Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

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Stephen Hughes
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Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Stephen Hughes »

In the well known first question, ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων; is there an indication in the form of πλεῖον or somewhere else as to whether the phrase means:
  • Do YOU love me more than these other disciples do? OR
  • Do you love ME more than you love these other disciples?
Both of those seem possible when processing the Greek in English translation.

Apparently both are possible in the Greek:
Mt. 12:42 & Lk. 11:31 πλεῖον Σολομῶνος ὧδε "someone (? πλεῖονα?) greater than Solomon is here".
Mk.12:43 has πλεῖον πάντων "more than all these other people (gave)".
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Eeli Kaikkonen
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Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

In your second option τουτοι works as kind of an object (parallel to the accusative object), unlike in the examples you gave. You should find an example where πλειον+gen. works similarly.
Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Stephen Hughes »

I'm sorry, but in keeping the New Testament order of the Greek example verses, I have inadvertantly chiasmed them. πλεῖον Σολομῶνος is accusative, after ιδου, perhaps.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Eeli Kaikkonen
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Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

"καὶ ἰδοὺ πλεῖον Σολομῶνος ὧδε". So you interpret ἰδοὺ here as "look at" or "see", not as an interjection like (all?) the translations do?

NET: "and now, something greater than Solomon is here!"
ESV: "and behold, something greater than Solomon is here."
NLT: "Now someone greater than Solomon is here"
NRSV: "and see, something greater than Solomon is here!"
NIV: "and now something greater than Solomon is here."

(As usually in this forum, we don't discuss about the translations or take them as the final authority, I just require proof if someone disagrees with all of them.)
Stephen Hughes
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Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Stephen Hughes »

If πλεῖον τούτων is an adverbial, is the nature of its adverbiality affected by the transitivity of the verb to which it is associated?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
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Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Eeli Kaikkonen wrote:"καὶ ἰδοὺ πλεῖον Σολομῶνος ὧδε". So you interpret ἰδοὺ here as "look at" or "see", not as an interjection like (all?) the translations do?
Not "interpret", no, that sounds way more serious than I take myself, perhaps, "toying with the idea that it might be" would be closer to the mark. The form of πλεῖον in Mt. 12:42 & Lk. 11:31a difficult to explain neuter.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Stephen Hughes wrote:Mk.12:43 has πλεῖον πάντων "more than all these other people (gave)".
For this verse too, I am still quite ambivalent, unsure about the way the Greek syntax works. It seems to be possible to be "a greater amount than theirs" if the πλεῖον is the object of βάλλω, but coukd also be "more than they threw", if it is adverbial, and if comparative adverbs can refer to the subject of the verb, not just the lexical part of the verb.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Jn.21:15 ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων;

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Another way of approaching this is to ask if the genitive is relating to the comparative or to the adjective πολύς and its possibly implied noun.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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