[B-Greek] Eph. 4:26 translation question

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Jun 2 13:25:44 EDT 2006


On Jun 2, 2006, at 12:14 PM, Webb wrote:

> hO hHLIOS MH EPIDUETO EPI TWi PARORGISMWi HUMWN MHDE DIDOTE TOPON TWi
> DIABOLWi

I suppose you mean EPIDUETW (3d person sg. imperative)

>
> I'm having difficulty making a satisfactory translation of this  
> statement.
>
>
>
> My current attempt looks like this:
>
>
>
> Don't let the sun go down on your anger, and don't give space to  
> the devil.
>
>
>
> Is the first clause slightly misleading? (Would it be closer to the  
> Greek to
> render, "The sun shouldn't go down on your anger"?) Leaving that  
> aside, in
> English, the second part doesn't obviously connect to the first- 
> although it
> seems clear to me that Paul is saying, "don't let the sun go down  
> on your
> anger, BECAUSE THAT WILL give space to the devil". Can anyone  
> comment on
> this? Does MHDE introduce a separate idea here or does it complete the
> current idea? I prefer the first, so I wonder if the sense doesn't  
> come
> across better as follows (translating MHDE with an em-dash):
>
>  Don't let the sun go down on your anger-don't give space to the  
> devil.
>
>  Or: Don't let the sun go down on your anger-don't give the devil a  
> foothold
> [lit. room].

I take it that the implicit sense is "Settle your differences,  
however heated they may be, before day's end; don't let them fester  
overnight so they can bring you into sin against your opponent(s)."

I'd say that the MHDE clause explains what is set forth in the  
initial pithy exhortation.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/





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