[B-Greek] Acts 4:12b
Polycarp66 at aol.com
Polycarp66 at aol.com
Sat Nov 22 16:16:03 EST 2003
In a message dated 11/22/2003 2:57:04 PM Eastern Standard Time,
bertdehaan at gosympatico.ca writes:
>
> OUDE GAR ONOMA ESTIN hETERON hUPO TON OURANON TO
> DEDOMENON EN ANQRWPOIS EN hWi DEI SWQHNAI hHMAS
>
> I cannot find a good English translation for this
> passage, even the NET Bible has...
>
> "for there is no other name under heaven given among
> people by which we must be saved."
>
> The word "must" doesn't seem to fit well. The Greek
> idea is, I think, "there is no other name...by which
> it is [even] possible to be saved." (I threw in that
> "even" for emphasis.)
>
> Can someone give me a better English translation of
> this?
I don't think I can.
Maybe the word "must" doesn't seem to fit, but it is there.
This probably has to be solves through interpretation rather than translation.
Possibly the sense is; if someone is to be saved, it must be by this one name.
Wallace notes
4. Potential Indicative: semantically equivalent to a POTENTIAL mood, due to
verbal root; found in verbs of obligation, wish, or desire (such as OFEILW,
DEI, QELLW), followed by infinitive (451-52)
In § 451 he notes
Specifically, verbs indicating obligation (such as OFEILW, DEI), wish (e.g.,
BOULOMAI), or desire (e.g., QELW) are used with an infinitive. They lexically
limit the overall assertion, turning it into a POTENTIAL action. It is
important to understand that the normal force of the indicative mood is not thereby
denied; rather, the assertion is simply in the desire, not the doing. Thus,
this usage is really a subcategory of the declarative indicative.
Perhaps "whereby one might be saved" would be appropriate.
gfsomsel
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