Dr. Levinsohn, with expertise in both New Testament Greek and discourse analysis, wrote this coursebook for use in classroom lectures and discussion groups, as well as for self-instruction. He draws on his research and his experience in seminars, teach-ins, and courses as he describes discourse features that he and other researchers have studied in depth.
For maximum benefit, students should already have some basic familiarity with discourse analysis and some knowledge of Koiné Greek. They do not need extensive knowledge of Greek vocabulary, but do need the ability to identify the case of a noun, the tense-aspect of a verb, and to distinguish participial, relative, and main clauses.
The seventeen chapters cover topics such as constituent order, sentence conjunctions, patterns of reference, back grounding and highlighting, and reporting conversations. Discourse features are illustrated from passages of the New Testament. Most sections include review questions to assist the student in applying the principles.