Singular or Plural?
Steven Craig Miller
scmiller at www.plantnet.com
Tue Oct 12 21:44:34 EDT 1999
To: Dmitriy Reznik,
<< In Jude 2 (ELEOS hUMIN KAI EIRHNH KAI AGAPH PLHQUNQEIH - Mercy unto you
and peace and love be multiplied) "be multiplied" is used in sing. Does it
refer to all three nouns or only to AGAPH? >>
This is called the "Pindaric construction," and the verb in the singular
refers to all three nouns. Also, this salutation seems to have originated
from the book of Daniel and evolved along the following lines:
EIRHNH hUMIN PLHQUNQEIH (Dan 6:26 LXX);
XARIS hUMIN KAI EIRHNH PLHQUNQEIH (1 Pet 1:2 & 2 Pet 1:2); and then:
ELEOS hUMIN KAI EIRHNH KAI AGAPH PLHQUNQEIH (Jude 2).
One might translate something like:
"May peace be multiplied to you";
"May grace and peace be multiplied to you"; and
"May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you."
Note how hUMIN gets 'pushed back' as each new noun is added to the salutation.
-Steven Craig Miller (scmiller at www.plantnet.com)
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