Sentences in Greek

Richard Allan Stauch rstauch at charter.net
Wed Aug 7 20:02:09 EDT 2002


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eric S. Weiss
> Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 8:48 AM
> To: Biblical Greek
> Subject: [b-greek] Re: Sentences in Greek
> 
> If you are saying that it is illegitimate to put a period before a GAR
or
> DE clause because in Greek it really doesn't represent a new sentence,
> then I would like some confirmation that your point is valid.
> 
> Some people view Ephesians 1:3-14 as a single sentence, though both
UBS 3
> and N-A 26 put periods at a few places. There is no GAR or DE anywhere
in
> this passage, however. In fact, the first DE doesn't occur until 2:4
and
> the first GAR not until 2:8, unless I missed one. KAI however appears
at
> 1:11 as something other than a connective of two nouns or noun
phrases.
> And, of course, you have the DIA TOUTO at 1:15 which definitely is a
stop.
> 
> But ... I cannot believe that the author really meant 1:3-14 to be one
> continuous thoughtflow, even if a "literal" translation would make it
a
> continuous and convoluted series of subordinate clauses (hypotactic
> construction, I believe it's called, vs. paratactic) with no stopping
> except to take a breath.
[Also]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eric S. Weiss
> Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 8:57 AM
> To: Biblical Greek
> Subject: [b-greek] Re: Sentences in Greek
>  
> E.g., N-A 26 takes the EN hWi clauses at 1:7, 1:11, and 1:13 as new
> sentences. In fact, they Capitalize the EN, which makes these verses
> almost like the start of a new paragraph. Can you demonstrate that EN
hWi
> should NOT be read as the beginning of a new thought/sentence, even
though
> it may not be "usual" Greek to start a sentence/paragraph with EN + a
> relative pronoun?

Dear Eric,

No, sir, I am not saying any such thing. I am seeing, though, a lot of
cutting and slicing of the text, as though it is legitimate to insert a
full stop just about anywhere one desires. I said, "To some degree."
That could mean "to a very small, acceptable degree," or it could mean
"to a great, unacceptable degree," in any particular given case. I did
not bring up any case. I was asking a generic question.

Observe your reference from Young's Literal Translation of 1862/1898
(which citation is not meant to be read as full approval or preference;
it's just an example):
YLT Ephesians 1:3-14 "Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who did bless us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ, according as He did choose us in him before the
foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him,
in love, having foreordained us to the adoption of sons through Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, in which He did make us accepted in
the beloved, in whom we have the redemption through his blood, the
remission of the trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, in
which He did abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made
known to us the secret of His will, according to His good pleasure, that
He purposed in Himself, in regard to the dispensation of the fulness of
the times, to bring into one the whole in the Christ, both the things in
the heavens, and the things upon the earth -- in him; in whom also we
did obtain an inheritance, being foreordained according to the purpose
of Him who the all things is working according to the counsel of His
will, for our being to the praise of His glory, even those who did first
hope in the Christ, in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth
-- the good news of your salvation -- in whom also having believed, ye
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, which is an earnest of
our inheritance, to the redemption of the acquired possession, to the
praise of His glory."

Now, I ask you, why do we need a full stop inserted anywhere in that?
You seem to think that we have to have them. I am merely asking, why?
How would the insertion of a full stop anywhere into that make it any
clearer than it already is?

I'll tell you what: Put a period at the end of verse 10. Now, ask
yourself in all honesty, "Does that make the passage clearer? If so,
how?"

Note also that I have not faulted anyone in placing a period after verse
2! (Not even at the end of verse 14!) I don't see a period after verse 2
in P46, but UBS4 and N-A27 both insert a period there. I can see why,
though, so I don't complain.

I just don't see any need to insert things into the text that really
don't belong, especially if doing so may tend to leave modern readers
without the full, true import of the text. To answer your last question:
"In whom" (beginning verses 7, 11, and 13) applies to what person? Does
it not relate to "the God and Father" in the first clause of the
passage, not "Jesus Christ?" Can't a modern reader misunderstand the
"whom" to relate to what appears to be the nearest antecedent, "Christ"
in the preceding verse. Doesn't inserting a full stop add difficulty to
modern readers to discover the full, true meaning of the text, unless
they are willing to combine the whole passage in their minds? Which is
to say, to mentally drop the full stops the translators have inserted,
in order that the reader may know to whom the "whom" belongs?

In Christ,
Richard Allan Stauch
Long Beach, CA





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