신약석의에 있어서 헬라어에 대한 총체적 접근방식의 중요성 = The Importance of the Holistic Approach to Greek for the Exegesis of the New Testament

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The present article seeks to place the language of the New Testament in proper perspective, by locating it in the historical development of the Hellenic language as a whole. The relation of New Testament Greek, along with that of classical Greek, to the entire Greek language has come into disaray through the pronunciation introduced by Desiderius Erasmus in 1528, which had as its result the division of the language into two parts: ancient (including the NT) and modern, including Byzantine and mediaeval Greek. This artificial division had two dire consequences: the un-Greek Erasmian pronunciation not only made the language sound as a jumble of inharmonious sounds but it also obscured many communicatory aspects, as for example, word-plays and other rhetorical figures. Ever since the 5th century B.C. Greek was pronounced in the Historical Greek Pronunciation. The other, even more serious matter, was that by separating the later period and refusing to take it into consideration, much material relevant to the interpretation of the New Testament was disregarded to the detriment of a more exact interpretation of the New Testament. This is so, because the New Testament was written during the period of transition from ancient to modern. This period lasted 900 years (from Alexander [335 B.C.] to Justinian [A.D. 565]), at the end of which the Hellenic language emerged as Neohellenic. We must, therefore, apply the holistic or diachronic approach to in investigating the text of the New Testament. The above implies that the NT exhibits not only elements from the ancient phase of the language but also elements that were coming into being during this period, which characterize Neohellenic. This is shown in this study in many ways and through many examples. The article, then, illustrates the importance of the diachronic approach to the Greek language, in which the entire history of the language becomes relevant, when applied in a strictly scientific and critical manner. Comparition between the NT and the Homeric language (through Nonnos), which was 800 years away, and Neohellenic, which is 2000 years away, shows clearly that Neohellenic, in spite of its greater distance from the NT, is much closer to the NT than the language of Homeros. Finally, detailed exegesis in a few selected NT texts, shows that the new meanings and structures that developed during the period of transition, which characterize Neohellenic, are better suited to interpret the NT texts than the ancient meanings. The theological importance here is immense. Such examples, includes the important text of John 15:1-7 concerning the aspect of abiding in Christ in order to bring forth fruit in the Holy Spirit, as well as that central text concerning the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mt 12:28), which has played a vital role in the understanding whether the Kingdom of God is future or has already come.