Night and Day

GregStffrd at aol.com GregStffrd at aol.com
Tue Feb 8 12:48:30 EST 2000


In a message dated 02/08/2000 8:17:18 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu writes:

<< >Thus, I would translate: "Day by day the firmament/sky [TO STEPEWMA] gives
 >forth speech [speech that DIHGOUNTAI DOXAN QEOU], and night by night it [TO
 >STEREWMA] proclaims [His] knowledge."
 
 The problem with this is that there is a normal way to express "by day" and
 "by night" in Greek, and that is the genitive case without any article:
 simply hHMERAS and NUKTOS; I don't see how a dative of these words,
 PARTICULARLY in a context of a nominative of the same word and a verb for
 "speak" could possibly carry the sense you're suggesting. >>


Dear Carl:

I show that this is the only instance in the Psalms where hHMERA is used in 
the dative, without the preposition EN. So there is no other instance of the 
dative to compare, here. Do you have a list of examples that I might 
consider, where the normal way about which you speak, is expressed?

I do not believe that we must accept that the LXX of Psalm 19:2 is using the 
terms 'normally,' in any event. The LXX Psalms often uses what might seem to 
be unusual expressions that fit in with the unique concepts and ideas as 
articulated in a particular context. 

In this case, as I said before, how is it that the idea that one day/night 
speaks/proclaims to the next day/night (which is what Bart's translation 
suggests), is to be understood? While accepting that the proposed translation 
is certainly valid, the resulting meaning does not seem very clear, even in a 
poetic context such as this.

Greg Stafford



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