TIP OF THE DAY 61: Vocabulary for commands, promises and questions
link to next post https://community.logos.com/forums/p/227068/1326942.aspx#1326942
Since the forum change has been delayed, I've started adding these posts to the previous tip list. See L/V 10 Tip of the Day Note that this list has been moved to the wiki (which itself is moved to the new forum software).
TOPIC: Commands, Promises, Questions
The datasets for commands, promises, and questions use some linguistics far outside the grammar we learned in our early education. So prepare yourself for lots of introductory material and detailed walkthroughs of data.
QUESTION: Which popular Bible study acronyms include commands, promises, or questions?
ANSWER: Compiled from several sources:
Several popular Bible study methods use acronyms that include elements like command, promise, or question. Here are some notable examples:
SPECK Method
The SPECK method is a widely used Bible study approach that includes:
- Sin to confess
- Promise to claim
- Example to follow
- Command to obey
- Knowledge about God to apply
This method encourages readers to examine passages for specific actions to take or truths to internalize.
SPACEPETS Method
An expanded version of SPECK, SPACEPETS stands for:
- Sin to confess
- Promise to claim
- Attitude to change
- Command to obey
- Example to follow
- Prayer to pray
- Error to avoid
- Truth to believe
- Something to praise God for
This comprehensive approach covers various aspects of application and reflection on Scripture.
OIA Method
The OIA (Observation, Interpretation, Application) method, while not an acronym itself, often incorporates questions about commands and promises in its application step:
- Observation: What does the passage say?
- Interpretation: What does the passage mean?
- Application: How should I respond? (Often includes identifying commands to obey and promises to claim)
COMA Method
The COMA method focuses on four key areas:
- Context
- Observation
- Meaning
- Application
In the application step, readers often look for commands to obey and promises to claim.
CENI Method
While not as commonly used as some others, the CENI method is particularly relevant:
- Command
- Example
- Necessary Inference
This approach, used in some Christian traditions, looks for direct commands, examples to follow, and logical inferences from the text.
CQPA Method
- Commands to obey
- Questions to explore
- Promises to claim
- Applications to make
This method directly focuses on identifying commands, questions, and promises in the text.
CPQA Method
- Commands to follow
- Promises to believe
- Questions to ponder
- Actions to take
Similar to CQPA, but emphasizes actions derived from the text.
PQC Method
- Promises to remember
- Questions to answer
- Commands to obey
A simpler approach focusing solely on promises, questions, and commands.
QUESTION: What hermeneutics are most similar to CENI?
ANSWER: From Perplexity:
Bible study methods most like CENI (Command, Example, and Necessary Inference) include the following:
1. Restorationist Hermeneutic: Commonly associated with the Churches of Christ, this method mirrors CENI by emphasizing that teachings and practices must be explicitly authorized by direct command, example, or necessary inference from the New Testament. This approach holds that the Bible’s authority is binding, limiting Christian practice to what is authorized by these three interpretive pillars.
2. Regulative Principle of Worship: Found particularly in Reformed and Presbyterian traditions, this principle shares similarities with CENI by restricting worship practices to only those explicitly commanded in Scripture. It emphasizes a strict biblical basis for worship, dismissing any additions not supported by explicit command, approved example, or necessary inference.
3. Pattern Theology: Another method common in Restorationist circles, Pattern Theology seeks to identify a consistent pattern or blueprint within Scripture for Christian doctrine and practice. Similar to CENI, it advocates that deviations from this pattern are unscriptural unless a direct command, approved example, or necessary inference can justify them.
4. Biblical Legalism: This is not a formalized method, but it can bear resemblance to CENI in its strict application of biblical commands as legal standards. Biblical legalism often involves a rigid adherence to commands, examples, and necessary inferences, assuming that the Bible prescribes explicit behavioral expectations for believers.
Each of these methods relies on an authoritative interpretation of Scripture, emphasizing that only practices with direct biblical precedent are permissible. They contrast with interpretive methods that allow for a more contextual, thematic, or principle-based approach to Scripture.
QUESTION: How did patristic Bible interpretation handle promises, questions, and commands?
ANSWER: From Perplexity:
Based on the search results and my knowledge, here are some key points about the roles of promises, questions, and commands in patristic Bible interpretation:
1. Promises:
- The church fathers viewed promises in Scripture, especially Old Testament promises, as finding their ultimate fulfillment in Christ and the church.
- They saw a unity between Old and New Testament promises centered on Christ as the fulfiller of all God's promises.
- Promises were often interpreted typologically or allegorically to point to Christ and the church.
2. Questions:
- Questions in Scripture were often seen as rhetorical devices to engage the reader and prompt deeper reflection.
- The fathers would sometimes use questions from Scripture as starting points for theological exploration and exegesis.
- They might interpret questions asked by biblical characters as opportunities to provide spiritual or moral instruction.
3. Commands:
The fathers distinguished between different types of biblical commands:
- Moral commands that were seen as universally binding
- Ceremonial commands that were fulfilled in Christ
- Civil/judicial commands specific to ancient Israel
- Commands were often interpreted in light of Christ's teachings and the "rule of faith."
- There was an emphasis on the spiritual meaning and application of commands beyond just literal obedience.
4. General principles:
- All three (promises, questions, commands) were interpreted christologically - through the lens of Christ's fulfillment and revelation.
- The "rule of faith" guided interpretation to align with orthodox Christian doctrine.
- Allegorical and typological readings were common, seeking deeper spiritual meanings.
- There was an emphasis on how the text could form Christian virtue and practice.
The patristic approach sought to read Scripture holistically, seeing Christ as the unifying center and ultimate meaning of all biblical promises, questions, and commands. Their interpretations aimed to build up the church spiritually and theologically.[1]
VOCABULARY extensions
COMMANDS
Advice - A speaker makes a proposal for an appropriate course of action.
Command - A speaker gives an authoritative direction or instruction to do something.
Curse - A speaker wishes or invokes harm upon someone or something.
Invitation - A speaker makes a request for someone to participate or be present or take part in something.
Offer - A speaker presents something for acceptance or rejection.
Permission - A speaker gives approval for someone to do something.
Prohibition - A speaker gives an authoritative direction or instruction against doing something.[2]
Request - A speaker asks someone to do something.[3]
Warning - A speaker issues a message informing of danger if some action is or is not taken.[4]
Well-wish - A speaker expresses a desire for or requests the success of someone.[5]
Wish - A speaker expresses a desire for something to happen.
COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
Casuistic Law (If-Then Style) -Casuistic laws are written in an "if-then" format. They describe a specific situation and then prescribe what should be done in that case.
Apodictic Law (Direct Command) - Apodictic laws are direct commands or prohibitions. They are usually short, absolute statements that don't provide for specific circumstances.
State –This is an indicator whether the command is something one is obligated to do (positive) or one is obligated to not do (negative).
Number – The miztvot number includes a P (positive) or N (negative) prepended to an index number. The 248 positive commandments are numbered sequentially from P1 to P248. The 365 negative commandments are numbered sequentially from N1 to N365.
Category –Rabbi C. Chavel’s classification of Maimonides mitzvots.
- Positive
- Belief in God and our duties toward Him
- The sanctuary, priesthood, and sacrifices
- The sources of uncleanness and the modes of purification
- Gifts to the temple, the poor, the priests and Levites; the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee; the preparation of food
- The Holy Days and the observances connected with them
- The proper functioning of the Jewish state
- Our duties towards our fellow men
- The duties attaching to family life
- The enforcement of criminal law
- The laws relating to property, real and personal
- Negative
- Idolatry and related subjects
- Our duties to God, the sanctuary, and the services therein
- Sacrifices, priestly gifts, priests, Levites, and related subject
- Prohibitions affecting food
- Cultivation of the law
- Our duties towards our fellow men, towards the poor and towards employees
- The administration of justice, the authority of the courts, and similar matters
- The Sabbath and festivals
- The forbidden degrees of marriage and related subjects
- The head of the Jewish state and its officers
Commandment title – Each commandment has a title representing the content of the command.
Applicability – A fair portion of the commandments are impossible to follow today. Maimonides provides a list as does Chafetz Chayim.:
- Applicable today
- Applicable today (Chafetz Chayim)
- Not applicable today
Literary types –There are the literary types associated with the Bible references for the commandment. See Mangum, Douglas. The Lexham Glossary of Literary Types. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
People – See Parks, Jessica. Biblical People Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021.
Places – See Parks, Jessica. Biblical Places Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021.
Things – See Parks, Jessica. Biblical Things Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2023.
Themes – See Husser, Lydia. Preaching Themes: Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2023.
Judaica - (Babylonian Talmud, Jerusalem Talmud, Mishnah, Mekhilta, etc.)[7]
PROMISES
Theme see Preaching themes
Verb class
(fulfilling) Event see Biblical Event Navigator
QUESTIONS
Cause - A questioner asks what event led to a particular action, event, or state of affairs.
Comparison - A questioner asks how one thing is similar to or different from another.
Consequence - A questioner asks concerning the consequences of an event or action (i.e., “What then?,” or “What now?”).
Definition -A questioner asks what something means.
Description -A questioner asks about the qualities of a person or thing.
Expectation -A questioner asks why some expected event or action has not taken place.
Explanation -A questioner asks for an explanation of some event, action, or state of affairs and what consequences it may have.
Goal -A questioner asks about the motivation for an action.
Instrument -A questioner asks what instrument or procedure someone will use to accomplish a goal.
Means -A questioner asks what enables a person to do something.
Opinion -A questioner asks someone’s opinion, whether official (e.g., a legal decision) or unofficial, concerning some advice or idea.
Quantity -A questioner asks concerning the quantity of a variable (e.g.,“how much/many?”, “how long?”, etc.).
Request -A questioner issues a request or command in the form of a question.
This or That -The questioner is asking whether one thing or another is the case.
Wh- Question -A questioner asks what person, place, thing, or time fills a given role (i.e., “Who?”, “What?”, “When?”, or “Where?”).
Yes or No -A questioner asks whether something is or is not the case.
Rhetorical - Rhetorical questions display a mismatch between form and intent where the answer to the question is already known and the question becomes an assertion, which is often emphatic.[9]
Non-rhetorical – (not rhetorical)
VERBNET SEMANTIC CATEGORY
9: Putting - To put into a certain place or abstract location.
10: Removing - To remove something as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, whether something concrete or abstract.
11: Sending and Carrying - To cause to go somewhere whether as an indirect (e.g., “send”) or direct agent (e.g., “carry” or “bring”).
12: Pushing and Pulling - To move using one’s strength.
13: Transfer - To cause to change ownership.
14: Learn - To gain knowledge or skills.
15: Hold and Keep - To retain possession of.
16: Concealment - To prevent from being seen or discovered.
17: Throwing - To propel through the air.
18: Hitting - To deal a blow to, either with a hand or with an instrument.
19: Poke - To jab, prod, or stab.
20: Touching - To make physical contact with.
21: Cutting - To separate with or as if with an instrument.
22: Combining and Attaching - To join together with or be joined together with for a common purpose.
23: Separating and Disassembling - To caused to be divided or to become divided from a whole.
24: Coloring - To add color to.
25: Image Creation - To represent something with an image or likeness.
26: Creation and Transformation - To make something new or change an existing entity into something new.
27: Engender To give rise to.
28: Give Birth To cause to be born.
30: Perception To be or become aware of something through the senses.
31: Psychological State To experience or cause to experience a psychological state (e.g., fear, anger, or love).
32: Desire To feel or have a want for something.
33: Judgment To pronounce or enact judgment on a person, situation, or event.
34: Assessment To evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent or significance of a person, thing, or event.
35: Searching To try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of.
36: Social Interaction To take part in societal activities or customs.
37: Communication To be in verbal contact and exchange information or ideas.
38: Animal Sounds The characteristic utterances of animals.
39: Ingesting - To take in, as of food, drink, or some other substance.
40: Bodily Action -To experience or perform a typically inadvertent bodily action.
41: Grooming and Bodily Care -To care for one’s external appearance.
42: Killing -To cause to die or put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly.
43: Emission -To give off, send forth, or discharge; as of light, heat, radiation, or vapor.
44: Destroy -To do away with.
45: Change of State -To undergo or cause to undergo a change; to become different in essence.
46: Lodge -To stay in a location.
47: Existence -To be in the state of existence typically associated with an entity.
48: Appearance, Disappearance, and Occurrence -To arrive or come into existence; to cease to exist or happen.
49: Internal Bodily Motion -To move so as to change one’s bodily position.
50: Assuming a Position -To make a change in bodily posture (e.g., to sit, stand, or lie down).
51: Motion - To change location.
52: Avoid -To stay clear from someone or something.
53: Lingering and Rushing -To leave or move in a particular manner, whether slowly or quickly.
54: Measure -To determine the measurements of something or somebody.
55: Begin, Finish, and Continue -To begin, finish, or continue an activity.
56: Holiday -To spend or celebrate a holiday, season, or other time period.
57: Weather -To happen of various kinds of weather, such as raining, blowing, or snowing.
58: Urging and Begging -To spur someone towards or to plead with someone for a particular action.
59: Force -To cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral, or intellectual means.
60: Order -To give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority.
61: Try -To make an effort or attempt.
62: Wish -To hope for.
63: Enforce -To ensure observance of laws and rules.
64: Allow -To make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen.
65: Admit -To allow to enter.
66: Consume -To use up resources or materials.
67: Forbid -To not allow something by means of a command.
68: Pay -To give money, usually in exchange for goods or services.
69: Refrain -To not act.
70: Rely -To have confidence or faith in.
71: Conspire -To act in unison or agreement towards a purpose, often illicit.
72: Help -To give assistance; To be of service.
73: Cooperate -To work together on a common enterprise or project.
74: Succeed -To attain success or reach a desired goal.
75: Neglect -To leave undone or leave out.
76: Limit -To restrict extent or access.
77: Approve -To give sanction to.
78: Indicate -To be a signal or evidence for something or to give a signal or evidence for something.
79: Dedicate -To give to a specific person, activity, or cause.
80: Free -To relieve from something, whether concrete (e.g., confinement) or abstract (e.g., guilt).
81: Suspect -To imagine to be the case or true or probable.
82: Withdraw -To pull back or move away or backward.
83: Cope -To come to terms with.
84: Discover -To determine the existence, presence, or fact of.
85: Defend -To protect against a challenge or attack.
86: Correlating and Relating -To bear a reciprocal or mutual relation to something or to be relevant to something.
87: Focusing and Comprehending -To direct one’s attention to something with the intention of recognizing or understanding it.
88: Caring and Empathizing -To feel concern or interest, often to do so with understanding.
89: Settle -To come to an agreement with another person.
90: Exceed -To be greater in scope or size than some standard.
91: Matter -To have importance.
92: Confine -To enclose someone in a location and prevent that person from leaving.
93: Adopt -To choose and follow.
94: Risk -To expose to a chance of loss or damage.
95: Acquiesce -Too agree or to give in.
96: Addict -To cause to become dependent.
97: Basing and Deducing -To use as a basis for or draw a conclusion from a basis.
98: Confront -To oppose, as in hostility or competition.
99: Ensure -To make certain of.
100: Own -To have ownership or possession of.
101: Patent -To obtain a patent for.
102: Promote -To contribute to the progress or growth or wellbeing of.
103: Require -To need or demand something for its use.
104: Spending Time -To pass time in a specific way.
105: Use -To make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose.
106: Void -To make or declare invalid.
107: Involve -To include as related or as a participant.
108: Multiply -To combine or increase by multiplication.
109: Seem -To have or give the impression of having a certain outward aspect.[10]
SEMANTIC ROLES
Agent - The person or thing that instigates an action or causes change in another person or thing; for example, “David (Agent) struck Goliath” or “David (Agent) killed Goliath.”
Benefactive - The person or thing for which an action is performed or for which something exists or happens; for example, “God fought for David (Benefactive)” or “The gifts were for David (Benefactive).”
Cause - The motivation for an action or event; for example, “David left on account of Saul (Cause).”
Comitative - A person or thing associated with or accompanying another person or thing; for example, “David argued with the officials (Comitative).”
Comment - A statement or claim made about a given topic; for example, “David said concerning the census that it was the cause of punishment (Comment).”
Comparative - A person or thing to which another person or thing is compared; for example, “David fought like a shepherd (Comparative).”
Content - The content of a speech act or of a mental activity, such as thought; for example, “David said to Bathsheba, ‘Solomon will be king’ (Content)” or “David thought to himself: Solomon should be king (Content).”
Cost - the amount of money or the object a person gives in exchange for another person or thing; for example, “David bought a servant for 30 shekels of silver (Cost).”
Current - The present state of a person or thing; for example, “David was sick with madness (Current).”
Event - A complete action or event; for example, “David started to fight with the Philistine (Event).”
Experiencer - The person or thing that experiences a state or a mental event or activity; for example, “David (Experiencer) saw Goliath.”
Goal - The place toward which something moves or is moved; for example, “David went to Jerusalem (Goal)” or “David threw the spear to the ground (Goal).”
Instrument - The means by which a person or thing performs an action; for example, “David struck Goliath with a stone (Instrument).”
Locative - The place where a person or thing is situated or where an event occurs; for example, “David was found in the field (Locative).”
Manner - the way in which a person or thing performs an action; for example, “David went about sadly (Manner).”
Null Complement - Brackets indicate that an item a verb normally requires is not present in the text, often because the item is mentioned in the immediate context; for example, “David (Agent) struck Goliath (Patient) first” might be expressed as “David (Agent) struck [Patient] first” where the Patient, Goliath, is assumed. Another example may be where a verb of speaking indicates that some Content (what is said) will follow, but that content is not in the immediate context.
Path - The place through which or in which a person or thing moves; for example, “David walked through the door” or “David walked in the ways of the Lord (Path).”
Patient - The person or thing that is acted upon or caused to change; for example, “David killed Goliath (Patient).”
Result - The outcome of an event or action; for example, “David made Solomon king (Result).”
Resultant - The final state of a person or thing after a change; for example, “David named his son Solomon (Resultant).”
Source - The place from which something moves or is moved; for example, “David departed from Jerusalem (Source)” or “David dropped the spear from his hand (Source).”
Stimulus - The person, thing, or event that brings about a mental change in the person experiencing it; for example, “David saw Goliath (Stimulus).”
Temporal - The time associated with an action or event; for example, “David fasted for the whole night (Temporal)” or “David ate on the seventh day (Temporal).”
Theme - Something that is moved from one place to another or that is located in a place; for example, “David threw the spear (Theme).”
Topic - The focus of an activity or speech act; for example, “David spoke about the census (Topic).”
Topic+Comment - The complex construct of a Topic and a Comment; for example, “David said concerning the census (Topic) that it was the cause of punishment (Comment).”[11]
[1] https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-342?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199340378.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780199340378-e-342&p=emailAAKtXBZellarU and https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-key-bible-verses-on-gods-law/ and https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-law-of-god/ and https://growrag.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/interpreting-the-bible-literally-in-christ-considering-dispensationalism-and-christian-hermeneutics/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/1drrt5l/whats_the_difference_between_a_commandment_and_a/ and https://www.dbu.edu/mitchell/ancient-christian-resources/patristicinterpintro.html and https://conciliarpost.com/theology-spirituality/the-realization-of-ancient-promise/ and https://andywrasman.com/2014/10/27/3-types-of-biblical-law-distinguished-in-scripture-in-response-to-same-sex-love/
[2] Jeremy Thompson, Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[3] Jeremy Thompson, Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[4] Jeremy Thompson, Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[5] Jeremy Thompson, Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
Jeremy Thompson, Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[7] Rick Brannan, Ancient Literature Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015).
Jeremy Thompson, Questions in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[9] Jeremy Thompson, Questions in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[10] Jeremy Thompson, Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2017).
[11] Jeremy Thompson, The Lexham Glossary of Semantic Roles (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."