At a recent Simeon Trust preaching workshop, I was reminded by instructor David Helm that “in epistles, grammar always wins.” By this, he meant that, when we’re studying biblical discourse (as opposed to narrative or poetry), the most important interpretive questions and conclusions must rely heavily on the text’s basic grammar.
A Probing Question
That raises a probing question for students of the Bible: Do you know basic grammar?
For example, perhaps you’re fond of turning to Ephesians 1 when arguing for the doctrine of predestination (since God “chose us” and “predestined us for adoption”). But do you know what Paul’s main point was in Eph 1:3-14? That’s not a difficult question—at least, if you can identify the main clause (the subject and main verb) of that one, lengthy sentence. I encourage you to comment below if you can identify that main clause (and bonus points if you can do it in three words!).
Or perhaps you prefer to argue in favor of the doctrine of universal atonement from 1 Timothy 2:4 (since God “desires all people to be saved”). But what is Paul getting at by divulging God’s salvific desire for all people? A grade-schooler could answer this question, since grammatically, there is nothing obscure about either the main clause of that sentence or the antecedent to which the demonstrative pronoun refers. Gold stars will be given to anyone who comments below with that sentence’s main clause and antecedent.
Parts of Speech
Now maybe my use of technical grammar language (clause? antecedent? huh?) is distracting for you. Do you really have to know all that lingo in order to study the Bible?
No, you don’t have to know the lingo. You can study the Bible just fine without being an expert in the terminology. But you must still understand what the concepts mean. At least, if you would like to study an epistle or speech properly.
In particular, any student of the Bible would be greatly helped by grasping the parts of speech and knowing how they function in sentences. Can you define the following?
- noun
- pronoun
- verb
- adjective
- adverb
- preposition
- conjunction
That list doesn’t contain all parts of speech, but they are the ones you frequently bump into. In fact, the previous sentence contains every part of speech on the list; can you find each one?
Syntax
Syntax is the label for how the words in the sentence fit together. And the most important aspects of syntax to master for Bible study are:
- Subject and main verb (predicate) = main clause
- Distinction between independent clauses and dependent clauses.
Finding and labeling such clauses for what they are, you will grow to interpret the epistles clearly and accurately. In the previous sentence, “finding and labeling such clauses” is dependent; that’s not the sentence’s main idea. The main idea is found in the main (independent) clause: “you will grow.” That’s what I’m after in not only this paragraph but this post!
Where Can I Get Help?
I hope to post a few crash courses in grammar and syntax in future weeks, but I can go only so far. Yet you are not on your own to figure this out. Many resources are available to help English speakers learn basic grammar.
Here is a free, brief online course for those learning English as a second language. Native speakers know these grammar rules intuitively but will profit immensely from learning why the language works the way it does.
The classic Schoolhouse Rock has a series of entertaining shorts, with fantastic music, about grammar and syntax. “The Tale of Mr. Morton”—teaching subjects and predicates—is my family’s favorite.
As for books, here is a list of the best English grammar books on the market. I typically recommend The Elements of Style (#16 on the list), as I’ve read and benefitted from it myself. But #17 (English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek) also looks promising, even for those who don’t plan to learn Greek. I’m sure anything on the list would be useful, so find whatever looks appealing and give it a try.
In epistles, grammar always wins. So when you study epistles, you won’t want to be on the losing side.
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