3 replies to this topic

[Anna]

hello, Could you please guide me in something? I used to get newsletters from a Bible scholar teacher and preacher (Rick Renner) and he explained in them some Greek words and I was amazed how rich explanation he gave; on average I try to use some dictionaries or I use Blue letter Bible study tools which are available in the internet and they only give you a "dry" word explanation, its superficial meaning. where can I learn what really hides behing a Greek word? I don't know Greek at all but I would love to get to the core of words used in the Bible and also the tenses. For example: what is the difference between the active and passive voice in a sentence? how does it influence the meaning of the message?
thank you for your help in advance
anna :-))

[Evangelion]

Any Greek scholars who can help Anna, please?

[Tarkus]

Anna, on Dec 2 2008, 10:18 AM, said:

For example: what is the difference between the active and passive voice in a sentence? how does it influence the meaning of the message?

The answer to this is the same for most languages!

A typical phrase can be reduced to three things: subject-verb-object, or S V O.
* I ate the pie.
* You read books.
* Obama won the election.

In all those examples the subject is the doer. The verb is active. The object is... well, it's the object of the action.
But each example can be written backwards, from the perspective of the object if you like. Thus:
* The pie was eaten by me.
* Books are read by you.
* The election was won by Obama.

In this form the object of the action becomes the grammatical subject, and the verb is passive. Is the meaning changed? Not really: most actions can be described in equivalent active and passive statements. Sometimes the choice of active or passive indicates emphasis - the grammatical subject being considered more important than the object. Normal writing style mixes active and passive voice a bit, but sometimes a writer will overuse (or underuse) the passive voice to convey mood or control. For example lots of passives might give the reader a sense that the hero is the victim of his circumstances, while a complete absence of the passive voice might communicate the opposite, our hero is very much in control.

[Anna]

Tarkus, on Dec 2 2008, 02:08 AM, said:

Anna, on Dec 2 2008, 10:18 AM, said:

For example: what is the difference between the active and passive voice in a sentence? how does it influence the meaning of the message?

The answer to this is the same for most languages!

A typical phrase can be reduced to three things: subject-verb-object, or S V O.
* I ate the pie.
* You read books.
* Obama won the election.

In all those examples the subject is the doer. The verb is active. The object is... well, it's the object of the action.
But each example can be written backwards, from the perspective of the object if you like. Thus:
* The pie was eaten by me.
* Books are read by you.
* The election was won by Obama.

In this form the object of the action becomes the grammatical subject, and the verb is passive. Is the meaning changed? Not really: most actions can be described in equivalent active and passive statements. Sometimes the choice of active or passive indicates emphasis - the grammatical subject being considered more important than the object. Normal writing style mixes active and passive voice a bit, but sometimes a writer will overuse (or underuse) the passive voice to convey mood or control. For example lots of passives might give the reader a sense that the hero is the victim of his circumstances, while a complete absence of the passive voice might communicate the opposite, our hero is very much in control.

Thank you a lot. That is helpful! Do I understand that right that it doesn't change much whether the sentence is in the passive or active voice. I thought that when it is active it means that I am supposed to grab hold of something, do something and when it is passive I should receive it by faith...
Now... could you please tell me about how to really get into the depths of the greek words, not just the superficial dry meaning. For example I heard that the word Gospel means "too good to be true news" and outside the NT it was used only two times because of its meaning. Also, I used to reeceive Sparkling gems from Greek from the Rick Renner Ministry and I was astonished how he depicted words, he gave not only mere word meaning but the atmosphere, color and greater depth standing behind the word. Where did he take it from? I want this source too....
Thanks for your help.
anna

Edited by Anna, 02 December 2008 - 01:51 PM.