Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation

For a survey on how the science of linguistics should be applied to Bible interpretation look no further! Cotterell and Turner have written what is sure to be a must read for seminary students for many years to come. They take you systematically through a survey of linguistic theory and apply it to Biblical interpretation in both abstract and concrete ways. They use many examples to illustrate their points as well. However, sometimes, and I suppose this is unavoidable, one can get lost in the jargon, especially if you don't have a background in linguistics (like me). Still, they do their best to keep it at a level that most people doing graduate work can understand. This book was part of assigned reading for my Hebrew Syntax class, and it helped me understand some of the finer connections that can often be overlooked. I will say that I did not totally agree with them in some of their examples and conclusions, but this book is definitely a worthwhile investment for those who are serious about studying and understanding the Bible.

This edition by Cotterell provides the student of interpretation with a deeper more complete view of how linguistic studies impacts biblical interpretation. This was a valuable read for interpretation studies.

love em!

What an essential book on hermeneutics from a linguistic perspective. This is a book I go back to often; it is a must read for those serious about interpreting Scripture accurately. It is one of those books that will change the way you look at interpreting Scripture forever!

Great! Thank you!

This is *the* state-of-the-art introduction to the application of modern linguistics to biblical interpretation, although "introduction" may be too weak a term, especially for chapter 5. Every chapter is heavily illustrated with helpful examples from everyday life and the New Testament.Chapters are: (1) "Language, Linguistics, and Biblical Interpretation" (brief, basic intro to linguistics); (2) "Semantics and Hermeneutics" (focus on the meaning of "meaning"); (3) "Dimensions of the Meaning of a Discourse" (each section begins with "Meaning as/and ...", ending with "Meaning as 'Significance' and the Exegetical Task"); (4) "The Use and Abuse of Word Studies in Theology" (a much-needed explication of James Barr's work for a new generation); (5) "The Grammar of Words: Lexical Semantics" (perhaps the heaviest chapter in the book, especially their discussion of "concept-orienated" and "field-orientated" approaches to word sense, and collocational vs. substitutional relationships between words--challenging for non-linguists, but very, very important, given the emphasis on "word meaning" in most commentaries and works on hermeneutics and exegesis); (6) "Sentences and Sentence Clusters" (extends the discussion of ch. 5 to the sense relations between sentences; brilliantly helpful introduction to "Semantic Structure Analysis" (two sections)); (7) "Discourse Analysis" (intro to the concept of discourse, the significance of discourse structures in interpretation, ending with an outstanding discussion of the rape of Tamar (2 Sam 13)); (8) "Discourse Analysis: The Special Case of Conversation" (intro to how conversation works, and the implications of this for reading the many biblical passages that are built around or consist entirely of dialogue, ending with a wonderful study of Nicodemus' conversation with Jesus (John 3); readers may want to refer to some of Deborah Tannen's works); (9) "Non-Literal Language" (the function and meaning of affective language, metaphor, parables, allegories, well-illustrated by discussions of "burning coals" (Ro 12.20) and congregational worship (1 Cor 11.2-16)).I would like more illustrations from the OT/TNK (my only caution), but the authors are a linguist-missiologist (Cotterell) and NT scholar (Turner); the principles are easily transferred.This book should be studied (not merely read) not only by everyone preparing for a ministry of preaching or teaching, but by every serious student of Scripture.