There are a variety of method of diagramming available to the student of the Bible, but very few tools to actually assist in creating such diagrams. Well BibleArc does just thought, providing scholars and preachers alike with an easy way to begin constructing their own diagrams. You can view my hastily created diagram to the left to get a taste.

The website includes instructions, a brief description of what all the symbols mean, and a plethora of videos and tutorials. You can diagram in a variety of English translations, or in Greek (complete with parsings). Improvements to the user interface (which is still a little cumbersome), as well as a repository of user-created diagrams, are apparently on the way. You can save diagrams to their site (with a user name and password), or export them as PDF documents.

Read more here

If you’re interest in the theory behind thought-flow diagrams, or with other types of diagrams (each with their own advantages and disadvantages), Cotterell’s Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation is an excellent starter resource.

 

Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament Bundle (6 Vols.)Good translations require a good understanding of how languages work. This requires more than just knowing a list of words and grammatical structures; it requires an understanding of why an author chooses this structure instead of that one. It requires an understanding of linguistic context, of the rules of discourse, of conventions of speech and genre. The tools and techniques by which exegetes can study these factors is called Discourse Analysis.

For a great introduction to Discourse Analysis, as well as other topics in linguistics and their impact on biblical studies, check out Cotterell’s Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. Young’s Intermediate New Testament Greek also includes a wonderful introduction to Discourse Analysis, and includes several different methods for diagramming.

But the purpose of this post is to point out some software by Logos. First, there is a semantic/discourse diagramming feature bundled into Scholar’s Library (which looks very nice; Bibleworks includes grammatical diagramming, but not discourse diagrams). Check that out here. Additionally, they are now offering a complete discourse analysis of the New Testament. Check out the announcement, complete with screenshots and a video, here.

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