Translating 1 Cor 16:2

Steven Lo Vullo doulos at merr.com
Tue Dec 18 00:15:56 EST 2001


On Monday, December 17, 2001, at 10:50  AM, Frazier Conley wrote:

> 1 Corinthians 16:2 KATA MIAN SABBATOU hEKASTOS HUMWN PAR' hEAUTWi TIQETW
> QHSAURIZWN hO TI EAN EUODWTAI, hINA MH hOTAN ELQW TOTE LOGEIAI GINWNTAI.
>
> I would appreciate anyone's input on the possible validity of the 
> following
> rendering:
>
> "On the first day of every week each of you (according to his own 
> judgment)
> let him make a deposit thus treasuring up while he is being prospered, 
> so
> that whenever I come collections will not have to then arise."

Aside from sheer awkwardness (if striving for a good, idiomatic English 
translation), I think it suffers from some problems in representing the 
Greek. Let me make a few points:

(1) I think the weakness of translating PAR' hEAUTWi as "according to 
his own judgment" in this case is highlighted by the fact that it is set 
in parentheses. I see no warrant at all in this sentence for taking the 
prepositional phrase as parenthetical. Rather, it is most natural to 
construe it as directly modifying TIQETW. Setting the prepositional 
phrase within parentheses seems to be an attempt to disassociate it from 
TIQETW while at the same time recognizing that it makes no sense UNLESS 
construed with TIQETW. For after all, if it is understood as "according 
to his own judgment" it still must be construed with TIQETW, since this 
is the action to be taken according to one's judgment. But once we 
construe with TIQETW, it becomes much more probable that PAR' hEAUTWi 
TIQETW QHSAURIZWN means something like "lay by him in store" (ASV). A 
personal (PAR' hEAUTWi) "savings account" for the final collection seems 
to be in view. I think the translation you offer above presupposes that 
PARA with the dative must mean "according to his own judgment" merely 
because it is used that way elsewhere by Paul. (I think you expressed 
this in an earlier post some time ago.) But this is unlikely, as I will 
argue in the following points.

(2) One minor point that should be noted before I move on is that PARA 
with the dative does not always express "estimation" in the Pauline 
Epistles (cf. Col 4.16; 2 Tim 4.13). I do realize, however, that not 
everyone out there accepts these two examples as Pauline. But this is 
all irrelevant in light of the following point.

(3) When Paul uses PARA with the dative to express "estimation," it is 
normally found in a set syntactical and semantic context. It complements 
an explicit or implied copulative verb with a predicate noun or 
adjective about which the "estimation" is made. Note the above 
components in the following patterns: copulative verb - noun/adjective - 
prep phrase (cf. Rom 2.11, 13;  9.14; 12.16; 2 Th 1.6); copulative 
verb - prep phrase - adjective (Rom 11.25); noun - prep phrase - 
copulative verb (1 Cor 3.19);   noun - copulative verb - prep phrase 
(Eph 6.9).

PARA with dative in 2 Cor 1.17 seems to be best understood as expressing 
reference/respect. But even if it is "estimation," it incorporates the 
above components: copulative verb - prepositional phrase - noun phrases.

In 1 Cor 7.24 it is debatable whether PARA QEWi expresses "estimation." 
But even if it does, it should be noted that semantically it is similar 
to the above examples (and dissimilar to 1 Cor 16.2) in that the verb 
(MENETW) is intransitive and stative.

Though PARA TWi QEWi in Gal 3.11 expresses "estimation," it should be 
noted that the verb DIKAIOUTAI is passive and indicates a state or 
position (depending on your theology). Semantically, DIKAIOUTAI PARA TWi 
QEWi is very similar to DIKAIOI PARA [TWi] QEWi in Rom 2.13 (see above).

Contrary to the above examples (especially those found in the first 
paragraph above, which are the majority of uses), PAR' hEAUTWi TIQETW 
has the prepositional phrase construing with an active, transitive verb 
with an implied object (as hO TI makes clear). The idea is to put 
(something) in store "by" or "with" oneself. Note how the very similar 
construction is used in Luke 9.47: ESTHSEN AUTO PAR' hEAUTW' ("he stood 
him [the child] by his side").
=============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




More information about the B-Greek mailing list