[B-Greek] PROS & EIS translated as "against"

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Aug 18 05:02:26 EDT 2007


On Aug 18, 2007, at 4:40 AM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

>
> Reformatted and forwarded by Moderator  for: "Shawn Peasley"
> <nt_srp at hotmail.com>
> Date: August 18, 2007 3:18:39 AM EDT
> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: PROS & EIS translated as "against"
>
>
> I have very little knowledge about biblical greek, but have mostly
> tried to sort out meanings by studying lexicons and reading
> interlinear translations of the greek NT, and comparing how the greek
> words are used in other passages, reading english translations, and
> seeking advice from those more knowledgeable.

I have to say that this is inadequate for resolving the sort of  
question you are raising here. You might see how inadequate it is if  
you look at the LSJ unabridged lexicon of Greek under PROS at
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext% 
3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2388444
or
http://tinyurl.com/2u48zo



>
> So then, understanding that background, my question is this:
> Most lexicons I've looked at say PROS and EIS can be translated as
> "against", and in several places in the Bible it is translated that
> way in the NIV. What I want to know is do these words have that sense
> in the word itself or does context and stylistic consideration
> determine if it is rendered that way?
>
> Also in Matt 5:28, is "against" a possible rendering of PROS? One
> resource I looked at said that "against" is one meaning for
> πρὸς; in the accusative, and the PROS (πρὸς) word in Matt
> 5:28 is in the accusative according to a different resource (sorry I
> don't remember where I found what). According to http://
> www.searchgodsword.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=4314 it would seem
> that the number 1 definition listed for πρὸς; is "to the
> advantage of" but I'm not sure if that works in the accusative. So in
> putting all of this together, I'm wondering if Matt 5:28 could
> possibly be translated as "Everyone who looks (against a woman/ upto
> a woman in such a way as to be against her/ at a woman---in such a
> way as to take advantage of her), has already committed adultery with
> her in their heart."
>
> Any thoughts would be welcomed, also if anyone could suggest any
> resources that would help with this sort of analysis I would be
> appreciative.

The text in question:
Matt. 5:28 ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ  
βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι  
αὐτὴν ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ  
καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ.
EGW DE LEGW hUMIN hOTI PAS hO BLEPWN GUNAIKA PROS TO EPIQUMHSAI AUTHN  
HDH EMOICEUSEN AUTHN EN THi KARDIAi AUTOU.

PROS and EIS can in some instances be used interchangeably; PROS  
means essentially "to" or "toward" and EIS means essentially "into,"  
"onto," or "to." PROS tends to be used with the accusative of  
personal names and pronouns with verbs of speech in the sense of "to"  
or "in reply to" -- but it means most essentially "in face of" or "in  
confrontation with." In the right context "against" is an appropriate  
way to English it. Mt 5:28 is not one of those because in this  
instance PROS has as its object an articular infinitive phrase, TO  
EPIQUMHSAI AUTHN, and its sense is rather "with a view to" or "with  
respect to." There's no way that PROS here could be understood in the  
way that you're suggesting. Rather it's "FOR/IN-ORDER-TO lust for  
her" or "toward lusting for her." The important thing is that PROS in  
this instance has the infinitive TO EPIQUMHSAI as its object, not  
AUTHN ("her" = "the woman"); AUTHN is the object of the infinitive  
EPIQUMHSAI.



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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