Philippians 1:9-11
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Sep 19 20:34:15 EDT 1999
At 2:31 PM +0100 9/19/99, Michael Haggett wrote:
>> >3. How would you classify the use of the participle TA DIAFERONTA and its
>> >function in this sentence?
>>
>> I wouldn't classify it at all. Since it has an article, it is clearly
>> substantival; since DIAFERW, among its common senses, means "be better
>> than," this has to mean in this instance, "what is better."
>
>HAS TO MEAN? I'm not at all sure that DIAFERW ever means "be better than"
>except by a tortuous route.
Sorry about the loose language with my "has to mean"--I really did NOT mean
that someone couldn't interpret it otherwise. But I guess I'm willing to go
that tortuous route and I would still maintain that this is essentially the
meaning in this context--'the way which is better than the way which is
deficient'. Nor am I alone in thinking so; here's Louw & Nida:
-----------------------
65.6 DIAFERW : to be of considerable value, in view of having certain
distinctive characteristics - 'to be valuable, to have worth.' OUC hUMEIS
MALLON DIAFERETE AUTWN ; 'are you not much more valuable than these
(birds)?' Mt 6:26; EIS TO DOKIMAZEIN hUMAS TA DIAFERONTA 'so that you will
be able to choose those things that are more valuable' Php 1:10.
-----------------------
and here's LSJ (Perseus): s.v. DIAFERW III.4.
-----------------------
4. to be different from a person: generally, in point of excess, surpass,
excel him (cf. supr. II.8), tinos v.l. for -ontôs in Thuc. 3.39; tini in a
thing, IDEM=Thuc. 2.39, Alex.36.6; en tini Isoc. 3.39; eis ti Plat. Apol.
35b; kata megethos Xen. Const. Lac. 1.10; pros ti Aeschin. 1.181: c. inf.,
d. tinos metabibazein tina Plat. Gorg. 517b: sts. folld. by ê, polu
diepheren alexasthai ê . . it was far better . . than . ., Xen. Anab.
3.4.33, cf. ti=Xen. Mem. 3.11.14, ti=Xen. Ways 4.25 (where it means to
differ in point of diminution); also d. mega ti para tas allas poleis
Plb.10.27.5: abs., excel, epi tini Isoc. 10.12; tachei Jul.Or.2.53c; hoi
topoi diapherousi Thphr.CP5.14.9; diapheron ti peprachenai a remarkable
achievement, Plb.6.39.2.
-----------------------
I don't really think the point of difference here is over the meaning of
the Greek phrase so much as over how best to convey it into an English
idiom.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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