

•  Forms of a verb:

•  The tense of a verb tells you when an action took place. (He kicks the dog, he kicked the dog, he will kick the dog.)

•  The voice of a verb tells the noun which initiated the action. (He kicked the dog, the dog was kicked by him.)

•  The mood of a verb tells the attitude of the speaker, the factuality or likelihood of what is expressed. (He can kick the dog, he did kick the dog, he might kick the dog.)

•  Auxiliary verbs, sometimes called helping verbs, help complete the form and meaning of main verbs. The auxiliary verbs include the modal verbs, the primary verbs.

•  The modal verbs help express the mood of verbs. Examples include: do, does, did, can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must.

•  The primary verbs have the distinction of being able to function either as main verbs or as auxiliaries. As auxiliaries they combine with other verbs to help determine the tense and voice of the verb. Examples include: be am is are was were been, have, has and had.

•  Adjectives – Words which modify nouns (tall, dark, handsome) .

•  Adverbs –Words which modify verbs (fast, thoughtfully, submissively).

•  Prepositions – Words which begin prepositional phrases which indicated where, when, why or how a verb took place. ( in, around, up, through).

•  Conjunctions – Words which combine sections of a sentence ( and, but) .

•  Articles – Words which identify the particularities of a nouns. ( The definite article: the. The indefinite article: a.) .

Sentence Structure

These words are connected together into sentences to communicate a single idea. Within each sentence words take on particular roles in the sentence.

•  Subject – The doer of the action (unless the verb is in the passive voice). ( The man kicked the dog).

•  Verb – The action in the sentence. (The man kicked the dog).

•  Object – The receiver of the action. (The man kicked the dog.)

•  Indirect Object - An object indirectly affected by the action of the verb. (The man gave the present to his wife .)

•  Prepositional Phrase - A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object and functions as an adjective or an adverb. (The man gave the present to his wife in the restaurant .)

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Basic Construction of a Syntactical Analysis

•  Use line paper or graph paper and a pencil. Usually you will need to use a landscape orientation on the paper. Print small! If you are using a computer, I recommend using a spreadsheet with the columns set to a very minimal width.

•  Place the main subject of the sentence at the top left of the page, followed by the verb and the object.

Example:

•  Place any modifying words, phrases, or clauses under the terms they modify, slightly indented.

Example:

•  Place conjunctions and other connecting words on a vertical line between the first letters of the words being joined.

Example:

•  Words which refer to the same noun should be directly under each other (such as a relative pronoun beginning a clause).

•  Use the exact words of the text. Every word of the verse needs to be included. Don't leave out or add any text (except to repeat elements for clarity sake).

Help in Constructing a Syntactical Analysis

•  Syntactical Analysis is not the same thing as sentence diagramming.

•  Keep groups of words, clauses and phrases together on the same line if they serve the same function.

•  Finding the direct object: The direct object usually answers the question “what?” or “who?” following the subject & verb. Note, some verbs do not have a direct object (intransitive verbs or verbs in the passive voice).

•  Differentiate between main and subordinate clauses. Subordinate clauses use participles and gerunds (“-ing” words). These subordinate clauses are modifiers to the subject, verb or object.

•  “If-then” constructions, the “then” portion usually is the main clause and the “if” clause modifies it.

•  Keep connecting verbs together on the same line (keep auxiliary verbs with their main verb).

•  Modifiers usually answer a linking questions. Noun modifying words and phrases answer the question “what kind, how many, whose, etc.” Verb modifying words and phrases answer the question “why, where, how, to whom, according to.”

•  When trying to determine the antecedent to the pronoun, remember the basic rule that the nearest noun is usually the best antecedent.

Assignment

Complete a syntactical analysis of Ephesians 2:8-10.

•  It is okay to work with others on this project.

•  Read carefully the notes and examples.

Observing the Structure of a Book

Syntactical Analysis helps us to determine the structure at the sentence and paragraph level. The next step is to look at the interrelationships between the paragraphs of a passage. Syntactical analysis looks at the trees. However, at some point we must back up and look at the forest as well. This takes a different set of skills. The best tool for doing this is the book chart.

Why do a Book Chart?

1. To help understand the relationship of the parts of the passage to each other and to the whole.
2. To remember the main themes of a large portion of scripture.
3. To fit each passage into its proper context.
4. Provides an excellent summary of main ideas of scripture.

Looking for Structure

1. Don't let chapter & verse breaks dictate your structure (or study bibles either!)
2. Look for changes in the subject matter.
3. Look for connecting phrases (e.g. “So then,” “Finally, brethren,” “Therefore,” “And now concerning.”)
4. Look for significant changes in persons involved (e.g. Eph 6:1-4, “Children”, “Fathers”.)
5. Look for changes in time or place, especially in narrative or historical literature.
6. Look for summarizing statements (see Acts)

Developing a Book Chart

Summarizing the paragraph

From your syntactic analysis, use the subject-verb-object you found to summarize each sentence in the paragraph in 2 to 5 words. Write them down in a list. What is the overall idea of the paragraph? Summarize this in a 2 to 5 word title. Write that down in your book chart by paragraph.

Summarizing the sections

Look at the paragraphs coming before and after the target text. What paragraphs seem to have related topics? What distinguishes one paragraph from the next? Is it a change of audience or context, but the same overall topic? If so, draw a box around those paragraphs and write a 2 – 5 word title for this section.

Summarizing the book

Look at each section you created. Are there consistent themes in connecting sections? If so, draw a box around those sections and write a 2 to 5 word title for this section. Continue the process until you encompass the entire book. Then determine a 2 to 5 word “theme” for the entire book.

Assignment