In the last few days there have been several reviews on various blogs about the Etymological New Testament. And they are genuinely appreciated! Even when the blogger obviously did not understand the purpose of the ENT, the tone of the post has been fair. One particular point, however, needs to be very clear. As the back cover of the ENT has it, "Etymology is not meaning." That is obvious. However, as the next sentence states, "But it does provide fascinating insight into the origins of many New Testament words!" Not only is the reader thus cautioned, but the point becomes redundant when one opens the book and turns to page 3 (introduction) and reads the last paragraph which begins, "This brings us to a very key point about this method and the ENT in particular: etymology must not be confused with meaning. One cannot repeat this caution too often." After illustrating the point with the word PROSKUNEO, the paragraph concludes with, "Fun information. Root words. But, meaning is determined by usage, not by etymology." If one reads with this in mind, the info learned while reading the ENT can be quite fun and a blessing as well.
Many of us love the New Testament. The ENT is one more way for many readers to be drawn into the text as they pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of our Savior. Thanks for reading this blog. We'll be returning to John 3 in the next post.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Greetings from a fellow unprogrammed Friend and associate of your alma mater Bethany Theological Seminary!
ReplyDeleteI just saw some not-very-complimentary comments on your book on the b-greek discussion forum, to which I subscribe. I wrote this in response:
-----
Thanks so much for bringing this book to my attention -- I just ordered a copy for my husband, who is an absolute fanatic about Indo-European roots.
This is obviously not the place to defend such an approach, which for him is more of a spiritual matter than academic anyway. My interest is in getting him to learn some Greek, so when we're in our little Bible Study group he'll look up the Indo-European root of the Greek word in addition to whichever English word (translation) seems to predominate in our discussion. He has a Greek interlinear which he uses a bit; maybe the prospect of Indo-European roots of the Greek words will help him learn more Greek.
Apparently he's not the only one interested in these roots; the American Heritage Dictionary quit including their Indo-European Roots appendix for awhile in the 1980's or early 90s. I bought a new AHD in shrink wrap in about 1993 and was unpleasantly surprised not to find my/our most-used section. So I wrote to the publishers (this was pre-internet, pre-email) and heard back that they were shocked at the level of consternation from their customers who protested their having deleted the appendix. They sent me an addendum that they'd put together (pamphlet-thickness) with what would have been the Indo-European Roots appendix to the new dictionary I had bought. A few years ago I picked up a current American Heritage Dictionary and they had restored not only an updated Indo-European Roots appendix but also added a Semitic Roots appendix.
Anyway, when I first met my husband, I mistakenly thought that he thought that English words "really mean" their Indo-European root. I was well aware that mentioning etymology in academic biblical studies circle was a dangerous matter. However, what in fact he believes/experiences is a thread of meaning that extends from the root to its various descendants, analogous to human ancestry. And I'm hoping to help him pick up the thread not only of the English but the Greek, as we study Scripture in small groups with folks who know no Greek and who don't carry around a big fat dictionary.
Thanks!!
Susan Jeffers
susan@read-the-bible.org
Thanks so much, Susan, for the including this post here. I've enjoyed visiting your website. I appreciated your sentence noting the "spiritual vs. academic" intention of the ENT. It is often difficult to actually take the time to listen to the Spirit, to hear the Wind's voice. If a reader of the ENT can learn some new info about word connections AND is enabled to spend a little more time with the text, then that would be "mission acccomplished".
ReplyDeleteFor me, during Meeting for Worship, words of the NT are often "quickened" or made alive during the waiting silence.
Thanks again for your note (and I hope that after you receive the ENT, you post a good review on the Amazon website!) JMW
PS: Months ago I started in on an updated version of the ENT. Updated English, more consistency among family word groups, etc. Don't know if I'll ever really finish it...
"For me, during Meeting for Worship, words of the NT are often "quickened" or made alive during the waiting silence."
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Yes. And during Bible Study, our little Quaker groups sometimes feel a similar "quickening" as we wait on the Spirit which has given forth the words...
I look forward to receiving the book, and I do plan to write a review.