TIP OF THE DAY 92: Odds and ends - transliteration, syntactic ambiguity
I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day
QUESTION: What transliteration support does Logos supply?
Skill: Text conversion tool
SOFTWARE: The Text Converter tool provides several transliteration schemes.
ANSWER: One pastes original language text and get the following results:
Hebrew formats:
Scientific – aims to produce as accurate a transliteration to the Hebrew/Aramaic text as possible. Employs diacritics and superscript formatting to indicate some letters. Be advised that pasting this output into plain text applications will cause the superscript forattin to be removed, and that a Unicode font that supports diacritical modifier letters is required.
SBL Academic – technical style suitable for Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) publications as documented in the SBL Handbook of Style.
SBL General – non-technical style suitable for popular-level SBL publications.
SBL Academic With Spirantization – same as SBL Academic, plus distinction of hard and soft begadkephat letters.
SBL General With Glottal Stops – same as SBL General, plus apostrophes for aleph and ayin consonants.
Simplified – a simple transliteration suitable for casual use.
No Cantillations – removes accents/cantillation marks, but leaves dagesh and vowel points in place.
No Vowels – removes accents/cantillation marks and vowel points, but leave dagesh, sin/shin dots, and sof pasuq in place.
Consonants Only – removes all marks and leaves only consonants and maqqef in place.
Greek formats:
SBL Greek – transliteration according to the SBL Handbook of Style.
Beta Code – represents Greek in only ASCII characters, as documented here.
Spanish – uses Spanish phonemes to transliterate Greek.
No Apparatus Marks – removes apparatus marks from the input.
Unicode Composed (NFC) – coverts the input to Unicode Normalization For NFD. This is the more common format, which makes use of composite glyphs present in many Greek fonts.
Unicode Decomposed (NFD) – converts the input to Unicode Normalized Form NFD. This is useful for some applications or fonts that don’t support composite Greek glyphs.
Syriac formats:
Hugoye – transliteration according to the submission guidelines for the Syriac studies journal Hugoye.
QUESTION: Provide examples of syntactical ambiguity.
ANSWER: From Perplexity
Based on the search results and the query, I can provide 5 examples of syntactical ambiguity from the New Testament with references:
1. Luke 18:11
"ὁ Φαρισαῖος σταθεὶς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ταῦτα προσηύχετο"
Ambiguity: "πρὸς ἑαυτὸν" could modify either "σταθεὶς" (standing by himself) or "προσηύχετο" (praying to himself).
2. Matthew 28:19
"πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰἔθνη"
Ambiguity: The participle "πορευθέντες" could be interpreted as "as you go" or as a separate command "Go!"
3. John 1:1-2a
"Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν."
Ambiguity: Without punctuation, this could be read differently, potentially altering the theological implications.
4. Philippians 1:22-24
"εἰ δὲ τὸ ζῆν ἐν σαρκί, τοῦτό μοι καρπὸς ἔργου, καὶ τί αἱρήσομαι οὐ γνωρίζω. συνέχομαι δὲἐκ τῶν δύο, τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἔχων εἰς τὸἀναλῦσαι καὶ σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι, πολλῷ [γὰρ] μᾶλλον κρεῖσσον· τὸ δὲ ἐπιμένειν [ἐν] τῇ σαρκὶ ἀναγκαιότερον δι' ὑμᾶς."
Ambiguity: The phrase "συνέχομαι δὲ ἐκ τῶν δύο" could be read as either "I am hard pressed between the two" or "I have a desire for two things."
5. Colossians 2:23
"ἅτινά ἐστιν λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας ἐν ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ [καὶ] ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος, οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι πρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆς σαρκός."
Ambiguity: The phrase "πρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆς σαρκός" could modify either "οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι" or the entire preceding clause, leading to different interpretations.
These examples demonstrate how syntactical ambiguities in the Greek text can lead to different interpretations and translations, highlighting the complexity of New Testament exegesis.1
QUESTION: Provide examples of gender-related ambiguity.
ANSWER: From Perplexity
Based on the search results and the query, I can provide 5 examples of gender-related ambiguity in the New Testament:
1. Romans 16:7 - Junia/Junias
"Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was."
Ambiguity: The name Junia could be feminine (Junia) or masculine (Junias), leading to debate about whether this apostle was a woman or a man.
2. 1 Corinthians 11:10
"It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels."
Ambiguity: The phrase "authority over her own head" is debated, with some interpreting it as the woman's own authority and others as a symbol of male authority.
3. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
"Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."
Ambiguity: This passage conflicts with earlier statements allowing women to prophesy, leading to various interpretations of its meaning and application.
4. Matthew 19:12
"For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."
Ambiguity: This verse acknowledges individuals who don't fit typical gender categories, potentially including intersex individuals.
5. Galatians 3:28
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Ambiguity: This verse suggests a transcendence of gender categories in Christ, which has led to debates about its implications for gender roles in the church.
These examples demonstrate that gender-related ambiguities exist in the New Testament, often leading to diverse interpretations and ongoing scholarly debates about gender roles and identities in early Christianity.2
QUESTION: Provide examples of referential ambiguity.
ANSWER: From Perplexity
Based on the search results and the query, I can provide 5 examples of referential ambiguity in the New Testament:
1. 2 Corinthians 5:14
"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."
Ambiguity: It's unclear whether "all" refers to all humanity or all believers.
2. Romans 8:26
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."
Ambiguity: It's not clear whether "wordless groans" refers to the Spirit's intercession or to believers' prayers.
3. 1 Corinthians 11:10
"It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels."
Ambiguity: The referent of "authority over her own head" is debated, as is the meaning of "because of the angels."
4. Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Ambiguity: The referent of "I" shifts throughout the verse, creating some ambiguity about which "I" is being referred to at each point.
5. 1 John 5:20
"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
Ambiguity: It's unclear whether "He" in the last sentence refers to God the Father or to Jesus Christ.
These examples demonstrate that referential ambiguity can occur in the New Testament, often leading to different interpretations of the text. Such ambiguities can arise from pronouns with unclear antecedents, shifts in perspective, or complex theological concepts.3
1 and and
2 and and and https://www.psephizo.com/gender-2/how-does-the-bible-depict-the-relationship-between-men-and-women/ and
3 and and and https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/textual-ambiguity-and-textual-variants-in-acts/ and
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."