Paul, the apostle, said, "Consider what I say, and the Lord will give you understanding in all things" (2 Tim.2:7). One important way to consider God's word is to contemplate its grammatical structure, not merely for the sake of knowledge, but to obtain a deeper understanding of the writer's emphasis and intent. Although Bible scholars have placed much value on the study of Greek and Hebrew grammar, not many have written on the value of understanding English grammar and applying it to the study of English translations. Here's an article that attempts to cover the basics of English grammar by identifying grammatical concepts and providing a Biblical example for each. Learn about parts of speech, the power of verbs, sentence structure, and much more. Then read an example of a simple application of these concepts to the appreciation of Christ in John 3:16.
This eBook is part of a series of articles brought to you exclusively by Olive Tree Bible Software - Exploring the Bible on Your PDA. By providing these articles, we want to help those who use our products (and potential users) learn more about our Bible study tools and how to get the most out of each.
Excerpt: "'All the Body causes the growth of the Body.' These words sound like someone's Bible interpretation, don't they? On the contrary, the statement is Ephesians 4:16, reduced to the basic sentence structure and leaving out most of the modifiers. All the Body is the subject, causes is the verb or simple predicate, and growth (of the Body) is the direct object - subject, verb, direct object. The Body causes the growth. In view of the fact that many Christians have the impression that the growth of the Body of Christ is caused by the ministry of a select few, this statement is revolutionary. Without some understanding of basic English grammar, however, the point of Paul's statement is easy to miss. To summarize the statement in context, God has given certain gifted members to perfect the saints unto the work of ministry, so that all the Body might cause the growth of the Body, building itself up in love."
