Lk 4:4 (Mt 4:4, LXX Dt 8:3) ARTWi MONWi

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Oct 14 07:11:02 EDT 2002


Englished and forwarded for Sylvie Chabert d'Hyeres:

OUK EP ARTWi MONWi  ZHSETAI hO ANQRWPOS
"Man shall not live by bread alone"

MONWi is an adjective corresponding to Hebrew LeVaDo. LeVaDo is either
adjectival or adverb, because elsewhere in the LXX, LeVaDo is rendered
either by the adjective MONWi (Gen 2:18), or by the adverb MONON (Ex 12:16).

How is it in English? Can "alone" be either an adjective or an adverb?

Current French translations have rendered MONWi with the adverb seulement:
some (literal ones) preferred the adjective. But in the case of "by bread
alone", precisely what is "alone"? (without salt, without leaven, without
wine, apart from God's grace, without ...?)

The LXX chose the adjective and consequently Luke did also, but in a
quotation which is not complete, since the second half of the verse is
omitted: "... but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God". The
adjective MONWi  is more prominent in Luke. Is that significant? What
should we understand "by bread alone" to mean? What does it refer to? Any
idea?

Sylvie Chabert d'Hyeres




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