Greek Diagrammatical Analysis Question

Daniel B.

 

I just upgraded to Scholar's from Leader's Library  (cost me 6 months of spending money), and definitely love the new features available. I am saving up for Silver... 

 

In my undergrad I got some training on diagrammatical analysis (Diagrammatical Analysis by Lee Kantenwein). I did this for a passage of Scripture (Col 3:12-17) that I am examining for a Greek class. This seemed to take me hours and I had to rely on other tools (OpenText.org, et al) to figure out the clausal types. While in the end, I believe the diagrammed sentence is both beautiful (visually) and helpful in understanding the sentence structure, is such a laborious process necessary? Or is there another tool I can use to streamline my comprehension of a passage? Is diagrammatical analysis overboard (or even necessary) with the OpenText.org feature?

 

I cannot get out of my mind how important Kantenwein believes this process to be: "Diagrammatical analysis of the Biblical languages is an indispensable and methodological exegetical tool for the purpose of observing sentence structure and syntactical relationships" (Kantenwein, 7).

 

Note, my prof does not require us to diagram our Scripture sections (nor am I asking for help with this passage of Scripture ). However, I do want to be incredibly thorough with my study of Scripture (2 Tim 2:15). If there is a quicker way to get the same comprehension for an exegetical analysis of Scripture, say with OpenText.org or something similar - I am all ears.

 

• Therefore, how do most of you do your Greek passage analysis for syntax/structure?
• Any trade secrets from the seasoned veterans?

 

God bless,

 

Daniel

 

PS - sorry, after several years at Seminary, its hard to say anything in just a few sentences… In the military we call it, "The Readers' Digest version" of a question. 

 

Jack Caviness

Daniel Brinton said:

is such a laborious process necessary? Or is there another tool I can use to streamline my comprehension of a passage? Is diagrammatical analysis overboard (or even necessary) with the OpenText.org feature?

It is the difference between doing your own research and allowing someone else to do your thinking for you.

Kevin Becker

Daniel, you will get faster at diagramming as you practices it and learn Greek better. If you find the information given by the process helpful then by all means keep doing it. However, keep in mind that this style of diagramming isn't the only thing you can do to catch and record these details.

Personally, I like block diagramming better. It focuses on the clause level and the subordination of clauses one to another. It's great for catching the flow of thought and not missing the forest for the trees.

NetworkGeek

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/175832#Comment_175832

As a small not-too-unrelated tip, I found I learned some interesting little things to help in my Bible study from Morris Proctor's manual for Inductive Bible study:

https://www.mpseminars.com/index.cfm/pageid/1382/index.html

Sometimes you know how the features work but you aren't yet thinking about how to put them together to help in a broader task like studying a passage or section of the Bible. Plus, it has sections in each area geared to beginner, intermediate, and advanced Logos user which was nice.

Anyway, I just thought I would pass this on - I have no affiliation with MP or his company, for $24 I liked the value of the manual.

Daniel B.

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/175839#Comment_175839

 

Jack Caviness said:

It is the difference between doing your own research and allowing someone else to do your thinking for you.

 

Jack,

That makes sense. I definitely want to do my own research.

 

Kevin Becker said:

Daniel, you will get faster at diagramming as you practices it and learn Greek better…. However, keep in mind that this style of diagramming isn't the only thing you can do to catch and record these details.

Personally, I like block diagramming better. It focuses on the clause level and the subordination of clauses one to another. It's great for catching the flow of thought and not missing the forest for the trees.

 

Kevin,

Thank you for your insight. That does make sense to block diagram so as to observe the author's thought flow. I think I'll try block diagramming for a while. If I were a betting man, I'd bet I'll save time with that method and learn the same amount of detail about the syntax. This will *hopefully* allow me more time to concentrate on other areas of exegesis. Thank you!

 

Dominick Sela said:

Morris Proctor's manual for Inductive Bible study:

https://www.mpseminars.com/index.cfm/pageid/1382/index.html

Sometimes you know how the features work but you aren't yet thinking about how to put them together to help in a broader task like studying a passage or section of the Bible. Plus, it has sections in each area geared to beginner, intermediate, and advanced Logos user which was nice.

Dominick,

That does look like a helpful manual.

 

Thank you all!  [:)]