Verbal Complex Charts

One important aspect of Biblical exegesis and interpretation—and therefore, too, of translation—is trying to identify how verbs are functioning in particular situations. There are many variables that must be taken into consideration, including verbal encoding and semantics (i.e., what information is “built into,” and therefore activated by, the verb itself and by its various inflections); lexeme and syntax (e.g., how the verb relates grammatically to other elements in a clause or section of text, or how the action signaled by the verb relates to reality); and context (i.e., how the verb is interacting with the various levels of information surrounding it, and how that information shapes and affects the verb’s meaning and function). The “Verbal Complex Charts” posted here represent my own best effort to think carefully about what certain verbs are “doing” in certain contexts, and form the basis for my translation of a number of verbs in the Blessed Hope Translation.