1Thess 3:13

Steve Amato samato at cfa.harvard.edu
Fri Jul 2 13:26:46 EDT 1999


I wonder if someone might be able to tell me why the NIV translates 1Thess 
3:12,13 as

"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for 
everyone else, just as ours does for you."
"May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in 
the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his 
holy ones." (NIV)

but "stengthen" (or "establish") in vs 13 is infinitive, not indicative. 
Shouldn't it be "to strengthen (or "to establish") your hearts"?

It seems to me that the effect on the interpretation is that if it is 
"may", then Paul is just listing another thing he is praying, not 
necessarily related to vs 12.

But if it is "to", then the strengthening would be an effect of the answer 
of Paul's prayer in vs 12, rather than a separate prayer.

Steve



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