Valency Grammar and Biblical Languages: A Conference Report
On 4-5 April 2025, the international symposium “Valency Grammar and Biblical Languages: History, Exegesis, and Pedagogy” took place at the Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven, Belgium. It was sponsored by NOSTER as well as the Dutch-Flemish Bible Society (NBG). Fifteen international scholars coming from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the USA gathered around the rather neglected topic of valency grammar to its history of research, current state of the field, exegetical applications, (digital) tools, and pedagogical potential. Ten guests attended the symposium.
In terms of history, Thomas Herbst identified the origins of valency grammar in Structuralism and the contributions of Ferdinand de Saussure and Lucien Tesnière. He observed that valency descriptions often lack generalisation, but that this limitation can be remedied by integrating construction grammar with valency. Stanley Porter, however, traced the principles on which valency theory is based back further, showing its limitations in relation to Systemic Functional Linguistics and arguing for the necessity of supplementation. Mark Paridaens examined the terminological variation used to describe valency in three major reference grammars in Classics. He suggested standardising terminology and becoming more consistent and systematic.
Other speakers discussed the implications of valency analysis for the exegesis of biblical texts. Focusing on the noun ראשׁית (“beginning” or “first”), Stephen Smith demonstrated how a valency analysis can offer a clarifying perspective on the contentious clauses in the extensively debated translation of Genesis 1:1. Oliver Glanz demonstrated that Jeremiah deliberately deviates from the standard valence patterns to disturb the reader, strengthening his message of breaking down the malfunctioning rituals, institutions and buildings, and the rise of a restored world where the idea of a temple is embodied by God and his people. Femke Siebesma-Mannens explored the verbal valence patterns of אמר (“to say”) and ל-prepositional phrases, arguing that while these predominantly signify the addressee, in certain instances, they serve to denote the subject of the verb’s utterance. Geert Lorein examined valence constructions in biblical Aramaic. Focusing on emotion verbs in biblical Greek, Silvia Luraghi analysed the evolution of specific patterns found in the LXX and the New Testament. Paul Danove proposed a format for a valence lexicon, illustrating how valency analysis can refine dictionary translations for verbs of “giving” (δίδωμι/δωρέομαι/χαρίζομαι). Thomas Tops explained how objects are coded in the Greek New Testament to express forms of inalienable possession.
In terms of tools and pedagogy, Janet Dyk presented her valence analysis of the verb נשׂא (“to pick up”, “to carry”, “to bear”), emphasizing the necessity for enriching the Eep Talstra Center for the Bible and Computer (ETCBC) database to further disambiguate the meaning of verbs and assist translators in selecting the most appropriate rendering in the target language. Willem van Peursen and Svenja Lueg talked about the conversion of the ETCBC database into a treebank of the Hebrew Bible based on universal dependencies, which facilitates comparative linguistic study. This conversion, however, also raises questions regarding the interoperability and mutual dependency of the treebanks and their underlying linguistic theories, particularly in the context of so-called double object constructions. Finally, Jermo van Nes and Wouter Wakker pointed to the lack of syntax in both elementary/intermediate Hebrew and Greek grammars. They argued for the priority of syntactic analysis early on in learning Biblical Hebrew and Greek in order to develop linguistic reasoning skills by means of linguistic metaconcepts. Valency being such a concept, they presented an annotation method developed at ETF Leuven to learn students see the required and optional constituents of Hebrew and Greek sentences.
Overall, this interdisciplinary conference highlighted the extensive scope of valency grammar and its significance for the analysis of Biblical texts. Valency grammar was shown to have the potential to generate new exegetical insights, enhance translation accuracy, and help both students and teachers learn biblical languages. All papers are planned to be collected for a conference volume to be published in the Linguistic Biblical Studies series in 2026.