This survey uncovers the testimony of the most credible witness to the meaning of γάρ (i.e., Apollonius Dyscolus) and exposes a scholarly error in the representation of this evidence. Five centuries of lexicography are surveyed in order to understand the root, growth, and extent of this problem (chapter one). While various disciplines are considered in the discussion of this thesis, the argument (and thus the evidence) presented here is ultimately historical. The thesis of this study is simply this: γάρ serves as a discourse marker alerting the recipient of the author’s (or speaker’s) response to a perceived (but inescapable) question or objection-i.e., a response to factors perceived to be inhibiting (or that have inhibited) receptivity to the intended message. Due to the increased emphasis among NT scholars regarding the importance of structural analysis for exegesis and the potential role of intersentential markers in these debates, a re-examination of the meaning and structural significance of γάρ is warranted. This has created an environment within NT studies described here as conjunctive irrelevance-i.e., the state in which the semantic distinctives of these markers have been lost so that their communicative signal is ignored or misconstrued. Indeed, γάρ is but one of several linguistic signals of Koine Greek that allude the grasp of the modern scholar. "Reclaiming Γάρ" is a curious title for readers oblivious to the fact that the meaning of γάρ has been lost.
0 kommentar(er)
