McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle – Monthly Meeting
Presenter : John J.H. Lee, Ph.D. at MDC
title: Grammatical Metaphor and Greek Texts: Romans 2.17–29 as a Test Case
Abstract: This paper explores how Halliday’s notion of grammatical metaphor can be applied to New Testament Greek studies. After outlining the theoretical tenets and means of formal implementation, I will read Rom 2:17–29, as a test case, from the perspective of grammatical metaphor and engage with the Paul within Judaism camp’s claim on the same text. The study concludes that both ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος ‘one who is a Jew inwardly’ (v. 29) and περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι ‘circumcision of the heart in the Spirit not by the letter’ (v. 29) seem to well deserve reader’s attention.
