ZWH AIWNIOS
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Oct 20 01:11:08 EDT 2002
> Someone asked a question on a forum that I'd appreciate some help on:
>
> "Together, (ZWH AIWNIOS), is translated in the KJV 4 times, as "life
> eternal", (Mat. 25:46 John 4:36, 12:25, 17:3).
>
> Those words appear reversed, (AIWNIOS ZWH), as "eternal life" 26 times.
>
> My question is; What different connatation(s) might this give a word, if
> any? I am aware that in Spanish they also put the adjective first, but am
> not familiar enough with languages as how this might affect things when
> translated."
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> David Conklin
Are you asking about the different connotations in the English language used
in the KJV?
Or are you asking about the different connotations of the two word orders in
the Greek New Testament?
If you are asking about the Greek text, you need to realize that the order
AIWNIOS ZWH occurs three times only: John 17:3, Acts 13:46 and 1 Tim 6:12.
The order ZWH AIWNIOS occurs 40 times.
The "standard" word order in Greek is ZWH AIWNIOS, just as the standard word
order in English is the opposite: "eternal life".
When AIWNIOS is moved before ZWH in Greek, there is likely to be an added
focus on the meaning component carried by AIWNIOS as compared to the meaning
carried by ZWH, but it could also be a stylistic variance without any clear
difference in meaning, at least for John 17:3, where one order follows the
other.
Since the KJV order does not reflect the Greek order, I assume the KJV
translators were taking poetic effects and good diction into consideration.
In the RSV and NIV, the order "life eternal" never occurs, but "eternal
life" occurs 40 times.
Iver Larsen
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list