This work fills a significant need for a well-researched yet readable guide to discourse analysis. Using cross-linguistic principles and providing copious examples from both narratives and episles, Runge takes the reader from linguistic theory to practical exegetical application. Introducing a function-based approach to linguistics, Runge explores New Testament Greek grammatical conventions by focusing on the communication tasks they accomplish. His study of the ways in which words are used in texts and contexts has less to do with the specifics of speech and more to do with how humans are wired to process it. Therefore, Runge looks at how all languages operate before focusing on Greek. This examination of linguistics in general simplifies the analytical process, and explains how and why we communicate as we do. Readers will learn that discourse analysis necessarily complements today's formal approaches to linguistics, as they are simultaneously led to a more accurate description of the biblical text.