Sound Mapping the New Testament

by Margaret Ellen Lee, Bernard Brandon Scott

In the Hellenistic world, writings were read aloud, heard and remembered. But modern exegesis assumes a silent text. According to Margaret Lee & Brandon Scott, the disjuncture between ancient and modern approaches to literature obscures the beauty and meaning in writings such as the New Testament. Further, the structure of a Hellenistic Greek composition derives from its sounds and not from the meaning of its words. Analysis of the sound dimension, they argue, is therefore foundational to interpreting the composition. Sound Mapping the New Testament opens with an exploration of writing technology in the Greco-Roman world. It then turns to Hellenistic literary criticism for descriptions of grammar as a science of sound and literary composition as a woven fabric of speech. Based on these perspectives and a close analysis of writings from the four gospels, Paul, and Q, it advances a theory of sound analysis that will enable modern readers to hear the New Testament afresh.

406 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2009

Reviews

[Richard Pütz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is most important. it will be and should be one of the books required in any scripture class. Understanding how the language sounds and the meaning behind the sounds are very critical. Think about in your own life the difference between hearing the lyrics and seeing them on a screen. This book does require you to know something about Koine Greek. But don't fear it is not hard to figure out, remember during the time Koine Greek had about a 2500 word vocabulary and put that into perspective today where the average 5th grader understands about 20,000 words and that is not including profanity. LOL