[B-Greek] 1st John 2:22
Iver Larsen
iver at larsen.dk
Wed Nov 2 13:09:41 EST 2005
> Hello Folks,
>
> Well if Dr. Conrad can yield on this, I certainly can too! Besides, who
> am I to hold out against the likes of ATR, BDF and Smyth? I have no doubt
> that there are negatives in the GNT which are unnecessary (i.e., from an
> English speaker's perspective) and untranslatable. I J 2:22 appears to be
> a case in point. Still, no one has yet been able to cite a parallel verse
> from the GNT where the redundant negative is found in a hOTI (or hWS)
> clause introduced by a verb which is semantically negative, like
> ARNOUMAI.
Richard,
I think you are quite right that the problem is in English rather than Greek.
The closest parallel in the GNT is probably
Matthew 26:72 KAI PALIN HRNHSATO META hORKOU hOTI OUK OIDA TON ANQRWPON
This is a direct quote, so there is no problem in English: And again he denied with an oath [saying:] I don't know the man.
If we were to change this into an indirect quote in English, it would become: He denied with an oath that he knew the man.
The change from direct to indirect requires several transformations in English, and one of them is that the negative is dropped
after "deny". However, in Greek there is not the same difference between indirect and direct quotes (both the direct quote here
and the quote in 1 John 2:22 are introduced by hOTI), and the negative is retained.
Notice how the more literal versions like RSV, NIV, NET do not have a word for "saying" in Matt 26:72, but more idiomatic ones
like NCV, TEV and NLT have made the implied word of saying explicit:
TEV: Again Peter denied it and answered: "I swear that I don't know that man."
NCV: Again, Peter said he was never with him, saying, "I swear I don't know this man Jesus!"
NLT: Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. "I don't even know the man," he said.
In the case of 1 John 2:22 it is not easy to decide whether the quote is best understood as indirect or direct, but it doesn't
really make any difference to the meaning. If we translate it as direct, English needs the negative. If we translate it as
indirect, the negative is dropped. When the word "deny" has a statement as complement (object), then a verb of saying is often
explicit as in Matt 26:70, but at other times it is implied as in Matt 26:72 and 1 John 2:22.
Iver Larsen
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