[B-Greek] 1 Corinthians 12:30 and Logos user's guide

Maurice A. O'Sullivan mauros at iol.ie
Fri Aug 27 14:41:57 EDT 2004


Jeffrey:
You're in good company <g>

Here is what
Ellingworth, P., Hatton, H., & Ellingworth, P. (1995). A handbook on Paul's 
first letter to the Corinthians. Rev. ed. of: A translator's handbook on 
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. UBS handbook series; Helps for 
translators (Page 289). New York: United Bible Societies.

has to say on 1 Co. 12:31a

 >>This sentence may be either (1) an order, "strive for spiritual gifts," 
or (2) a statement, "you strive for." Most translations and commentaries 
choose (1), including the NIV text; but (2), which is mentioned in an NIV 
footnote, would make a good connection with verse 31b: "You Corinthians are 
struggling to obtain spiritual gifts, but I will show you a much better 
way," the way of love. <<

At 17:19 27/08/2004, Jeffrey T. Requadt wrote:

>I'm new to this list, but I can't find this question in the archives. Does
>anyone know why in 1 Corinthians 12:31, ZHLOUTE ("desire, seek") is
>translated/interpreted as an imperative in every version I can find except
>The Message? (I use the "Every Version" tool in Logos, which has 20-odd
>English versions) According to Mounce's Analytical Lexicon, this form can be
>either indicative, imperative, or subjunctive. I have cautiously ruled out
>the subjunctive because I can't think of a way in context that it would make
>sense (unless as a rhetorical question? But there are no other words which
>would indicate this), but it seems to make more sense to me in the context
>of the themes of the epistle, and especially in light of Paul's point that
>every part is necessary to the body, and the toe shouldn't try to be an eye,
>etc., that he would be using ZHLOUTE DE TA CHARISMATA TA MEIZONA ("(you)
>seek the greater gifts") in an indicative sense. I.e., not "this is what you
>should do" but "this is what you are doing." Then the meaning would be
>ironic, such as, "All of you have your own gift and purpose in the church,
>but you continue to seek (or are seeking) the 'greater' gifts. And yet I
>will show you a better way." Maybe I'm missing some detail in the parsing,
>but as far as I can tell this is a 2nd person plural, present active
>indicative/imperative/subjunctive. So my question comes down to, what in the
>text leads translators to believe that this an imperative, not an
>indicative? It seems to me that this could affect one's exegesis of the
>passage. Thanks for any help. And by the way, there is no NET note on this
>word, so I'm lost.
>
>
>
>Also, I've noticed that some discussion concerns Logos. There is a
>downloadable user's guide available at www.swcaz.edu <http://www.swcaz.edu/>
>, but please note that it is not done by the company themselves or by the
>programmers, but by people who have had to use Logos without a manual or
>guide and got frustrated and wrote their own for other people like them.
>There is a chapter on using Logos with the original languages. I'm sure they
>would appreciate feedback if you have it.
>
>Jeffrey T. Requadt
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>"Freeeeeeeeeedoooooooooom!" ~ Braveheart
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>2625 E. Cactus Rd.
>Phoenix, AZ 85032
>Phone: (602) 652-1230 x 4111
>
>
>
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Maurice A. O'Sullivan  [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie





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