Analiza discursului din Daniel 8, conform modelului propus de Alviero Niccacci (partea I)

Discourse Analysis of Daniel 8, according to the Model Proposed by Alviero Niccacci (Part I)

Abstract

Daniel 8 is one of the most important chapters from the book of Daniel, having special implications for the understanding of the great cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan, with the Sanctuary as the battlefield. This paper, as the first part of a two-part series, introduces the discourse analysis method of Alviero Niccacci, which will be applied to interpreting Daniel chapter 8. Niccacci considers that the Hebrew verbal system is the key to deciphering a text unit. At the basis of his theory there are two building blocks. First, the function of a Hebrew verbal form is determined by its position in the clause creating verbal or nominal clauses. Secondly, Niccacci develops three linguistic levels in the Hebrew text: (a) the differentiation between narrative and discourse is the linguistic attitude; (b) the prominence in a text emphasizes the foreground or the background and (c) the linguistic perspective which comprises the recovered information, the zero degree and the anticipated information. These two building blocks organize the text, making it easy to follow the transitions between the various forms/constructions. The analysis of these transitions helps the researcher better understand the syntactical connections between various levels of the text and the flow and the communication of ideas as the author intended, inspired by the Holy Spirit. This first part analyzes the first four verses of Daniel 8, leaving to the second part the analysis of the rest of the chapter at the grammatical and the syntactical levels with the resulting implications.