I have been looking at clusters of three or more conjunctions in the GNT and AF in preparation for a project I am working on. In my view, each conjunction always has a single, unifying constraint that it brings to bear in the context, even if if occurs with one or more. Robert Funk calls them “function words,” meaning they DO something rather than MEANING something. In reviewing one of the early authorities that influenced my view of conjunctions, I was pleasantly surprised to hear them use the work “function” in their description. Here is the quote for your edification.

Now let’s take a look at John 16:22, here is the text:

21 ἡ γυνὴ ὅταν τίκτῃ λύπην ἔχει, ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα αὐτῆς· ὅταν δὲ γεννήσῃ τὸ παιδίον, οὐκέτι μνημονεύει τῆς θλίψεως διὰ τὴν χαρὰν ὅτι ἐγεννήθη ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν κόσμον. 22 καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν νῦν μὲν λύπην ἔχετε· πάλιν δὲ ὄψομαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ χαρήσεται ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία, καὶ τὴν χαρὰν ὑμῶν οὐδεὶς αἴρει ἀφʼ ὑμῶν.1

Although conjunctions occur within a single clause, they often cannot be fully understood without referencing the larger context. Let’s begin with the role of καί. Since there is another coordinating conjunction present (the postpositive οὖν) καί is doing something other than linking two clauses or phrases. It always links two things of equal status, but they may not be right next to each other. This latter function is generally called the adverbial function. Note that one Greek conjunction καί accomplishes the same tasks as three separate English words: and/but (coordinating conjunction, adding contiguous elements), also (additive adverb, adding non-contiguous elements), even (intensive adverb, adding something to itself). If we look at the preceding context of v. 21, we see there is a parallel thought. Whereas the woman experiences sorrow/pain as the hour of childbirth arrives, so too the disciples will have a similar experience. The connection between v. 22 and v. 21 would have been there with or without καί; adding it to the context constrains the reader to look for some relevant connect. The presence of the other coordinating conjunction οὖν tells you to look for a non-contiguous yet related element. One down, two more to go.

The second connective we come across is οὖν. In John’s gospel, οὖν is used to signal the next development in the dialogue or story. A development is the next stage or step; it may or may not be closely related. The use of οὖν signals +development, +close connection. The use of δέ signals +development, -close connection. So John has signaled that v. 22 is the next development, but closely related to what precedes i.e. the illustration in v. 21. Thus while καί connects “woman” to “disciples”, the οὖν is coordinating the two clauses. Two down.

What about μέν? It’s sole purpose in life is to create the expectation that some related element will follow. It is the first shoe to drop so to speak, setting the stage for the typically more salient second shoe. In most cases, μέν works in conjunction (pun unavoidable) with δέ as a paired set. We might paraphrase v. 22 using “while” or “although” to create the same kind of expectation in English. There is also the temporal adverb νύν that creates a different kind of connection. Why do we need to think about now unless there will be a temporal transition of some kind? John tends to speak slowly and use small words; here we have a doubling up of signals to keep our eyes peeled for a related element. Sure enough, it comes later in v. 22. The key is that they will see Jesus again, another connection but backpointing this time. The disciples have sorrow because Jesus has announced he is leaving them. Seeing him again at some later date will be a game-changer. Their λύπη will be changed to something else: χαρά.

Based on the repetition of key concepts in these verse, there were natural connections present between Jesus’ illustration and his encouragement to his disciples. The connectives and adverbs simply strengthen the connections that were already present. Each one brings a unique constraint to the context; each performs the same basic function, even in the presence of connectives. This was a pretty straightforward example, but I bring in some others where commentators gravitate toward assigning some special function to the cluster rather than looking at the contribution of each component.

So when you see a conjunction–particularly one that is hanging with his homies in a cluster–be sure to ask each one present, “Conjunction-junction, what’s your function?”

If you want to learn more about this approach to connectives, see chapter 2 of A Discourse Grammar of the GNT. This chapter is part of a sample available here.

  1. Michael W. Holmes, The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition ( Logos Bible Software, 2010), Jn 16:21–22. [↩]