[B-Greek] hUPOMONH in the Apocalypse
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Wed Jun 2 01:41:25 EDT 2004
>
> > This special use of hWDE is also found in
>
> > Rev 13:18: This calls for wisdom.
> > Rev 14:12: This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints.
> > Rev 17:9: This requires a mind that has wisdom.
>
> > So, hWDE ESTIN is a short way of saying "this calls for" or "this
> requires"
> > or "here one needs to have" or "here it is important to have".
>
> > Iver Larsen
> ________
>
> I have seen the NET note concerning this and, pace D.B. Wallace, et al
> involved with it, don't feel that it in any way solves the problem. Nor
> do I feel that this is a correct understanding of the usage of hWDE in
> this passage. Surely, had it been the intention to say that "This
> requires" it would have been more likely that DEI would have been used.
> I have the feeling that the committee involved with NET had no better
> idea what to do with this than any other translation committee has had.
>
> gfsomsel
George, I am sure you are seeing a problem where there is no great problem.
Words like "this", "here" and "now" are closely related semantically in that
all are first person deictics. "here" means "this place" and this is not far
from "now, at this point in time" which is the meaning intended here/in
these places in Rev. As BAGD says the Greek hWDE can be used in a way where
the locative aspect is weakened to the extent that the more natural
translation in English is "this". This may well be specific for Revelation
with its heavy Semitic background. (The Hebrew KoH can mean "here, now,
thus").
There are very good reasons why all modern translations go the way they have
gone, even if it doesn't seem clear to you. Translators are aware of how
languages works and they rely quite a bit on context and much less on
individual words. I suppose one has to have had some linguistic training to
appreciate the point I am making here.
And surely, DEI would not work here. DEI is used for something that has to
happen and it is usually because of the plan of God that it must happen. DEI
would be inappropriate in 13:10, because the author is giving an admonition
or offering a suggestion to the reader, that if you want to understand this
properly you need to have wisdom, or if you are experiencing the threats of
captivity or even death, you need to have endurance and hang on to your
faith. That we can use "need to" in English does not mean that DEI is
appropriate in Greek.
Iver Larsen
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