[B-Greek] 1Cor1:17 and 1Cor15:1; Question about def. articles
Webb
webb at selftest.net
Tue Nov 15 20:11:27 EST 2005
Mike,
You asked, "I also would like to know from some of you of other words in the
greek NT where there is only one Greek word from the text but must break
down into more than one in our English translation with the definite
article used."
Articles (and various particles) in Greek function so differently from the
way they function in English that it would take pages even to sketch the
typical differences in the ways that Greek articles function (see, e.g.,
Idioms of the Greek New Testament, Chapter 5: "The Article", by Stanley E.
Porter [BLG 2; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992], pp. 103-114).
Reading between the lines of your post, however, I don't think the function
of the article is the key issue. It seems that your assumption is that one
Greek word should be rendered as one English word if possible. There are a
great many Greek words that don't have a straight-across analogue in
English. EUANGELIZW can be rendered "I evangelize", but notice that that's
already two words, that "evangelize" is simply a straight takeover from
Greek, and that it's a Christian technical term. It's always worth asking
what a Koine Greek word might have conveyed to a non-Christian person
walking down the street, say, in 1st century Corinth. For that, you'll need
to go to Liddell and Scott and to Moulton/Milligan first, not to BDAG. The
more natural rendering of EUANGELIZW is "to bring good news", or, among
Christians, "to preach the good news" [of the Gospel]. Here's my rendering
of 1 Cor. 1:17 into spoken English:
The point is [1], Christ didn't send me to baptize. No [2], he sent me to
preach the good news-without wise arguments, so that Christ's cross wouldn't
be drained of its power [3].
[1] Gr. GAR, a very flexible conjunction usually rendered "for", but
sentences don't start with "For" in spoken English.
[2] Gr. ALLA, an adversative conjunction stronger than English "but".
[3] Lit. "wouldn't be emptied out".
I think you'll find that translation is every bit as much an art as a
science (though not more so!) as you gain more experience.
Peace,
Webb Mealy
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