[B-Greek] Acts 7,26A
Mike Sangrey
msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Tue Mar 23 08:47:57 EST 2004
On Mon, 2004-03-22 at 15:12, waldo slusher wrote:
<snip>
Quoting 1 Peter 2:8 (I've kept the subject the same in order for people
to "follow the thread".)
>
> KAI LIQOS PROSKOMMATOS KAI PETRA SKANDALOU. hOI
> PROSKOPTOUSIN TWi LOGWi APEIQOUNTES, EIS hO KAI
> ETEQHSAN
>
> I would argue that the active verbals plus the causal
> participle (because they disobeyed...) necessitates
> one to translate ETEQHSAN as an ENGLISH middle here.
>
> However, in light of Dr. Conrad's objection, I would
> not object to retaining an ENGLISH passive translation
> here as long as the active verbals and causal
> participle are reflected in such a translation.
>
> They stumbled because they disobeyed the word, as they
> were destined to (stumble...BECAUSE THEY DISOBEYED THE
> WORD).
>
> If this sense is not convey in English, the English
> reader could get the wrong impression that they were
> destined to disobey! (The active voice, and I would
> argue the causal participle, does not allow this
> implicature.)
I, for one, get this implicature quite easily.
I think a good deal of the misinterpretation is because of the English
word 'destined'. The verb 'destine' requires (at least in my mind) a
personal agent. So, cognitively, when reading the text, I try to find
the answer to: WHO has destined these people?
My suggestion for a solution is to use 'determine' or 'determined' as
the verb rendering TIQHMI. Thus we have either:
They stumbled because they disobeyed the word, as their
disobedience determined.
or
They stumbled because they disobeyed the word, as determined by
their disobedience.
It is not all that unusual in Bible translation (especially when we go
outside the English arena) to "fill out" the agent of a passive verb.
In deed, several languages in Papua New Guinea do not even have
passives.
--
Mike Sangrey
msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Landisburg, Pa.
"The first one last wins."
"A net of highly cohesive details reveals the truth."
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