[B-Greek] Kataphoric TAUTA (John 15:17)
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Jan 14 04:04:23 EST 2007
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
<snip>
>> Finally, the construction in John 15:17 has intrigued me, and I am not convinced that the
>> standard
>> translation is correct:
>>
>> 15:17 TAUTA ENTELLOMAI hUMIN hINA AGAPATE ALLHLOUS
>>
>> RSV translates: "This I command you, to love one another."
>> NIV translates: "This is my command: Love each other."
>> KJV is more literal and more ambiguous: "These things I command you, that ye love one another."
>>
>> TAUTA in plural always in John refers back to what has been said in the previous context, and it
>> is
>> quite different from the kataphoric usages above of the singular hOUTOS. So, I am wondering
>> whether
>> the hINA here is actually purpose: I am commanding you these aforementioned things so that you
>> love
>> one another. He already said in 15:12 (quoted above) that the command was to love one another.
>> It is
>> possible that he repeats the same thing in v. 17, but may it not be possible that he makes a
>> twist
>> and says that the purpose for his various commands is that they love one another? In other
>> words,
>> mutual love is the goal of his commands.
>>
>> There are similar constructions with TAUTA and hINA, e.g.
>> 5:34 ALLA TAUTA LEGW hINA hUMEIS SWQHTE
>> 15:11 TAUTA LELALHKA hUMIN hINA hH CARA hH EMH EN hUMIN Hi
>> 16:1 TAUTA LELALHKA hUMIN hINA MH SKANDALISQHTE
>> 16:4 ALLA TAUTA LELALHKA hUMIN hINA ... MNHMONEUHTE...
>> 16:33 TAUTA LELALHKA hUMIN hINA EN EMOI EIRHNHN ECHTE
>> 17:13 KAI TAUTA LALW EN TWi KOSMWi hINA ECWSIN THN CARAN THN EMHN
>>
>> This construction is not found in the other gospels or Acts, but Paul uses it a few times. The
>> closest is:
>> 1 Tim 5:7 KAI TAUTA PARAGELLE hINA ANEPIPLHMTOI WSIN
>>
>> There are 60 instances of hAUTA in John's Gospel apart from 15:17, and all of them are
>> anaphoric,
>> referring back to the previous context. That is one reason I think it unlikely that hAUTA in
>> this
>> particular sentence could be kataphoric. Furthermore, in all such constructions with hAUTA and
>> hINA
>> in both John and Paul, hAUTA is always anaphoric (I found 17 of them, 5 in Paul's letters, 9 in
>> John's Gospel, and 3 in 1 John).
>
> Iver, there's some confusion here: twice in this last paragraph you refer to hAUTA, but there is
> no hAUTA in Koine Greek: you must mean either TAUTA or hAUTH. Are you saying then that you don't
> think TAUTA in John 15:17 is kataphoric? i.e. it MUST be anaphoric? I would sooner question the
> proposition, "TAUTA in plural always in John refers back to what has been said in the previous
> context" -- even if in MOST cases it can be shown to be so.
Carl and Oun,
I apologize for the mistake. Sometimes wires get crossed in my mind, especially late at night. It is
now morning in my part of the world. Of course I meant to write TAUTA, not a hybrid between TAUTA
and hAUTH.
Oun, an ana-phoric reference "carries up", that is, up to the preceding context, whereas a
kata-phoric reference "carries down", that is down to the following context. Ana- to what has gone
before, kata- to what is coming after. (It helps if you think of writing from top to bottom :-) and
remember that ANA means up and KATA means down.)
So, to clarify, I am pretty sure that hAUTH in John 17:3 is kataphoric, since it follows a fixed and
common pattern in John. The singular demonstrative anticipates the later sentence and agrees in case
and gender with the nominal phrase.
I suggest that TAUTA is probably anaphoric in 15:17, based on normal usage of TAUTA. When I said
that TAUTA always in John is anaphoric, I didn't say that without first having checked all 61
instances. If you can find me one that is not anaphoric, not counting the disputed one in 15:17, I'd
be grateful. Sometimes the "bearing up" is not to explicit words in the preceding context, but to
things already known to all parties involved in the conversation.
Concerning the other parts of the NT, there are 239 TAUTA's in all. I have now gone through them
all, and 99% are anaphoric, but there are three special cases of kataphoric usage:
Mat 10:2 ... TA ONOMATA ESTIN TAUTA: PRWTOS SIMWN...
Mrk 16:17: SHMEIA DE TOIS PISTEUSASIN TAUTA PARAKOLOUQHSEI:
EN TWi ONOMATI MOU DAIMONIA EKBALOUSIN, ..LALOUSIN...AROUSIN...PIWSIN...EPIQHSOUSIN
Luk 18:11 hO FARISAIOS ... TAUTA PROSHUCETO:
hO QEOS, EUCARISTW SOI hOTI..., NHSTEUW...APODEKATW...
In all of these cases the use of plural TAUTA is justified, a list of names or a list of
actions. It is the singular form of hOUTOS that more often is used kataphorically, especially by
John, although the predominant usage is still anaphoric. (I don't have the statistics, except a
total of 591 instances of singular hOUTOS/hAUTH/TOUTO.)
John 17:3 says: TAUTA ENTELLOMAI hUMIN hINA AGAPATE ALLHLOUS
Here AGAPATE ALLHLOUS is not a list of several elements or several actions. It is hEIS LOGOS. Notice
also that in the very few cases where TAUTA is used kataphorically there is no hINA (or hOTI) to
introduce the list.
Iver Larsen
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