The TBWM Reading Map is a growing reference to grammatical, syntactical, and discourse concepts that appear throughout Translate the Bible With Me. It exists to help readers revisit explanations, follow patterns across books, and see how recurring structures function in real texts. This map grows organically as new material is added.
This is not a glossary per se; it’s more like an applied interpretive grammar. This map points to places where specific grammatical, discourse, and diagramming decisions are discussed in context.
Using this Reading Map
This map is a companion to TBWM. If you are new to TBWM, start with How to Use TBWM. The map is organized around interpretive actions Greek readers perform. For example:
- resolving discourse;
- constraining meaning;
- recognizing ellipsis;
- tracking repetition;
- evaluating comparison;
- resolving referents; and
- handling English Resolution Pressure (places where English and Greek package or resolve meaning differently).
There are a number of ways to get the most out of this Reading Map. First, you can simply search a topic you are interested in by using the find feature of your browser. Second, when reading a Greek passage and encountering a concept you are unsure about, you can see if there is a reference to it in the map. Third, you can use it to examine discourse features in a passage. Fourth, you can use it to help identify translation principles that may assist you when you are translating your Greek whether for a sermon, personal study, or a larger translation project.
§1. Greek Grammar & Syntax
- Clause Structures
- Comparative constructions
- Ellipsis / Implied Elements
- Determinate subject ellipsis [What omitted subject must be syntactically supplied?] → 1 Jn 3:24
- Discourse-recoverable predicates → 1 Jn 4:5–6
- Implied discourse subjects [Who remains the active discourse referent?] → 1 Jn 2:28–29
- Implied possessive pronouns → 1 Jn 1:9
- Verb ellipsis across clauses → 1 Jn 3:10, 1 Jn 3:24
- Genitive constructions
- Infinitives (complementary, purpose, etc.)
- Morphology (Patterns / Reverse Parsing)
- Consonant changes (ἔσφαξεν) → 1 Jn 3:12
- Distributed grammatical signaling → 1 Jn 1:10 (ἡμαρτήκαμεν)
- Irregular future middles (ὀψόμεθα) → 1 Jn 3:1–3
- Perfect reduplication patterns → Colossians discussions coming soon
- Suppletion → 1 Jn 3:1–3 [Ἴδετε]
- Participles
- Article + participle as generic individual (“the one who…”) → 1 Jn 2:11; 1 Jn 2:15–17; 1 John 5:4
- Concessive participles → 2 Jn 12
- Coordinated participles → 2 Jn 9
- Genitive absolute → 3 Jn 1:2-4
- πᾶς ὁ + participle constructions → 1 Jn 3:4–10
- Periphrastic constructions → 1 Jn 1:4
- Present participles and characteristic/ongoing action → 1 Jn 3:6
- Perfect participles with continuing-result force → 1 Jn 4:2–3
- Substantival participles, generic → 1 Jn 2:3, 1 Jn 3:14–15
- Substantival & Referential Structures
- Substantivized prepositional phrases → 1 Jn 2:15–17
- Neuter substantive relative clauses (“that which…”) → 1 Jn 1:1; 1 Jn 2:24
- Verbal Aspect / Tense Usage
§2. Discourse & Structure
A. Literary & Rhetorical Features
- Anacoluthon
- syntactic discontinuity or broken clause structure
- Anaphora
- See also, Discourse Level Reading (below)
- Apposition
- Epexegetic (terminology for explanatory apposition)
- Discourse pivots
- Implied conditionals
- Parallelism
- Escalating parallelism → 1 Jn 1:1
- Polysyndeton
- Pragmatic Features
- rhetorical questions
- πῶς questions → 1 Jn 3:17
- implied impossibility
- irony
- emphatic rhetorical force
- rhetorical questions
- Pronominal Reference
- Repetition [patterned escalation, structural mirroring, discourse balancing, and recursive movement]
- Repetitive structural symmetry → 1 Jn 3:19–24
- Repetition as rhetorical testing → 1 Jn 1:6–10
- Resumptive movement
- Epanalepsis (formal rhetorical terminology) → 1 Jn 1:3
B. Discourse Patterns & Reading Features
- Assurance grounded in divine knowledge → 1 Jn 3:19–24
- Claims versus reality structures → 1 Jn 1:6–10
- Conditional testing structures → 1 Jn 1:6–10
- Discourse-Level Reading
- Conceptual anaphora / semantic continuity → 1 Jn 5:16–17
- Death/life contrast structures → 1 Jn 3:11-18
- Discourse units vs verse-by-verse reading → 1 Jn 2:18–27
- Love as manifestation of divine life → 1 Jn 3:11–18
- Progressive discourse resolution → 1 Jn 1:1–3 (start at v.2 for context)
- Obedience → abiding → assurance progression → 1 Jn 3:22–24
- Manifestation language / invisible realities becoming visible expression → 1 Jn 3:11–18, 1 Jn 4:7-12
- Discourse signals
- ἐν τούτῳ as discourse signal → 1 John 4:7-12
- αὕτη as discourse signal → 1 Jn 5:3
- Grounding clauses / theology grounding exhortation → 1 John 4:7-12
- Recursive Johannine Structure
- Recursive discourse development → 1 Jn 2:28–29; 1 Jn 5:5, 1 Jn 5:18–20
- Repetition as discourse reinforcement → 1 Jn 2:12–14
- Cadence and repeated structures → 1 Jn 2:12–14
- Revealed Identity
- Revealed identity → 1 Jn 2:18–27; 1 Jn 3:4–10; 1 Jn 5:4-5, 1 Jn 5:18–20
- Conduct as manifestation of belonging → 1 Jn 3:4–10
- Already / not-yet structures → 1 Jn 3:1–3
- Johannine categorical dualism → 1 Jn 3:4–10
§3. Lexical & Semantic Sensitivity
- Conceptual Aggregation
- Contextual Semantic Force [How does the immediate context shape the force or nuance of a word?]
- Idiomatic Expressions [meanings not reducible to isolated lexical glosses]
- τίθημι + ψυχή as self-giving idiom → 1 Jn 3:16
- Lexical Contrasts [meaning clarified through juxtaposition]
- βίος vs ψυχή → 1 Jn 3:16-17
- Translation & Interpretation Philosophy [Faithful translation requires discourse sensitivity and interpretation awareness]
- Anti-Wooden Reading
- Translation smoothing through tense harmonization → 1 Jn 3:19
§4. Diagramming Conventions
- Appositional alignment
- Clause alignment
- Discourse-unit diagramming
- Logical/discourse grouping in diagramming → 1 Jn 2:18–27 onward
- Main assertion anchoring
- Parallelism visualization
- Recursive structure visualization
- Tracking implied/repeated predicates
- Verse numbering vs clause entry
- Visual hierarchy
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