1. The Exegetical Significance of Meta-Comments for Identifying Key Propositions
Steven Runge Discourse Grammar and Biblical Exegesis Consultation Providence, RI, November 19-21, 2008

2. Introduction Tendencies in communication: Communicate intended content
Efficient and focused
E.g., “I appreciate your research.”
Most of the time when we are speaking, we stay focused on whatever it is that we want to communicate. We also tend to be efficient in what we say and how we say it, unless there is some reason not to do so. For example, “ I appreciate your research.”

3. Glossary Definition
Meta-comment—When a speaker stops saying what they are saying in order to comment on what is going to be said, speaking abstractly about it.
Speakers depart from these norms in order to accomplish certain discourse tasks. One of these tasks is to highlight significant propositions in a discourse. The meta-comment serves as a discourse marker of the writer’s intention, insuring that the reader does not miss its significance.

4. Glossary Definition
Meta-comment—When a speaker stops saying what they are saying in order to comment on what is going to be said, speaking abstractly about it.
E.g., “I want you to know that I appreciate your research.”
Consider how the addition of “I want you to know” affects the sample sentence.

5. Glossary Definition
Meta-comment—When a speaker stops saying what they are saying in order to comment on what is going to be said, speaking abstractly about it.
E.g., “I want you to know that I appreciate your research.”
Interrupts the flow of the discourse
Attracts extra attention to the proposition that follows.
The meta-comment does not change the propositional content of the clause. Instead it effectively delays the intended proposition, and attracts more attention to it that it otherwise would have received without the meta-comment.

6. English Meta-Comments
“It is very important that you understand that …”
“I want you to know that …”
“Don’t you know that…”
“Of all the things that you have learned so far, the most important one is that…”
“If you remember nothing else that I say, remember that…”
Here are some other examples of meta-comments that are found in English. Each has the same basic effect of interrupting the flow and attracting attention to the proposition that follows.

7. English Meta-Comments
“You look down, they know you're lying and up, they know you don't know the truth. Don't use seven words when four will do…He's got to like you then forget you the moment you've left his side. And for God's sake, whatever you do, don't, under any circumstances...”
Brad Pitt as “Rusty” in Ocean’s Eleven
Here is a great line from Ocean’s Eleven, where Brad Pitt is giving what appears to be important advice to Matt Damon just before they rob the casino. (Read last part of quote) **If you remember this part of the movie, you may remember laughing. Why? Because after the big build up that is underlined, you are expecting some really important piece of advice, advice that never comes. It is the meta-comment that creates this expectation.

8. Greek NT Meta-Comments
λέγω ὑμῖν “I say to you…”
λέγω ὑμῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν “I tell you the truth…”
γινώσκετε ὅτι “We know that…”
οἴδαμεν “I ask that…”
οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν “I want you to know…”
ἀγνοεῖτε “Don’t you know…”
Here is a list of collocations that are used in Greek to accomplish the same discourse task of meta-commenting. The have the same effect of interrupting the flow of the discourse, and of attracting attention to the proposition that follows.

9. Greek NT Meta-Comments
λέγω ὑμῖν “I say to you…”
λέγω ὑμῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν “I tell you the truth…”
γινώσκετε ὅτι “We know that…”
οἴδαμεν “I ask that…”
οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν “I want you to know…”
ἀγνοεῖτε “Don’t you know…”
Often co-occur with vocatives/nominatives of address:
E.g. “I want you to know, brothers, that…”
Meta-comments are co-occur with another device that serves to interrupt the discourse flow. Vocatives and nominatives of address, particularly generic ones like ADELFOI, serve to further delay the introduction of the proposition to be highlighted.

10. Romans 12:1
Note the meta-comment and the form of address the precede the proposition. The main idea of this verse is the exhortation to present our bodies as living sacrifices. In this case, the meta-comment does more than just highlight the proposition by delaying it. It also has the effect of moderating or softening it by coming at the exhortation more indirectly. It would have been much more simple to state: “Present yourselves as living sacrifices.”

11. Conventional explanation
Form critical classifications
disclosure formulas
request formulas
hearing forms
petition formulas
introduction formulas
What I am referring to as “meta-comments” has normally been treated in NT studies within the discipline of form criticism. Form critics have described the meta-comment collocations as various kinds of formulas. Critics claim that the collocations represent epistolary forms. These forms were used in Greco-Roman letter writing to signal or mark different parts of the letter. While this description can account for some of the usage, it has its problems.

12. Problems with conventional explanation
Collocation of words, not the usage
Sometimes significant, other times not
Variations of form are questioned
Expressions with comparable effects are excluded
First, form critics tend to focus on the collocation of the words, and not the context in which they are used that bring about the intended effect. It is not the collocation that achieves the effect, but the usage in a context where they are not needed.

13. Problems with conventional explanation
Collocation of words, not the usage
Sometimes significant, other times not
Variations of form are questioned
Expressions with comparable effects are excluded
Found outside of Greek epistolary literature
The same forms with same effect found in narrative
Same kind of device found in many languages
Besides the problem of the forms themselves, there is the problem of the distribution. I will demonstrate that the same phenomenon is found in the reported speeches of the gospels. I have already demonstrated the use in English.

14. Problems with conventional explanation
Collocation of words, not the usage
Sometimes significant, other times not
Variations on form are questioned
Expressions with comparable effects excluded
Found outside of Greek epistolary literature
The same forms with same effect found in narrative
Same kind of device found in many languages
Usage and distribution suggest broader function
These data suggest that meta-comments represent a more pervasive device than simply being an epistolary form. The functions assigned by the form critics are consistent with the claims that I make about the broader use of meta-comments.

15. Discourse explanation
Meta-comment—When a speaker stops saying what they are saying in order to comment on what is going to be said, speaking abstractly about it.
Just to review, here is the definition once more.

16. Discourse explanation
Meta-comment—When a speaker stops saying what they are saying in order to comment on what is going to be said, speaking abstractly about it.
Meta-comments have the effect of attracting extra attention to the proposition that follows
Not needed to process what follows
Usage where it is not semantically required brings about the pragmatic effect.
The usage where they are not semantically required is what brings about the pragmatic effects of highlighting, not the formula itself.

17. Romans 12:3
Paul could have much more easily stated, “Do not think more highly of yourself that you ought to think. Using the meta-comment both delays the introduction of the main proposition, and it moderates the directness of the command. The net result of using the meta-comment is to attract extra attention to the proposition that follows. The “X” and check symbols denote a point-counterpoint set, which in this case provides both negative and positive aspects of how we are to think.

18. Galatians 1:9
The meta-comment in Galatians 1:9 uses as adverbial KAI for what I refer to a “thematic addition”, strengthening the connection back to the preceding statement in v. 8. Idiomatically, I understand this meta-comment to be the functional equivalent of the English idiom, “I am going to speak slowly and use small words.”

19. James 1:16-17
Note that this example uses both a meta-comment and a generic form of address to delay the introduction of the primary proposition. James’ point is the source of all good gifts, and the statement about not being deceived has the effect of drawing attention to it. The vocative does not serve to identify which of the audience James is addressing. It is generic, and serves as another delaying device that further heightens the anticipation of the proposition that follows.

20. Mark 13:14
This meta-comment is inserted by the writer in the midst of a reported speech. Mark interrupts Jesus speech to address the reader, not the hearer. The left-dislocated temporal expression describes a time when something will happen, and the meta-comment delays learning what will happen. The resumptive pro-form TOTE reiterates the temporal frame of reference for the main clause, and then we finally read that the hearers are to flee to the mountains.

21. Luke 4:24-25

22. Matthew 15:10-11

23. Matthew 11:15