The language of the bible as it is realized in biblical parables

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The language of the bible as it is realized in biblical parables

Mudretsova Alina Rustamovna

The theme of ?religion is one of the most important themes of modern society. Bible quotations are becoming more and more popular among the educated population and are part of the phraseology in many languages. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the language of the Bible and to reveal as it is realized in the Biblical parables. Parables, being the integral part of the Bible can serve a good example of the language of the Bible. The article presents the linguo-stylistic analysis of two parables, where they are considered from the point of view of the Biblical text.

Key words and phrases: Parable; linguo-stylistic analysis; supra-phrasal unity; continuum; auto-semantics.

The main concern of this paper is to conduct research of the language of the Bible. This research is important for modern philology: there is not enough literature on the language of the Bible. Parables, being the integral part of the Bible can serve a good illustrative example of the Biblical language.

Parable, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica is a short factitious narrative by which moral or spiritual relations are set forth [15, p. 133]. In other words, it is a brief moral tale that uses the devices of allegory. The parable resembles the fable, but whereas a fable is a realistic narrative, a parable is an extended metaphor that alludes to spiritual truth through a simple story. If one reads the parables not so much for their moral or spiritual lesson but for their expression of a way of life, what becomes clear is that almost all situations described have to do with two things, which are interconnected: justice and land. Justice in people`s minds, as in the mind of Jesus, was a moral imperative that looked to the welfare of the whole community because no one could rightly pursue personal profit at others` expense. Land also was the the basis of human life and community. In the form of parables Jesus addressed to all people. There was a time when the language of parables could be understood. But now parables can often be fully understood only by an informed elite, who can recognize the meaning within their brief, mysterious structures. The most famous parables can be found in the New Testament, in the Gospels. There are also parables in the Old Testament, but they have suffered in popularity by comparison with the New Testament ones [Ibidem]. It is clear that if parables are easily found throughout the Bible, they can serve an example for the analysis of the Biblical language.

Can a parable be considered as a text or not? According to the definitions of the text, text is the result of speech process. ?Iti s complete in itself and represents a written document, literary processed in accordance with its type. Text is an utterance, consisting of the title, and the number of special units, called supra-phrasal units (SPU), which are connected by different types of lexical, grammatical, logical, and stylistic links. It has its direction and pragmatic determination [4, c. 18].

Is all said above relevant to parable or not? Since parable is a narrative, it goes without saying, that it is the result of speech. It is commonly held that a narrative is a creation of human beings, being the result of the development of their speech process. And indeed, when we read the introduction to the Bible we find out that all sacred writings contained in it were told by different people and Jesus himself at different times before being registered in the Bible.

Parable is complete in itself, because it takes a certain place in the Bible and is separated from other sacred writings as an independent short story. Parable is a written document, as it is part of the Bible which is presented in the written form. Being the written document it is processed according to literary norms. Parable has its title that can be seen from the examples of parables chosen for the analysis: The Tower of Babel and The Good Samaritan. Since parable is a narrative, it has supra-phrasal units, i.e. combination of independent sentences. At last, parable has its direction and pragmatic determination, as a parable according to its purpose and function is intended for addressing to all people and for teaching moral and spiritual lessons.

A parable, no doubt, must be considered a text. It is necessary therefore to determine its text categories. For this purpose two parables will be analyzed. The parables will be analyzed in the following order: from the category of information towards the categories of integration and completeness of the text. The category of information deals with factual, conceptual and implied information confined in the text. Now we can see how it is realized in the parable The Tower of Bible. This parable was written many years ago and recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible; therefore its conceptual and implied information can be of great interest. Let`s start with factual information. Factual information of any text is the information which the reader can derive from the text after first reading, i.e. information about events, facts, personages. The content of this parable may be reviewed in the following way. When there was one language on the earth people from the east came to the land Shinar and decided to build there a city and a tower reaching the heaven. God did not like it and punished people. These are the all main events in the content of this parable. Besides these bare events, The Tower of Bible has additional information that is also very important and realized by means of conceptual and implied information. Conceptual information is provided by the author`s understanding of the events presented by factual information. The main idea is that people are not equal to God and will never achieve his level no matter how hard they can try. People travelled from the east. The east represents, in the ancient language of parable, the source of esoteric Truth. They reached a plain - that is came down from a higher level and began to build a tower - that is, they thought that they could, out of their ideas and thoughts, reach the highest level, here called ?heaven. Man tried raise himself by his own knowledge, called here ?brick and so was shattered. Implied information gives us a hint to deeper understanding of the whole information of the text.

Now let`s analyze another text category, called text partition. The Tower of Babel can be considered a minimal text, as there is no division into chapters and sections. Text partition is presented by volumetrical-pragmatic and contextual-variative text division. Volumetrical-pragmatic division is a division into chapters, sections, paragraphs and SPUs. In The Tower of Babel this division is presented by partition into paragraphs and SPUs. It should be noted though that paragraphs and SPUs here are equal notions. Contextual-variative division, which deals with the author`s, nonauthor`s and represented speech, here is written in the form of the author`s speech. ?Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there [12, p. 7].

Text partition is always connected with the category of cohesion. All parts of the text from sentences to paragraphs are cohered in this or that way. How is it presented in the parable The Tower of Babel? The first paragraph gives us an idea about personages of this story. Personal pronoun they in the second sentence of the first paragraph used for the reference to people begins the second paragraph providing logical link and continuum of events between two paragraphs. ?Asm en moved eastward, they found a plain… They said to each other…? [Ibidem]. The second paragraph is focused on the people`s intentions to build a city and a tower, and make a name for themselves not to be scattered over the earth. These intentions are key ones for the cohesion of further paragraphs. The third paragraph begins with conjunction but signaling that people intentions will fail. ?But the Lord came down to see the city…? [Ibidem]. And in the last sentence of the third paragraph we find the words providing this fact - confuse their language, so they will not understand each other. Conjunction so beginning the third paragraph emphasizes the power of God who scattered people here and there over the earth, and finalizes the failure of ambitious people. ?So the Lord scattered them from there over the earth, and they stopped the city? [Ibidem]. Cohesion of sentences is also realized in the Tower of Babel. It is realized by grammatical means connecting different words within sentences and sentences with each other. Such grammatical means are subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, conjunctions of cause-and-effect, condition and purpose.

Thus subordinating conjunction as used in the second sentence connects two actions - moved eastward and found a plain - making one action logically depending on the previous one. Coordinating conjunction and between words and sentences provides continuum of events.

?Come, let`s make bricks and bake them... But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower…?Come, let us go down and confuse their language… [Ibidem].Conjunction of purpose so that in the sentence: ?Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we make a name for ourselves and not to be scattered over the face of the whole earth? [Ibidem] emphasizes intentions of the people to secure themselves and remain one nation. Conjunctions of cause-and-effect, that is why and because in the sentence: ?That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth [Ibidem] emphasize the cause and effect of the events mentioned above, and make the sentence more emphatic. Conjunction of condition if also serves for connecting two actions and points out the possibility of these actions to happen. ?Ifa s one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them [Ibidem].

The next category is category of continuum. It deals with notions of time and space. In The Tower of Babel there are two geographic names - Shinar, and Babel. We know almost nothing about Shinar, only that it is a plain, where people decided to build a city and a tower. Babel is a name of the city from where people were scattered. Time continuum is more expressed here that space one. It is represented by the following words: moved, come, then, have begun. These words provide logical sequence of events that makes it possible to perceive the whole parable as the process in time and space. Continuum helps the reader better understand the content of the parable, and catch the main events and facts.

Autosemantic of the text, another its category, implies forms of dependence and independence of the text parts. In The Tower of Babel this category is realized by the graphic and meaningful partition into paragraphs. Each paragraph is relatively independent as it confines a certain idea in its boundaries. Thus the idea of the first paragraph is to introduce personages of the parable; the idea of the second one is to point out their intentions, and so on. The whole parable also possesses characteristic features of autosemantics. Being part of the Bible, it is a certain story with its idea and content, separated from other sacred writings contained in the Bible.

The category of retrospection is realized in The Tower of Babel by means of repetition. We find a word language in the first, third and fourth paragraphs; word earth in the second and fourth, word world in the first and fourth paragraphs. Such repetition of words forces the reader to focus his/her attention on the events connected with these words, decipher implied information confined in these words and better understand the idea of the author.

The category of prospection is not so obviously realized in this parable. We cannot find in The Tower of Babel such expressions that could transfer the reader to further events beforehand. Besides there is no preface, introduction, prologue indicating characteristic features of prospection. Prospection in this parable is realized only through the link of the title and the content of the parable. We can observe this link through the whole content of the parable.

? Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower… ?But the Lord came down to see the tower…? [Ibidem]. And the last paragraph explains why the city and then the tower in the title are called Babel. ?That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world [Ibidem].

The following text category is modality of the text. This category is realized by the reference of speech content to reality, that is, by objective-modal meaning, and by the author`s attitude towards narrated information, subjectivemodal meaning. The objective-modal meaning is that of assertion. The Tower of Babel was written by witnesses of these events. As for subjective-modal meaning we cannot say for sure what is the author`s attitude towards his personages, and events. He does not use epithets, comparisons, interjections. But we can guess about his negative attitude towards people`s independence, their desire to reach the heavens. Repetition of the words: ?come, let us… is used to emphasize people`s independence. The same words are used by God in his intention to punish people, that indicates the author`s negative feeling towards these people.

Such text categories as categories of the integration and completeness are also presented in The Tower of Babel. Integration here provides consequent perception of factual information of the parable. And the reader is able to understand the idea of The Tower of Babel. Integration is realized by means of cohesion. The category of completeness in The Tower of Babel is realized by the connection of its title with the idea confined in its content. This connection has been observed in discussion of prospection. It can be stated that The Tower of Babel possesses the category of completeness, because its factual and conceptual information is evident for the reader and the title of this parable is fully realized in its content.

The next parable to be discussed is called The Good Samaritan. As in The Tower of Babel the category of information in The Good Samaritan is also presented in the form of factual, conceptual, and implied information. Factual information is the following. A certain lawyer, seeking to tempt Christ asks him how he can inherit eternal life. Christ replies that the answer to this question is in the Law which tells that he should love God and his neighbor by all his heart. When lawyer asks who his neighbor is, Jesus tells him a story about some Jew who is lying wounded by robbers on the dangerous road between Jerusalem and Jericho. A Jewish priest passes and Levite passes and they do not help him. A Samaritan then passes and though the Jews and Samaritans have nothing to do with one another, he stops and binds up the wounds of this injured man. This parable is most known and it can be understood as it stands. Thus conceptual information is evident. The author`s idea here is to show that all people should always help one another, no matter whether they are known to each other or not, whether they are friends or enemies. So the implied information of the parable can be understood in the following way. If a man lives his life in the right way, that is, follows the principles of his God he will get eternal life in the heavens and on the earth where he will live in the hearts of people. People always remember good actions and glorify those who follow God.

The category of partition in The Good Samaritan is realized in the same way as in The Tower of Babel. The only addition can be made here in contextual-variative division which is presented not only by the author`s speech: ?On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, but also by nonauthor`s in the form of dialogue:

?Teacher, he asked, ?what must I do to inherit eternal life. What is written in the Law? he replied, ?How do you read it? …

In reply Jesus said: ?Am an was going down from Jerusalem... [Ibidem, p. 735].

Dialogue is used here to persuade the reader that the story of The Good Samaritan is true, as it is narrated by Jesus himself.

The category of cohesion in The Good Samaritan is presented in the following way. Paragraphs here are cohered by the logical transference from the lawyer`s speech to the speech of Jesus. Such words as ask, reply, answer serve those links which help this transference to be smother and more logical. Cohesion of sentences is the same as that in The Tower of Babel, that is, realized by subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, conjunctions of cause-andeffect, condition and purpose.

These grammatical means connect two actions in a sentence, provide continuum of events, emphasize the effect of one action on another, and make sentences more emphatic.

The category of continuum in The Good Samaritan is presented by the same means as in The Tower of Babel. Space continuum deals with geographic names of Jerusalem and Jericho. These names are well known for the reader, and this results in the reader`s better understanding of the continuum of further events. Time continuum is also more expressed here than space one. It can be seen from the sequence of speeches of the lawyer and Jesus. One speech follows the other and the reader perceives this sequence of events as the whole process.

The next category to be discussed is autosemantics, but in The Good Samaritan it represents the replica of that discussed in The Tower of Babel. The category of modality is realized by means of objective-modal meaning and subjective-modal meaning. Objective-modal meaning refers the content of the parable to reality. This parable can be considered real one as it was told by Jesus and concerns real situation that can happen with all people. Subjectivemodal meaning is realized by the author`s (Jesus) sympathy towards Jew, appraisal of Samaritan who is called ?ogod by him because of his kind heart and willingness to help people when they are in danger.

The categories of integration and completeness are applied to this parable in the same way as they are applied to The Tower of Babel. Integration provides consequent perception of the factual information of the parable. And the reader is able to understand the idea of The Good Samaritan. Integration here is also realized by means of cohesion.

The category of completeness in The Good Samaritan is realized by the connection of its title with the idea confined in its content. And indeed, the Good Samaritan in the title turned to be a good person in the content of the parable, example of the right conduct for all people, and shame for all bad people.

Thus the complex linguo-stylistic analysis of two parables was made.

The result of this analysis is that a parable is a text that can be analyzed according to the text categories elaborated by professor I. R. Gal'perin. The classical model of Biblical parables allows writers-philosophers to follow its scheme and spirit. This model called archetype helps explain human behavior and therefore is ripe with human interest. It is also a helpful resource for ideas and for new models in which newly constructed words bear the same moral and are permeated with chastity of intentions because their aim is also to teach people how to live and what values to have.

bible language text parable

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