12-27-2013, 07:28 PM
Shlama CW,
Thank you. <!-- s
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As Turton stated, chiastic structures were commonly used in antiquity. Note, he did not say Greek antiquity. The Greeks were the among the last of the ancient civilizations to become literate, even. But I digress. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->
Of course the chiastic structure he points out is present in the Aramaic, as it is in the English you posted, and even in Chinese. It gives us absolutely no clue about the nature of the original language of the text. That's because it's a question of narrative structure. It is a device employed as style, regardless of what language you choose to write in. Not a linguistic feature, only a literary device.
For instance, I can give you an Acrostic poem (a very popular literary device in Aramaic), but in English. However, this literary device will only work in English, because an acrostic poem (by definition) has each stanza starting with the order of your alphabet, which obviously wouldn't work in a translation into a language with a different order of alphabet. Here's an example:
(A)ll people give praise unto His Name
(B)ecause the LORD has purchased our salvation
©ontemplate the price at which you were purchased
(D)eem yourselves worthy because of His sacrifice
(E)verlasting life is your inheritance
....and so on, and so forth
I've used above a very common literary device in ancient Semitic (especially, Aramaic), but in English. Unlike a chiastic structure, this would not work in a translation into any other language.
But a chiastic structure does not depend on anything related to linguistics. It carries itself forward into any language that the text is translated into. I don't think the original author is claiming that the chiastic structures found in Mark are indicative of it being composed in any specific language. He mentions Greek only in reference to things unrelated to the chiastic examples he gives (real, or imagined).
+Shamasha
Thank you. <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->As Turton stated, chiastic structures were commonly used in antiquity. Note, he did not say Greek antiquity. The Greeks were the among the last of the ancient civilizations to become literate, even. But I digress. <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->Of course the chiastic structure he points out is present in the Aramaic, as it is in the English you posted, and even in Chinese. It gives us absolutely no clue about the nature of the original language of the text. That's because it's a question of narrative structure. It is a device employed as style, regardless of what language you choose to write in. Not a linguistic feature, only a literary device.
For instance, I can give you an Acrostic poem (a very popular literary device in Aramaic), but in English. However, this literary device will only work in English, because an acrostic poem (by definition) has each stanza starting with the order of your alphabet, which obviously wouldn't work in a translation into a language with a different order of alphabet. Here's an example:
(A)ll people give praise unto His Name
(B)ecause the LORD has purchased our salvation
©ontemplate the price at which you were purchased
(D)eem yourselves worthy because of His sacrifice
(E)verlasting life is your inheritance
....and so on, and so forth
I've used above a very common literary device in ancient Semitic (especially, Aramaic), but in English. Unlike a chiastic structure, this would not work in a translation into any other language.
But a chiastic structure does not depend on anything related to linguistics. It carries itself forward into any language that the text is translated into. I don't think the original author is claiming that the chiastic structures found in Mark are indicative of it being composed in any specific language. He mentions Greek only in reference to things unrelated to the chiastic examples he gives (real, or imagined).
+Shamasha