Dr. Runge, Thank you for your work in discourse grammar of the NT. I believe this study will further equip me for exegesis study as I am an English only student. In LA211 Segment 6 Example 2, Eph. 5:18 ff., you speak of elaborations of what "being filled with the Spirit" is about. You note vv. 22-24 form part of that same subject, and v. 25 begins a new topic. I follow your thought and it makes sense. Yet, most English translations begin a new paragraph with v. 22. Why are they transitioning to a new thought development?

  1. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, there is a break, but to a lower level digression for an example of what it looks like to submit to one another. The big idea for this section the exhortation to walk in the Spirit. This is followed by a series of elaborating participles in Greek that spell out in more detail what it practically looks like to do that: speaking to one another, singing and making melody, giving thanks, and submitting to one another. These participles are not advancing things but instead fleshing out the big idea. Similarly, v. 22 is doing the same kind of thing, fleshing out in more detail what Paul has in mind when he is talking about submitting to one another. So on the one hand, it is a new section, but on another it is building out upon v. 21. The higher-level hortatory line of the discourse is then resumed in v. 25 with the command for husbands to love their wives. If you take a look at the propositional outline feature (just do a search for a helps video if this is new), you will be able to see this reflected by the indenting of v. 22 w.r.t. v. 21. Hope that helps!

  2. Thank you Dr. Runge. Your explanation makes clearer sense to Paul's structuring his flow of thought.