{"id":1519,"date":"2019-09-25T10:23:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/?p=1519"},"modified":"2019-09-25T10:23:52","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T15:23:52","slug":"key-word-grace-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/2019\/09\/25\/key-word-grace-2\/","title":{"rendered":"“You” or “Y’all”? Why Grammar and Context Matter in Biblical Interpretation"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, I want to acknowledge that not all questions of biblical interpretation can be settled based on grammar\u2014in fact, some arguments are based on grammar (such as the \u201cfaith of\u00a0<\/em>Christ\u201d vs. \u201cfaith in\u00a0<\/em>Christ\u201d argument of recent decades). But some mistaken readings of Scripture happen because of a failure to attend to grammar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the Lord, \u201cplans to give you hope and a future.\u201d (Jeremiah 29:11; NIV, adapted)<\/p>\n

I have seen this quotation from Jeremiah 29:11 as the signature on some emails and on wall plaques. The passage is often taken as proof of God\u2019s personal plan for each believer. But the \u201cyou\u201d here is plural, and is about God\u2019s intent to restore the Israelites, who are going into Babylonian exile. While \u201cyou\u201d-plural can mean \u201ceach of you,\u201d here it is collective. The captive nation is addressed collectively as \u201cyou.\u201d In the American South, \u201cy\u2019all\u201d would be a good translation. That the plural \u201cyou\u201d is collective is clear in the context, because in verse 14, God promises to bring the captives back: \u201cI will gather you\u00a0<\/em>from all the nations and places where I have banished you<\/em>\u201d (NIV, italics added). The promise of Jeremiah 29:11 applies to a group, not an individual.<\/p>\n

A similar example of the importance of recognizing the plural \u201cyou,\u201d this time from the New Testament, is in Philippians 2:12, 13:<\/p>\n

12\u00a0Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed\u2014not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence\u2014continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13\u00a0for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.\u00a0(NIV)<\/p>\n

When these verses are read to urge greater personal effort towards improvement (\u201cwork out your salvation\u201d) or as encouragement, that we do not have to depend on our own efforts (\u201cit is God who works in you\u201d), the plural \u201cyou\u201d is being ignored. The plural is obvious in the very next verse (2:15) where the readers are called \u201cchildren of God.\u201d The point is corporate\u2014the Philippian church, harassed by outsiders (1:28-30), need to hold together strong as a group, trusting in the knowledge that they are not on their own but their unity is sustained by the Lord.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The difficulty in both cases is that well-stated phrases are attractive on their own and get used for other purposes. When reading the Bible in English it can be difficult to tell the difference between a plural \u201cyou\u201d and a singular one. But the use of good commentaries can protect against such misreadings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, I want to acknowledge that not all questions of biblical interpretation can be settled based on grammar\u2014in fact, some arguments are based on grammar (such as the \u201cfaith of\u00a0Christ\u201d vs. \u201cfaith in\u00a0Christ\u201d argument of recent decades). But some mistaken readings of Scripture happen because of a failure to attend to grammar. \u201cI know the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3510,"featured_media":1521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[172431,2764],"tags":[172426,2873,166918,54613,2865,366],"class_list":["post-1519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-interpretation","category-translation","tag-epistles-of-st-paul","tag-individualism","tag-interpretation","tag-new-testament","tag-old-testament","tag-vocabulary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3510"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1519"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1523,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions\/1523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/csart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}