Elementary New Testament Greek, 2014a

6: Prepositions
General Categories of Prepositional Meanings:
In general, all of the “glosses” (suggested translation values) supplied above for
prepositions will t into one of three categories. It may be helpful to consider which
of these categories is at work as you are working out your translations.
glosses among the various larger senses it suggests for this preposition: in, on, near,
among, before, with, in the case of, on account of, consisting of, amounting to,
when, while, and during. You will realize that these represent very different senses,
and could steer us in very different interpretative directions for a given passage.
75
temporal:
spatial:
conceptual:
e.g. before, after, while, since…
e.g. under, over, upon, against, beside, in, into, out of, away
from…
e.g. although, because, instead of, according to, concerning,
in behalf of…
Adjectival and Adverbial Roles of
Prepositions
Prepositional phrases are usually adverbial in nature. In other words, they typically
clarify and elaborate upon the activity specied by the verb. Nearly any verbal action
can be further dened in terms of place, time, or conceptual notion:
The Meaning of Prepositions (Simple
Glosses, Complex Possibilities)
The “meaning” we have offered above for each preposition should be thought of
merely as a practical “handle” for picking up and learning the most common sense
for that preposition. For example, when you encounter the most frequently appearing
preposition in the NT (), it will quite often work to translate it as “in.” This is
not the “root” meaning, or the “literal” meaning, or the “basic” meaning, or the
“essential” meaning. (I’ve put all those terms in quotes because they have too often
been used illegitimately.) We should attach no special theological or philosophical
weight to “in” just because it is the most frequently used gloss for .
When we press on into careful exegetical work, we cannot be content with simple
equations like = “in.” What should we do? If “in” works smoothly according to
the sense of the sentence and surrounding passage, then well and good, especially if
the sentence deals with simple, tangible matters [Peter was living “in” Galilee]. But
if any ambiguity could be involved, or if any theological issue might be at stake, the
best recourse will be to plunge into BDAG, which will itemize all possible senses
that might take, and will offer a rich supply of glosses (translation options) to
consider.
John baptized Jesus in the Jordan river, before the death of Herod, for the
forgiveness of sins.
John baptized Jesus
in the Jordan river,
spatial
Baptized where?
before the death of Herod,
temporal
Baptized when?
for the forgiveness of sins.
conceptual
Baptized why?
For just a taste of this, let’s consider what BDAG offers as possible glosses for .
Though we’ve learned that its “handle” is “in,” BDAG sprinkles the following possible