Splitting Up the Passage

Phrasing is flexible enough to customize it to the individual’s need. There are only two main rules to

remember:

● Main clauses and phrases go all the way to the left margin

● All subordinate clauses are indented under the main clauses

Different Styles of Phrasing

Because Phrasing is so flexible many choose different styles that are unique to them. Some of the most

common are:

● Splitting ALL the phrases – this includes each individual phrase, whether it is a clause or phrase

(remember, there is a grammatical difference between phrases and clauses)

● Splitting only the main clauses and indenting them to the left, focusing more on function rather than

subordination (adverbial, adjectival, substantival, etc.)

● Splitting off the main verbal ideas, along with any necessary other phrases

● Working directly from a Greek text and having the English text reflect the Greek. This is the most

accurate method, though most laymen will know little or no Greek

Different Styles of Phrasing

I will be using the 3rd method, primarily. We will split our passage into its main verbal ideas and consider

splitting off some of the other phrases as necessary.

Of course, there will be rules we’ll need to follow.

1.Start with the main verbal ideas

A verbal idea is one that expresses an action or state of being. As a rule of thumb, we split the text into a

new proposition when a new verbal idea starts.

1Peter 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living

hope…

We have two main verbal ideas here:

(verbal idea #1) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

(verbal idea #2) According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope

1. Start with the main verbal ideas

Did you see where the split occurred? It came right after the complete verbal idea of blessing God.

The second idea is that God has caused us to be born again

Of course, things will get a little more difficult as the text gets longer. Splitting the passage up into its main

verbal ideas is a good starting place

But be aware…

1. Start with the main verbal ideas

There are some verbal ideas that need to be left together:

1. If a verbal idea would seem incomplete by splitting it off:

John 5:10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed…

In this case you would not split after ‘to the man... ’ even though, technically, it starts a new verbal

idea. The verbal idea would be incomplete.

2. If an infinitive is attached to a helping verb:

Rom 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Again, we only have two verbal ideas. Both clauses contain infinitives followed by a helping verb in

order to complete the verbal idea

1. Start with the main verbal ideas

Just try and split the passage up as it seems natural. Often times your first intuition is the correct one

Punctuation can also be helpful in determining a split. Things such as commas, periods, exclamation

marks, question marks, etc., often mark a new proposition

Don’t sweat it too much! With practice, splitting will become like second nature

Phrases in between…

Sometimes several phrases will appear between the subject and the verb. When this occurs we need to

extract the phrases so that the subject and verb stay together:

Example: 1Peter 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours

searched and inquired carefully,

The subject, ‘prophets’ is separated from the verb, ‘searched and inquired’ by at least two phrases. When

extracting, we should leave an ellipses where the phrase was extracted from (...) and an upward pointing

caret mark (^) to show where that the placement of the new phrase has been arranged

1Peter 1:10

Concerning this salvation,

the prophets...searched and inquired carefully,

^who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clauses

Once you have your main verbal ideas you have two options: you may begin to subordinate your clauses

to each main thought, or look at other secondary clauses to see how breaking the passage down further

may aid in your understanding

Secondary clauses include:

1. Relative clauses

2. Prepositional phrases

3. Appositional phrases

4. Lists

Most of the other types of phrases would have been naturally split off as part of the verbal ideas

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clauses

I would recommend that you at least look at the other phrases and clauses to see if breaking them off

would help aid in your understanding of the passage. This is the key goal, after all

The next logical step would be to know what to break off and when to break it off or leave it alone. We’ll

take each phrase type separately

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesRelative clauses

A relative clause is simply a clause which begins with one of the relative pronouns: who, whom, whose,

which, that

Sometimes ‘that’ is not functioning as a relative pronoun but rather as a demonstrative pronoun. To

determine which type it is replace the word ‘that’ with its appropriate relative pronoun. If the clause works,

it is functioning as a relative pronoun. If not, it is a demonstrative.

Example:

The book that I got from the library was boring - we replace the word ‘that’ and read, ‘the book which I got

from the library was boring.’ It fits well so it is functioning as a relative pronoun

That book is a boring book - If we replace the word ‘that’ with a relative pronoun it doesn’t make much

sense. Therefore, it is functioning as a demonstrative pronoun

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesRelative clauses

As a rule of thumb, we can split off all relative clauses

Sometimes a relative clause may seem to function like an object or a subject. Phrasing is flexible enough

for you to decide on your own if you would glean more insight by leaving it intact or breaking it off

Eph 1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe

Is it necessary to split off the relative clause? In this case, my first guess would be to leave it intact

Of course, it’s up to you

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesPrepositional Phrases (optional)

Sometimes it is helpful to break off prepositional phrases and sometimes it is not. Here are some

guidelines to help:

1. Break off directly after a genitive phrase

1Peter 1:3 has caused us to be born again

to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the dead

The phrase, ‘from the dead’ can go either way. Sometimes it is better to leave it, but sometimes it is

better to split it off

2. When two or more consecutive prepositional phrases occur you may leave the first one(s) and split

off the last one

Rom 1:2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

concerning His Son

The last prepositional phrase, ‘concerning His Son’ can be split off, particularly since it tells us that

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesPrepositional Phrases (optional)

3. When a prepositional phrase comes between the subject and the verb of a clause ALWAYS split it off.

This is the only time you most definitely want to split off a prepositional phrase

1 Pe 1:11 ... inquiring what person

or time

the Spirit of Christ...was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ

in them

and the

subsequent glories.

In this case, the prepositional phrase, ‘in them’ comes directly in between the subject, Spirit and the verb

was indicating. We always want to keep the subject and verb together

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesPrepositional Phrases (optional)

4. When several prepositional phrases are part of a list

1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,

in the sanctification of the Spirit,

for obedience to Jesus Christ

and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Each of these phrases would be broken off because they constitute a list. We will look more closely at lists

momentarily

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesAppositional Phrases

There is no real rule for breaking off or keeping appositional phrases. They are there to simply identify or

clarify something about the noun they modify

2Cor 1:1 Paul,

an apostle of Christ Jesus

The phrase, ‘an apostle of Christ Jesus’ simply tells a little more about who Paul is. Therefore, we can

choose to either split it or leave it as it is

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesLists

Lists can yield interesting things from the text. Most people I know that use Phrasing as a study method

choose to split lists off from the passage. Take 1Peter 1:4 as an example:

to an inheritance that is imperishable,

undefiled,

and unfading,

kept in heaven for you

The description of the believer’s inheritance is something that you might want to examine a little more

closely. Most lists are important and should not be ignored

Step 2: secondary and miscellaneous clausesLists

Last things…

When splitting lists it is best to leave a gap between the first word of the list and then align the rest of the

list parallel to the first list item

1Peter 1:1 Peter,

an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion

in Pontus,

Galatia,

Cappadocia,

Asia,

and Bithynia,

When we leave a gap it tells us two things:

1. That it is indeed a list

2. It only needs one semantic label.

We will learn about semantic labels in another lesson. But for simplification, there is no need to label each

individual item in the list. The fact that they are aligned in this manner is to show that they all belong to the

same clause or phrase

Example Text

Now it’s time to practice.

For our example text we will use Ephesians 2:1-3. Try to split the passage on your own and then come

back to the video and advance to the next slide to see how I have chosen to split it

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the

power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind

And you were dead

in the trespasses and sins

2 in which you once walked,

following the course of this world,

following the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience

3 among whom we all once lived

in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath,

like the rest of mankind

How did you do?

Don’t worry if you didn’t split the passage exactly like I did. The main thing to remember is that you found

the main subjects & verbs that represent the main thought(s) of that particular passage

In the next lesson we will look closer at finding the main thought and subordinating everything to the main

clause

End Presentation