I am mulling a law that says that the shorter the word, the greater the difficulty. The article tops the list, followed by little conjunctions. The problem is that we use them so unconsciously, that it is really hard (for me, anyway) to see exactly what purpose they serve and what function they fulfill.bewell wrote:I'm unclear what "even" would mean. I was thinking more of "namely." Could you clarify in terms of meaning? Perhaps with another example of such a usage, be it NT or hypothetical. Thanks!
My 'even' is quite similar to your 'namely', and I see that the OED gives it as an equivalent:
As in the NIV's rendering of Galatians 6.16:'even, adv.' ... 8 a. Prefixed to a subject, object, or predicate, or to the expression of a qualifying circumstance, to emphasize its identity. Obs. exc. arch. Also in 16–17th c. (hence still arch. after Bible use) serving to introduce an epexegesis; = ‘namely’, ‘that is to say’.
καὶ ὅσοι τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ στοιχήσουσιν, εἰρήνη ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔλεος καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ.
Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.
With this translation (which I doubt is correct, but it is not impossible grammatically), 'even' is explaining that those who follow this rule are indeed the Israel of God.
I prefer 'even' to 'namely', I think, because it feels a bit closer to καί, whose purpose I think is to add something. If it is adding another item, as it were, (which I think it is probably doing in Galatians 6.16), then we would say 'and'. If it is adding an explanation or clarification of what has gone before, then we need to express it differently. 'Namely' feels to me too much like sticking a colon there, with a pause, whereas I think καί tends to run things together more than that.
Andrew