TIP of the day: Logos tagging #21: Lexham Discourse/High Definition tagging

1. I suspect many of you are like me with regards to this tagging. You find it interesting but at a quick glance the terms down the left side don't seem to add all that much to how I analyze a passage so two resources sit in my library underutilized, not appearing in any standard layout:

• Runge, Steven E. The Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008–2014.
• Runge, Steven E. The Lexham High Definition New Testament: ESV Edition. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008–2014.

But then I run my mouse over the text and am reminded that thanks to Tim Hensler in his post Smiling with custom pop-ups in the Lexham Discourse Greek NT I have an excellent cheat sheet to how to truly use the resources effectively.

2. Okay most of you will get something far more like this from the Logos supplied glossary:

Far Distinction—Words like that, those and there (called ‘demonstratives’) are used by writers to refer to things that are ‘far’ when a near/far distinction exists. These words can be used to create a near/far distinction, differentiating what is of central importance (i.e. ‘near’) from what is of passing importance (i.e. ‘far’). See the Introduction for further discussion on Far Distinction.

Steven E. Runge, The Lexham High Definition New Testament: Glossary (Logos Bible Software, 2008).

The Logos resource provides us with the standard definitions ... Tim's resource provides us with the interpretative questions that we should ask. Sidebar: I'd love to see Faithlife pick up Tim's concept and apply it to much of their tagging allowing us to toggle between definitions and tips on actual use.

2. The symbols embedded in the text are often far more productive than the left hand column. Here you can use the right-click Context Menu to bring up search options (among other things).

3. The Search results in:

4. As you work through the text you will find that in many passages the left hand titles become interesting as well. They are also subject to right-click and search:

5. A final suggestion: read through Runge, Steven E. The Lexham High Definition New Testament: Introduction. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008. - a section at a time so you have time to go through the examples, find more examples with a search, and see how the questions apply in actual practice (Tim's questions have their source in this document).

Yes it takes a bit of work to learn to really use this resource rather than passively read it, but it is time well spent.