Month: <span>April 2020</span>

Students trained in traditional exegesis and historical-grammatical hermeneutics sometimes struggle when discussing interpretive practices with those trained in linguistics. The concept of register can be confusing, so my hope here is to give an analogy and then explain and illustrate some basic concepts of register as articulated by M.A.K Halliday and Ruquaiya Hasan, Stanley E. Porter, and Matthew Brooke O’Donnell.

Analogy

When someone registers for an event, specific information is required by the host in order to establish a set of mutual expectations regarding the participant’s involvement. A participant provides their name, contact information, and other relevant data so that the host can be prepared for the participant’s presence and activity at the event. The more thoroughly and clearly a participant communicates their registry information, the less likely it will be that the host of the event is surprised when the participant arrives. The registration is the sum of the specific information common to the participant and the host so that each knows what to expect from the other at the event.

Explanation

In the same way, register of texts is a way of gathering information provided by the author and giving it to the reader so that the reader can know what to expect from the text in view. In defining a text, Halliday and Hasan write that a text is cohesion supplemented by register (23). “A text is a passage of discourse which is coherent in these two regards: it is coherent with respect to the context of situation, and therefore consistent in register; and it is coherent with respect to itself, and therefore cohesive” (23). Register is the sum of situational features of a text (Halliday and Hasan, 22; Porter, 221). The goal of register studies to is establish expectations the reader should bring to the text. Register is to a linguist what context is to an exegete, traditionally speaking. Porter notes that register studies are a logical extension of systemic functional linguistics and infers that “One of the distinct advantages of the notion of register in discourse studies is that it provides a means by which the data of a language can be described, categorized, and then usefully analyzed in service of broader discourse notions” (219-20). Register provides the interpreter with the context of the situation and environment in which a set of utterances were made (Porter, 146, 221).

Illustration

Linguists typically identify three discourse elements in a register: mode, tenor, and field (Halliday and Hasan, 22; O’Donnell, 198-99; Porter, 146-48; 219-36). I suggest analyzing these in said order. First, the mode of a text refers to the type of language involved and the text. Stated differently, mode concerns the “how” of a text. Here interpreters investigate the cohesive features of a text and how the author uses words and grammatical forms to organize the phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs of the text. These cohesive textual properties can be analyzed and quantified. It is these cohesive features that often help the reader to see the coherence of a text (O’Donnell, 427). Analyzing direct and indirect discourse, monologue, dialogue, narration, exposition, exhortation, etc. in a text constitute the mode of a text’s overall register. Additionally, studies of the mode of a text identify the text’s genre under headings like procedural, narrative, epistolary, etc. In the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10, the mode of the text is narrative with reported dialogue. References to taxes and crowds serve as cohesive features in the text.

Second, the tenor of a text is the “who,” the participants involved and the roles they play in the discourse. Studies of tenor answer questions like, Who are the main characters involved? What is the relational matrix of participants in a particular scene? Do the relationships between participants develop or change? What social groups do the participants belong to? In Luke 19:1-10, the participants include Jesus, Zacchaeus, and the crowd of onlookers. Jesus’ status as a respected teacher is contrasted with Zacchaeus status as a tax collector, one who is despised. The reaction of the crowd provides an interpretive grid for subject matter and events.

Finally, the field of a text refers to the overall situation of the discourse (Porter, 146-58). The subject matter of the text, the purposes of the participants, and the transactions of the participants involved are investigated to identify the field of a text’s register. In the story of the Zacchaeus, the field of the text’s register includes the hospitality Zacchaeus offers to Jesus and Jesus offers to Zacchaeus. Additionally, Zacchaeus’ zeal to see Jesus and the concept of cleanliness would need to be investigated under the heading of field.

Halliday, M.A.K., and Ruqaiya Hasan. Cohesion in English. New York, Longman, 1976.

O’Donnell, Matthew Brook. Corpus Linguistics & the Greek of the New Testament. New Testament Monographs 6. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2005.

Porter, Stanley E. Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament: Studies in Tools, Methods, and Practice. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2015.

One of the values of Biblical Theology is that it promotes the voices of the Minor Prophets. Habbakuk’s prophecy encapsulates macro themes from the Old Testament and lays a foundation for understanding the New Testament. Habakkuk did not specify those who reigned in Judah during his ministry, but the themes and tone of his writing parallel the events following the death of Josiah, when Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem (2 Kgs 24:10-25:21). Habakkuk was an insightful, prayerful preacher who knew the character of his God and was in tune with the spiritual situation of his day. Habakkuk’s role in the storyline of Scripture cannot be overstated. The New Testament authors employed Habakkuk’s prophecy to explain justification in Christ alone and the faithful response God requires of those who receive His grace in Christ.

Justification in Christ Alone

God raised up the pagan Chaldeans to discipline the people of Judah. Habakkuk and the people of Judah could not understand what God was doing. In Hab 1:5-11, the prophet recorded God’s answer to his inquiry about the apparent discrepancy between God’s covenant loyalty to His people and the rise of the Chaldeans. The Lord said to Habakkuk, “Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth’s open spaces to seize territories not its own” (Hab 1:6). God’s work in Habakkuk’s day was different than the prophet or the people expected. But if Judah failed to recognize that God had raised up the Chaldeans to discipline them and send them into exile, then the people of Judah would lose their lives fighting against God.

Paul employed the words of Habakkuk during his first missionary journey when he preached in Antioch of Pisidia. Paul reviewed salvation history from the captivity of Israel in Egypt to the rule of King David to the resurrection of Jesus. Paul argued that Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated Jesus’ superiority even over Israel’s great king David and employed Hab 1:5 as evidence that his listeners should believe upon Jesus as Savior. Paul warned his audience in Pisidian Antioch that though God’s offer of salvation in Jesus differed from their expectations, only through Jesus could anyone be justified. “So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you: ‘Look, you scoffers, marvel and vanish away, because I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone were to explain it to you’” (Acts 13:36-41), Paul said.

The Faith(ful) Response of the Justified

In Hab 2:2-5, the prophet recorded God’s answer to his second prayer, when he asked how God could work through the wicked Chaldeans in order to accomplish His holy will. The Lord replied, “The vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late. Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith” (Hab 2:3-4). In the Lord’s declaration of what would happen to the Chaldeans—and how God’s people should live in the meantime—the authors of the New Testament saw themes that applied to their audiences.

Paul employed Hab 2:4 to help unify the divergent Jew/Gentile audience in Rome. He wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Rom 1:16-17). Paul urged Jews and Gentiles in Rome to hold tightly to their faith in Christ—lest their national distinctions pull them apart (Romans 9-11; 15:1-7). After Paul evangelized the region of Galatia, those who argued that Gentiles needed to show their salvation by observing the historical practices of Judaism (including circumcision and food laws) began to have influence in the region. To counter this heretical insurgency, Paul took up Hab 2:4 saying, “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue doing everything written in the book of the law.’ Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because ‘the righteous will live by faith’” (Gal 3:10-11).

The author of Hebrews likewise saw in Hab 2:4 instruction for his audience—those who needed to persevere in their current struggles as outcasts of the synagogue community, exiled from the social and financial securities available to Jews within the Roman culture. Habakkuk urged his audience to trust in the Lord for vindication in the day when He destroyed their enemies, and the author to the Hebrews wished the same for his readers. He encouraged them to be confident saying, “In yet a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life” (Heb 10:35-39).

In John 11, Jesus’ demonstrated His deity by raising Lazarus from the dead. Despite Jesus’ greatness, the Jewish leaders sought to destroy Him. Taken together, statements from the Psalms, Isaiah, and Ezekiel portrayed the Messiah as One who would demonstrate power over life and death—yet be rejected by His people. The events of John 11-12 brought the psalmist and two of Israel’s prophets together in a concert proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah upon His entry into Jerusalem.

The God who is Life

Ezekiel prophesied of the Lord’s grace that would come upon His people to forgive their sins and awaken them to new spiritual life. The Lord brought Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones and commanded him to prophesy to the bones that they would come alive by his word. While Ezekiel spoke, the bones were animated with tissue. When the prophet commanded the four winds to give breath to the bodies, the bodies came to life. The Lord told Ezekiel that He was going to open graves that the dead of Israel would come out alive. “You will know that I am the LORD, My people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them” (Ezek 37:13).

When Jesus learned that His friend Lazarus had died, He wept (John 11:35). But this was more than an emotional moment for Jesus. If Jesus were merely filled with compassion for His friend, He could have healed Lazarus from a distance. The resurrection of Lazarus is an illustration of Jesus’ sovereignty to give life. When Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” in John 12:25, He clarified that He was capable of what the Lord proclaimed of Himself in Ezek 37:13.

Some Rejoiced, Some Rejected

Psalm 118 portrayed the psalmist’s thanks to the Lord for empowering Israel to victory over their foes. The psalmist described the celebration that took place in Jerusalem as the gates of the Lord’s city were opened wide (Ps 118:19-20). Though the nations had rejected Israel, the Lord chose to build His kingdom through Israel, His cornerstone (Ps 118:22-23). The psalmist described God alone as the Savior of His people. It was thus altogether right for the psalmist to say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” (Ps 118:26) heralding God’s salvation. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds rejoiced, and the Pharisees grew more frustrated (John 12:12-19). 

To Jesus the crowd exclaimed Ps 118:26, waving palm branches in their hands (Matt 21:8-9//Mark 21:8-10//Luke 19:36-38//John 12:13), proclaiming Jesus the King of Israel. The Synoptic authors noted that while Jesus taught in the temple during that final Passover celebration, He told the Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matt 21:33-43//Mark 12:1-11//Luke 20:9-18). Jesus concluded the parable by citing Ps 118:22-23 and applying it to Himself. The stone the Jewish leadership rejected was the cornerstone of God’s program to reveal Himself and redeem His people. The author of Psalm 118 described how God’s work of deliverance would be both celebrated and rejected. The Evangelists and Jesus rooted Jesus’ Holy Week ministry in those themes of Psalm 118.

The King on a Colt

Zechariah proclaimed that God wanted the hearts of His people and urged the returned exiles to repent. The prophet announced that the Lord would avenge the sufferings of His people by judging their foes and setting a mighty king over Israel. In Zech 9:9, Zechariah said “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The Evangelists interpreted Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem riding on a donkey as a fulfillment of Zech 9:9 (Matt 21:5//John 12:15). But as Jesus entered the city, the disciples did not connect dots. John noted that only after Jesus was glorified did they understand that Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem fulfilled Zech 9:9. John’s authorial disclaimer in John 12:16 underscored Jesus’ death and resurrection as the interpretive peak upon which the New Testament writers understood the Old Testament.

To See or Not to See

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah described his call experience. He saw the Lord high and exalted and heard the angelic host proclaim God’s holiness. The Lord commissioned Isaiah to proclaim His truth to Israel but told the prophet that the people would reject his messages. Isaiah’s messages would seal Israel’s unbelief. In Isaiah 53, the prophet described the ironic state of the Lord’s Servant. He was God’s chosen, wise leader but He was not attractive in appearance and was rejected by the people. So, when the people rejected the Lord’s Servant, they were rejecting the One through whom God had willed to reveal His power (Isa 53:1).

In John 12:37-41, John collocated Isa 53:1 and Isa 6:10 to explain why so many had rejected Jesus despite the signs He did before them. Though God revealed Himself through Jesus, through Jesus’ ministry God blinded the hearts of the Jewish people. God’s revelation in His Son thus simultaneously opened some eyes to faith and sealed others shut in blindness. Isaiah’s ministry experience in Isa 6:10 anticipated Jesus’ ministry. In this way, Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory and prophesied of Him (John 12:41).