Der Verfasser versucht das teologische Vermächtnis des bedeutenden Neutestamentler der evangelischen theologischen Komeniusfakultät zu bewerten. Er befasst sich vornemlich mit seiner Auffasung des Neuen Testaments als lebendigen Gesprächs der Zeugen, an dem wir bei unserer eigenen Schriftauslegung selbst teilnehmen. Auf Grund der Studien von Souček, in denen er sich mit einer Reih der berühmten biblischen und systematischen Theologen seiner Zeit auseinandersetzte, belegt der Verfasser, wie sich Souček gegen jede theologische Einseitigkeit wehrte und wie er jede theologische Arbeit für offen und unvollendet hielt, weil es in der Theologie nie ein endgültiges Wort gibt. Zum Schwerpunkt der Arbeit mit der Bibel und auch ihrer Lebensfolgen wurde für Souček der Akzent von Karl Barth auf die Souverenität der Gnade. Zum Schluss zittiert der Verfasser zum Beleg der aufrichtigen theologischen und bürgerlichen Haltung von Souček ein Teil aus seinem Brief nach Genf, in dem er sich sehr kritisch zu den Folgen des kommunistischen Putschs im Jahre 1948 und zu der Vertreibung der deutschen Bevölkerung äusserte, die er für das erste Nachkriegssübel und Wurzel von allem folgenden Bösen hielt.
The Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Bible contains a large number of marks of unclear purpose in addition to letters and phonematic diacritics. They are explained as accents, symbols for singing, or syntactic markings. But they do not correspond to any of these three purposes. Many are unrelated to accent. They determine melodic motifs only loosely. They do not follow sentence structure and suit syntax only partially. Analyses of the occurrence of marks are also sometimes called ‘syntax’, but it is a syntax in a technical sense. It is a mechanical combinatorics that has nothing to do with the composition of natural language. For composition necessarily connects with linguistic meaning, and that with the text usage from which it derives its value. Without an understanding of the value of what a sign means to a language user, combinatorial rules have almost no use value.
The interpretation put forward here is that the signs in question capture the prosody recommended for reading the biblical text. Psalms, Proverbs and the poetic portions of Job record it in one way, the 21 remaining books in another. Many technical syntaxes limit themselves to the 21 books (often selectively) and focus on phrase division (which fits an idea of syntax), but the 3 books fall outside of this. A satisfactory coverage of both similar but unequal systems of the 21 and 3 books of the Bible, if it is to take into account the typical and atypical usages in the text, is not manageable without an understanding of phonology. For the latter (like syntax) is not mere division and phrasing, but expressing of values i.e. meanings by means of sound—and these are not merely temporal divisions and phrasing means.
After explaining the historical position of the two standard systems of signs, the interpretation must therefore begin with at least a brief outline of that part of phonology which is necessary to understand the meaning of signs and the structure of their systems. Only then are the tools of description and the interpretation of the values of each mark explained, as they appear after nearly twenty years of research. A distinction is made between phrasal and melodic marks in the two systems. After the values of each mark and common combinations are explained, examples of the connected use of marks in both systems are also provided. The outline of the concept concludes with at least a brief mention of possible implications for the translation and interpretation of Scripture.
The presented concept explains why the markings partially but not completely fit accents, cantillation and syntax. Oral reading of the text does not copy its syntax, it is autonomous. Singing relies on markings, and cantillation traditions have probably evolved from the recommended prosody of reading. At the same time, the prosodic conception opens up a new direction of research.
Three Koiné Greek pronunciations for students of the New Testament
(Jiří Hedánek)
The pronunciation used today for some ancient languages is approximate or agreed upon because we can only reconstruct it approximately or hardly know it at all. In order to understand each other, we need to agree somehow on a manner of speaking. With Greek, however, there is no need to be in the dark since we know its pronunciation quite certainly. Yet New Testament Greek is taught with an artificial pronunciation, as if it were a dead and forgotten language. This bothers some scholars of Greek. Though we have only one school pronunciation of Ancient Greek in Czech, and fairly advantageous in class, we might better be familiar in our country, too, with the trend of seeking authentic Koiné pronunciation.
Two pronunciations offered to global teaching and learning audience, the Lucian and Buth pronunciations, are reported here. The third one, described in more detail, has been used by the author for several decades. The Lucian pronunciation by Ranieri maps pronunciations from the end of the archaic period to the present, with the aim to prevent the creation of ahistorical pronunciations, while proposing flexible compromise variants that suit both classical and postclassical literature. Randall Buth has compiled a New Testament pronunciation educationally simplified for interested students of international background. Descriptions of the two pronunciations can be traced on the Internet. The article, therefore, deals in detail with the pronunciation of the author, close to Buth’s but in several points closer to Lucian and with a greater emphasis on sound changes in connected speech, word binding, rhythm and melodic contours.
Both Luke Ranieri and Randall Buth have been teaching Koiné Greek for several years in courses for international students. The author of the article has read 21 lessons of Novozákonní řečtina pro každého (Prague, Biblion 2022, adapted from Learn New Testament Greek, 3ʳᵈ rev. ed. by John Dobson) with an accompanying pronunciation guide available for free download from the publisher’s website.