[B-Greek] TADE in Revelation
Iver Larsen
iver at larsen.dk
Thu Mar 16 14:32:56 EST 2006
> My thought was that it may represent a heavy influence from Ezekiel and
> the other prophetic LXX literature. Outside of some use in 1 & 2 Samuel
> and 1 & 2 Kings, it is rarely used in the LXX...except for the Prophets.
> Perhaps with 10% of the verses in Ezekiel using this term and no other
> LXX text or NT book coming near that percentage, except for Jeremiah and
> Zecheriah...with a lot of uses in Isaiah as well! So in the
> contemporary literature that was Apocalyptic in (Jewish & Christian
> first/second century) was this phrase used? So should we to capture the
> flavor then translate this into modern english using King James style
> phraseology...
>
> "Thus sayeth the Lord" to be true to the text...as you are saying?
> Would that be something to have the NIV suddenly read in a place like
> this "Thus sayeth the Lord"....
>
> David
I am not able to check usage in contemporary apocalyptic literature.
Having looked at this a bit more, I no longer think that it is as unusual and marked as the English "thus". TADE seems
to be the normal word to use in this particular construction where you need a kataphoric demonstrative before LEGEI,
since hOUTOS is always anaphoric in connection with LEGW. It seems to be a construction that is almost exclusively used
in prophetic contexts, at least at the time of the NT.
I would not suggest "thus" for a modern English translation. And if you wanted to indicate a link to the OT prophetic
books, you would have to use "thus" there, too.
Iver Larsen
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