[B-Greek] John 3:16
George F. Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Fri Jun 18 10:54:55 EDT 2004
On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:16:12 +0300 "Iver Larsen" <iver_larsen at sil.org>
writes:
> George,
>
> The crux of the matter relevant to b-greek and John 3:16 is that
> hWSTE in
> the NT has been narrowed down from Classical Greek to refer to
> unexpected or
> unusual results. This may be the result of hINA taking over part of
> the
> function formerly reserved for hWSTE. This is not very well known,
> but I can
> refer to the following research article:
>
> On The Use Of hWSTE With The Infinitive - by Donna Fedukowski.
> Selected technical articles related to translation, No. 14 (December
> 1985):
> 25-32. Dallas: SIL.
>
> Since this publication is not widely accessible, let me quote parts
> of it:
>
> Thus, grammarians seem to be agreed that hwste + the infinitive has
> at least
> the function of indicating result and most indicate that it has two
> functions: it can indicate purpose or result. However, this
> traditional
> analysis of hWSTE does not answer all the questions about hWSTE +
> infinitive
> that discourse analysis raises. What about the sentence, "He began
> teaching
> them hWSTE they were astonished" (Matt. 13.54)? hWSTE here is not
> indicating
> an ordinary cause-effect relationship. Astonishment is not the
> expected
> result of teaching. Beekman, Callow, and Kopesec (1981) suggest that
> in this
> case hWSTE is implying manner, that is, "he began teaching them (in
> such a
> way) that they became astonished". Since the implied manner unit in
> this
> example is descriptive of teaching, it is regarded as a
> delimitational
> component of the Event concept (Beekman, Callow, and Kopesec
> 1981:99). But
> is the main information to which the hWSTE clause relates really the
> event
> "teach"? Consider the sentence "And great multitudes gathered about
> him,
> hWSTE he got into a boat and sat down" (Matt. 13.2). Here, the hWSTE
> clause
> does not pertain primarily to the event of gathering itself, that
> is, "they
> gathered.and so he entered.". Rather, it pertains to some unusual
> quality of
> the gathering, either the greatness of the multitudes, (that is,
> "the
> multitude was so great that") or its enthusiasm ("they gathered with
> such
> force that"). Or, consider Matthew 13:32 "(The mustard seed) becomes
> (such a
> big) tree hWSTE the birds come and nest in its branches".
> ....
> It is significant to note that in narrative material where hWSTE +
> infinitive is indicating a reason-result relationship, there are
> some strong
> patterns.
>
> 1. A clause with hWSTE is never found to occur in sequence with
> another
> clause with hWSTE. Where one would expect such a sequence to occur,
> hWSTE
> appears only at the end of the sequence and introduces the climactic
> event
> or description (for example, Luke 5.7: "And when they had done this,
> they
> enclosed a great quantity of fish; DE their nets began to break; KAI
> they
> signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and
> help them,
> KAI they came, KAI they filled both the boats, hWSTE so that they
> began to
> sink").
>
> 2. The "results" introduced by hWSTE are always unusual or extreme.
> For
> example, Matthew 8.24: "there arose a great storm in the sea, hWSTE
> 'so
> that' the boat was covered with the waves".
>
> 3. In fifteen out of twenty-seven examples, there is an *explicit*
> adjective
> or adverb in the "reason", such as, "many", "great", or "very". For
> example,
> Mark 2.2: "And many were gathered together, hWSTE there was no
> longer room,
> even near the door." In the other examples there is a similar
> attributive
> *implied*. See Matthew 13.32: above. In each case a "so" or "such"
> is also
> implied (for example, "so many"). Thus, hWSTE corresponds in English
> to a
> "so/such.that" construction where the "so/such" goes with an
> attribute (for
> example, such big). This attribute will in turn be attached to a
> thing,
> event, or attribute (for example, such a big tree). Which of the
> three it is
> attached to does not seem to be particularly significant.
>
> 4. In some cases an element of contraexpectation is implied in the
> reason
> clause preceding hWSTE, which could be expressed by the adverb
> "unexpectedly" (and which may need to be spelled out more fully in
> a
> translation). For example, Matthew 27.13,14: "Then Pilate said to
> Him, 'Do
> you not hear how many things they testify against you?' And
> (unexpectedly)
> He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, hWSTE 'so
> that'
> the governor was quite amazed."
>
> 5. As implied in section I.B. [QUOTED] above, the "result" is
> related not
> primarily to the event in the "reason", but to the unusual manner of
> that
> event or to the unusual size, quantity, or frequency of some
> feature
> involved in the "reason". In fact, the "result" borders on a
> specific
> relation, actually giving more information about the intensive
> attribute.
> For example, "the storm was so violent (attribute) hWSTE the boat
> was
> covered with waves" (Matt. 8.24). That the boat was covered with
> waves gives
> more specific information about how violent the storm was. Thayer
> (1889:638)
> makes a pertinent comment. He mentions that hWSTE with the
> infinitive is
> sometimes preceded by the demonstrative hWSTE (Acts 14.1) or
> TOSOUTOS (Matt.
> 15.33), and where it occurs without such a demonstrative preceding,
> it
> defines more accurately the magnitude, extent, or quantity. He cites
> the
> following examples:
> Mt. viii.24, 28; xii.22; xiii.2, 32, 54; xv.31; xxvii.14; Mk. i.27,
> 45;
> ii.2, 12; iii. 10, 20; iv.1, 32, 37; ix.26; xv.5; Lk. v.7; xii.1;
> Acts i.19;
> v.15; xv.39; xvi.26; xix.10, 12, 16; Ro. vii.6; xv.19; 1 Co. 1.7;
> v.1;
> xiii.2; 2 Co. 1.8; ii.7; iii.7; vii.7; Phil. i.13; 1 Th. i.7 sq.; 2
> Th. 1.4;
> ii.4; Heb. xiii.6; 1 Pet. i.21.
>
> End of quotes.
>
> This overlooked aspect of hWSTE does not only imply to hWSTE with
> , but also to the very few cases where an indicative verb follows.
> Apart from John 3:16, Gal 2:13 is an example of this (hWSTE KAI - so
> that
> even - unexpectedly - Barnabas was carried away).
>
> I hope this clarifies the issue.
>
> Iver Larsen
>
_____________
Iver,
Your concept of "unexpected or unusual results" puts too much
significance upon hWSTE. Furthermore, I note that your quotations rely
upon hWSTE + inf. In Jn 3.16 we do not have an infinitive. I think your
discourse analysis attempts to overly analyze a passage and to place too
much significance upon certain constructions. In your example of Mt
13.1-2, e.g. it is not to be stressed that there was such an amazing
crowd that he had to get into a boat that hWSTE is used but a simple
result. Naturally the result always follows from the *** sufficiency of
the impetus *** (in this case the size of the crowd). But you use this
to retroject totally exaggerated significance upon the main clause which
I find unacceptable.
But let us say that we accept your understanding of expressing
"unexpected and unusual results" Even then you have not proven your
contention that it is the degree of the love of God which is in question.
I would say it is rather the TYPE of love which is here highlighted. I
am not hereby suggesting any conception of a special significance for the
verb AGAPAW. It is rather more in the nature of Paul's exclamation in
Rom 5.7-8
MOLIS GAR hUPER DIKAIOU TIS APOQANEITAI, hUPER GAR TOU AGAQOU TAXA TIS
KAI TOLMAi APOQANEIN; SUNISTHSIN DE THN hEAUTOU AGAPHN EIS hHMAS hO QEOS,
hOTI ETI hAMARTWLWN ONTWN hHMWN XRISTOS hUPER hHMWN APEQANEN.
It is not the point of this pericope that the DEGREE of God's love is so
great that he sent his son but rather that it is in the SITUATION of
man's standing under judgment that God reveals his love to us in his Son.
To read that "God loved the world thus (to use a neutral term)" and then
encounter hWSTE and be required to go back to the beginning of the
statement to adjust one's understanding so that it now becomes "God loved
the world so much" is beyond belief. It makes one stop to wonder "What
if this love had been just a teeny, tiny bit less?" To be sure, the fact
that God loved the world in its enmity to him speaks volumes for the
DEGREE of his love, but this is not the question.
gfsomsel
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