What is a parenthesis in sentence structure?
In sentence structure, a parenthesis is something inserted into the middle of an otherwise complete sentence to enlighten or describe it further. The writer opens the sentence, places the parenthetical material in the middle, and sets it off with curved punctuation marks.
Les teaches that Romans 9, 10, and 11 are parenthetical chapters sitting right in the middle of the book of Romans. Paul suddenly digresses to deal with the Jew: chapter 9 deals with Israel's past, chapter 10 with God's dealing with Israel in the present, and chapter 11 with Israel's future. Then the text returns to where it left off with Romans 8 and moves into chapter 12. To illustrate, Les compares this to ordinary English sentence structure: you can have a sentence that makes sense, then think of something to stick in the middle that would enlighten or describe it. You open the sentence, put the parenthesis in the middle, and place little curves around it. In Romans, chapter 8 ends with great verses of assurance, then chapter 9 seems not to fit, but chapter 12 verse 1 begins with "therefore," connecting back to what was just finished in chapter 8.
More Questions
What is a parenthesis and what does it do in a sentence?
A parenthesis is a thought inserted in the middle of a coherent sentence in order to enlighten that sentence and describe it a little bit.