Marking Thought and Talk in New Testament Greek

Synopsis:
This book uses insights from a modern theory of communication, Relevance Theory, to examine the function of the particle i(/na [SET IN SpIonic] in New Testament Greek. It claims that the particle does not have a lexical meaning of "in order that," contrary to accepted wisdom, but that it alerts the reader to expect an interpretation of the thought or attitude of the implied speaker or author. Evidence is adduced from pagan Greek and in particular the writings of Polybius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Epictetus, as well as the New Testament. The implications of this claim give an opportunity for a fresh interpretation of many problematic texts.

Endorsement:

"This timely and fascinating study is of interest, not only to biblical scholars, but also to those interested in linguistic theory. Margaret Sim's original study of the 'purpose' marker i3na utilises the notion of metarepresentation, familiar from Relevance Theory, to provide new insight into the interpretation of certain key texts in the Gospels. In so doing, she shows how the ideas of theoretical pragmatics can be brought to bear on the study of other fields to enable new and exciting perspectives to be opened up on difficult problems of translation and interpretation."
Ronnie Cann, University of Edinburgh

"A model dissertation accounting for an important, long-ignored question. Literary and non-literary extra-biblical sources have been considered and the perspective is diachronic, distinguishing earlier and later usage from that of the New Testament. It is grounded in linguistic theory but free of jargon and intelligible to those not trained in Linguistics."
Carl W. Conrad, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

This is a major, innovative thesis in which insights from linguistic study (Relevance Theory) are used to free our understanding of the Greek particle i3na from the shackles of a fixed lexical meaning to one that is based on the communicator's intention, thus widening its scope from the traditional translation as 'in order that' (purpose). The implications of this carefully argued monograph for the interpretation of theological texts in the New Testament, especially those that are generally assumed to deal with divine purposes, are highly significant."
I. Howard Marshall, University of Aberdeen

"Dr. Margaret Sim has an excellent solution to the problem that one Greek word can introduce very different clauses--expressing purpose or result, but also requests wishes and opinions. Using Relevance Theory from linguistics, and well aware of the long history of the Greek language, she infers that we do not have a word with one meaning which has been 'weakened,' but rather a word whose function is to signal a thought about a state of affairs which is potential rather than actual. Drawing examples from wider Hellenistic Greek, and from our own use of language, she throws a flood of light on difficult biblical passages."
David Mealand, University of Edinburgh

Author Biography:
Margaret G. Sim is an International Translation Consultant with SIL and has been lecturing in New Testament at Africa International University since 1992.