3Joh 4: AcP or Accusative of Reference - and another minor question on that verse.
Posted: July 25th, 2018, 4:41 pm
Dear friends of the Greek Bible,
I am in trouble, as I write a paper on 3John and stumble at the syntax of this verse:
1.4 Μειζοτέραν τούτων οὐκ ἔχω χαράν, ἵνα ἀκούω τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατοῦντα.
A try in German: Eine größere Freude als diese (Dinge) habe ich nicht, dass ich über meine Kindern höre, wenn sie in Wahrheit wandeln.
The same in Englisch (Darby)> I have no greater joy than these things that I hear of my children walking in the truth.
But the NKJ seems to treat it as AcP as the commentary does:
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."
I found no direct example of an AcP (which would make "children" subject of the participial clause, as the NKJ does) parallel passage but a lot with an accusative of reverence (I hear regarding my children), so I would stick to Darby and exclude the AcP idea (reason: no further example). Or does anyone see a reason for an AcP ? I could not find one example, but maybe I missed something.
I looked into the Linguistic Key of the New Testament, which is all in all ok (besides some problems, not of interest for this issue), but this time I am not sure, if the Author's (Heinrich von Siebenthal) classification of an AcP for the following part ist correct: τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατοῦντα.
I did a BW search on it and found that ἀκούω with Accusative, when it is not a direct Object (A hears B), and this is excluded here for τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα.
So I would follow the many examples in the NT and think ἵνα ἀκούω τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα is a unit and an accusative of reference "that I heard regarding my children" (or something similar) and the next clause: a normal part. conj.: "when they walk in (the) truth". By the way: What is the difference of leaving the article out compared to other passages where it is written before the ἀληθείᾳ ? Not sure.
An additional question on V. 3: Is it the best way to print a Substitution in form of "Holding fast the truth" for Ἐχάρην γὰρ λίαν, ἐρχομένων ἀδελφῶν καὶ μαρτυρούντων σου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς σὺ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατεῖς, as Versions as my preferred Darby translation do: "For I rejoiced exceedingly when the brethren came and bore testimony to thy holding fast the truth, even as thou walkest in truth". That is quite a heavy treatment, I mean, "holding fast" is not a pale word, but has a distinct semantic weight. So I ask if it is the best way to do so or can the literal rendering make sense "testify your truth" - maybe ἀληθείᾳ has some meanings that makes a Substitution not necessary (maybe veracity, or truthfulness) which I have not checked.
So a lot of problems - I hope that at least some are willing to give me some hints, even if not all points could be addressed.
Thanks in advance, even tries or guesses are welcome! Yours Peter
Yours Peter
I am in trouble, as I write a paper on 3John and stumble at the syntax of this verse:
1.4 Μειζοτέραν τούτων οὐκ ἔχω χαράν, ἵνα ἀκούω τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατοῦντα.
A try in German: Eine größere Freude als diese (Dinge) habe ich nicht, dass ich über meine Kindern höre, wenn sie in Wahrheit wandeln.
The same in Englisch (Darby)> I have no greater joy than these things that I hear of my children walking in the truth.
But the NKJ seems to treat it as AcP as the commentary does:
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."
I found no direct example of an AcP (which would make "children" subject of the participial clause, as the NKJ does) parallel passage but a lot with an accusative of reverence (I hear regarding my children), so I would stick to Darby and exclude the AcP idea (reason: no further example). Or does anyone see a reason for an AcP ? I could not find one example, but maybe I missed something.
I looked into the Linguistic Key of the New Testament, which is all in all ok (besides some problems, not of interest for this issue), but this time I am not sure, if the Author's (Heinrich von Siebenthal) classification of an AcP for the following part ist correct: τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατοῦντα.
I did a BW search on it and found that ἀκούω with Accusative, when it is not a direct Object (A hears B), and this is excluded here for τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα.
So I would follow the many examples in the NT and think ἵνα ἀκούω τὰ ἐμὰ τέκνα is a unit and an accusative of reference "that I heard regarding my children" (or something similar) and the next clause: a normal part. conj.: "when they walk in (the) truth". By the way: What is the difference of leaving the article out compared to other passages where it is written before the ἀληθείᾳ ? Not sure.
An additional question on V. 3: Is it the best way to print a Substitution in form of "Holding fast the truth" for Ἐχάρην γὰρ λίαν, ἐρχομένων ἀδελφῶν καὶ μαρτυρούντων σου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς σὺ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατεῖς, as Versions as my preferred Darby translation do: "For I rejoiced exceedingly when the brethren came and bore testimony to thy holding fast the truth, even as thou walkest in truth". That is quite a heavy treatment, I mean, "holding fast" is not a pale word, but has a distinct semantic weight. So I ask if it is the best way to do so or can the literal rendering make sense "testify your truth" - maybe ἀληθείᾳ has some meanings that makes a Substitution not necessary (maybe veracity, or truthfulness) which I have not checked.
So a lot of problems - I hope that at least some are willing to give me some hints, even if not all points could be addressed.
Thanks in advance, even tries or guesses are welcome! Yours Peter
Yours Peter