Stephen Hughes wrote:John 4:10 wrote:ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ Εἰ ᾔδεις τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ λέγων σοι, Δός μοι πιεῖν, σὺ ἂν ᾔτησας αὐτὸν καὶ ἔδωκεν ἄν σοι ὕδωρ ζῶν
Transferring this structure to English directly we get, "If you had know ..., you would have ...".
I think the most common (the "normal") way for English to express a past time "subjunctive" - possible in English, but not in Greek - is in a sentence like, "He would have gotten a hair cut before the job interview, but didn't have time." It seems that Greek is
forced into a conditional sentence structure to convey that meaning.
Seeing as English is not, John 4:10 could reasonably be translated as, "ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ, You would have asked the one speaking with you, and He would have given you living water, but you didn't know who was speaking to you, nor the gift of God.", and so in other similar sentences.
The "If you had ..., you would have ..." calque-construction sounds high-handed in English (like a teacher or parent talking to child to tell them what they should have known, when they know that they don't know, because it was them that withheld the information from the person in the first place to establish/strengthen a power relationship), but was probably the only option in Greek, so sounded neutral.
For comparison sake: Does anyone know whether the
ἄν + aorist indicative was used in other places, other than in conditional sentences?
Contrary to fact conditions in Greek go into the indicative, not the subjunctive. Deal with it.
(Having learned Latin first, I am always shocked by this and feel that it is one of the reasons that the Romans eventually conquered the Greeks).
Stephen, you could answer a lot of these questions if you got a hold of a copy of BDAG:
ⓐ ἄν w. aor. or impf. indic.
α. denoting repeated action in past time, but only under certain given conditions, esp. after relatives (B-D-F §367; Rob. index): aor. (Gen 30:42; Num 9:17; 1 Km 14:47; Ezk 10:11) ὅσοι ἂν ἥψαντο αὐτοῦ, ἐσῴζοντο whoever touched him was cured Mk 6:56. Impf. (Ezk 1:20; 1 Macc 13:20; Tob 7:11) ὅπου ἂν εἰσεπορεύετο εἰς κώμας wherever he went (as he was accustomed to do—ADebrunner, D. hellenist. Nebensatziterativpräteritum mit ἄν: Glotta 11, 1920, 1–28) into villages Mk 6:56. καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν as anyone was in need Ac 2:45; 4:35. Similarly ὡς ἂν ἤγεσθε (v.l. ἀνήγεσθε) 1 Cor 12:2. Cp. also ὅταν 1bγ and δ.
β. in the apodosis of a contrary to fact (unreal) condition w. εἰ (B-D-F §360; but ἄν is not always used [s. the vv.ll. J 18:36]: §360, 1; Mlt. 199ff; PMelcher, De sermone Epicteteo 1905, 75); it is found
א . w. impf. (4 Macc 17:7; Bar 3:13; ParJer 5:20; GrBar 6:6; ApcMos 39) οὗτος εἰ ἦν προφήτης, ἐγίνωσκεν ἄν if he were a prophet, he would (now) know (but he does not) Lk 7:39. εἰ ἔχετε πίστιν … , ἐλέγετε ἄν if you had faith … , you would say 17:6. εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωϋσεῖ, ἐπιστεύετε ἂν ἐμοί J 5:46. εἰ ἐμὲ ᾔδειτε, καὶ τὸν πατέρα μου ἄν ᾔδειτε 8:19; cp. vs. 42; 9:41; 15:19. εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην Gal 1:10; cp. 3:21. εἰ ἑαυτοὺς διεκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐκρινόμεθα 1 Cor 11:31. εἰ ἦν ἐπὶ γῆς, οὐδʼ ἂν ἦν ἱερεύς if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest Hb 8:4; cp. 4:8; 8:7; 11:15.
ב . w. aor., placing the assumption in the past (Gen 30:27; Wsd 11:25; Jdth 11:2; 4 Macc 2:20; TestJob 7:9 al.; ParJer 5:5; GrBar 8:7; PGiss 47, 17) εἰ ἐγένοντο αἱ δυνάμεις, πάλαι ἂν … μετενόησαν if the miracles had been performed, they would long ago have repented Mt 11:21. εἰ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν ἐσταύρωσαν 1 Cor 2:8; cp. Ro 9:29 (Is 1:9). εἰ ἐγνώκειτε, οὐκ ἂν κατεδικάσατε if you had recognized, you would not have condemned Mt 12:7. εἰ ἠγαπᾶτέ με, ἐχάρητε ἄν if you loved me, you would have rejoiced J 14:28; cp. 11:21. The plpf. for aor. indic. (PGiss 79 II, 6 εἰ δυνατόν μοι ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ὠκνήκειν; BGU 1141, 27f) εἰ ἦσαν, μεμενήκεισαν ἄν 1J 2:19; cp. J 11:21 v.l.—In κἀγὼ ἐλθὼν σὺν τόκῳ ἂν αὐτὸ ἔπραξα Lk 19:23, ἐλθών functions as an unreal-temporal protasis (B-D-F §360, 2); cp. καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐγὼ ἐκομισάμην ἂν τὸ ἐμόν Mt 25:27. Sim. ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἂν ἐπαύσαντο προσφερόμεναι; where ἐπεί functions as protasis, otherwise (i.e. if the sacrifices had really brought about a lasting atonement) would they not have ceased to offer sacrifices? Hb 10:2.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.