[B-Greek] ONTWN - Romans 5

Eric Weiss papaweiss1 at yahoo.com
Thu Jun 16 08:14:10 EDT 2005


ONTWN here is usually translated "we were" - e.g., 5:6 "For while we were helpless"; 5:8 
"while we were sinners"; 5:10 "while we were enemies".
 
Is it possible to translate it with a more present meaning, e.g.:
 
"For Christ, though/while we are helpless"
"we still being sinnners"
"while we are enemies"
etc.
(This may be awkward to say in English.)
 
The "were" translation can imply that what we/Paul/the Romans were when Christ died, 
we/they may no longer be (either in fact or by imputation), whereas the translation of ONTWN 
as a present "while/are" contains no such implication.
 
Without going into the theological implications or results of either translation, I'm just 
wondering if the "present meaning" translation is a valid possibility.
 


Eric S. Weiss


		
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