The usage of TOU + Infinitive in Gal 3:10

Steven Craig Miller scmiller at plantnet.com
Sat Dec 2 10:07:38 EST 2000


To: Moon-Ryul Jung,

<< Actually the interpretation I mentioned suggests the following 
translation: "not remain in all things written in the book of the law, by 
DOING them." The actual interpretation suggested is "NOT REMAIN in all 
things written in the book of the law, BY DOING THEM EXTERNALLY." I just 
want to know whether such a rendering is grammatically possible. I have two 
specific questions. a) Is the parsing shown in 3) grammatically possible? 
b) Can TOU POIHSAI AUTA be used as an adverbial clause that describe means, 
so that we can translate it as "BY doing them"? >>

I wonder if the confusion here is in part a common confusion between Greek 
grammar and English grammar? Here TOU with the infinitive is an 
epexegetical infinitive (cp. Robertson, 1086). Then the question one needs 
to ask is: how is it best to translate this into English? The translation 
"by doing them" makes perfect sense to me. How does one "abide by all the 
things written in the book of the law"? One does so "by doing them."

-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller at plantnet.com





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