The semantics of New Testament words is a complex subject as these words often have backgrounds consisting of a usage in both extrabiblical Greek literature and the Septuagint, in extension also being the object of Hebraic influence. Καρδία, often translated ”heart”, is no exception. In some Greek literature, the organ is referred to literally, but in the New Testament, καρδία is exclusively used figuratively. Another layer of complexity is added when the nature of this figurative usage is considered, as it includes aspects of cognition, volition, morality, and more. In this thesis, I studied how καρδία is used in the New Testament in comparison to the Septuagint, investigating the existing notion of a “biblical usage” of the word. This usage was then compared to its usage in periods ranging from 800–270 BCE, further exploring the existence of a distinct biblical usage but from a diachronic perspective. For this study, I adopted an interdisciplinary approach inspired by computational and corpora linguistics, dedicating a substantial part of this thesis to evaluating the approach within the field of New Testament lexicography. Its usage in the New Testament and the Septuagint was found to be similar, and I was able to propose some areas where this similarity became the most evident. This biblical usage of καρδία was not found to share much similarity with its usage in extrabiblical literature, with a biblical “moral” and “theological” usage standing out as being the main points of contrast. For the purposes of New Testament lexicography, the approach was found beneficial regarding the collection of evidence, although some issues will need to be further investigated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-530819 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Möller, Gustaf |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Bibelvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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