Biblical Adverbs and Transitions

Reading the Bible is like reading a book you read in high school or seeing a movie for the second time. As you read a chapter or story in the Bible for the second time or three hundredth and second time you always take notice of something new. There is some detail usually that you did not notice before. There is a name you kind of glanced over in previous readings or a sequence of events that you discover that fits in the larger puzzle.

I have been noticing lately the adverbs and transitional phrases in the New Testament. These typically happen at the beginning of new passages. They say things like "Immediately Jesus left the place..." or "The next day..." or "When he had finished" or "Later..." or "In those days."

Sometimes noticing these transitions makes little difference to the whole story, sometimes more. I have tried to take notice of the durations these adverbs and transitions encompass. I tend to read the Gospel narrative and the Acts of the Apostles as a continuous event. Sometimes though these transitions speak of greater lengths of time between events.

So there is the English lesson for today. Watch your adverbs and transitional phrases. They might make a difference in how you read the Bible.