Semitisms in Luke’s Greek

A Descriptive Analysis of Lexical and Syntactical Domains of Semitic Language Influence in Luke's Gospel

by Albert Hogeterp and Adelbert Denaux

Book cover: Semitisms in Luke’s Greek

Extent: 656 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Biblical Studies, Language & Linguistics

Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

Series volume number: 401

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(April 2018)

ISBN: 9783161553363

Price: $274.00

In stock

The Gospel of Luke has long been known for its variation between good, educated Greek and Semitic influences. In the last century, five theories have attempted to explain the Semitic influence: Semitic sources; imitation of the Greek Bible; the Greek of the ancient synagogue; literary code-switching between standard Greek and semitized Greek; and the social background of bilingualism. Albert Hogeterp and Adelbert Denaux revisit Luke’s Greek and evaluate which alleged Semitisms of vocabulary and syntax are tenable in light of comparative investigation across corpora of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, literary as well as documentary, texts. They contend that Semitisms in Luke’s Greek are only fully understood in light of a complementarity of linguistic backgrounds, and evaluate them in diachronic respect of Synoptic comparison and in synchronic respect of their place in Luke’s narrative style and communicative strategy.

  • By (author) Adelbert Denaux
  • By (author) Albert Hogeterp