[B-Greek] Kataphoric TAUTA (John 15:17)
Webb
webb at selftest.net
Sun Jan 14 20:19:28 EST 2007
I wonder if Jn 15:15 could be taken as sitting right in the saddle between
ana- and kataphoric reference.
I'm commanding you these things! Love one another!
"These things" would be abiding in him (15:4ff), asking what they wish (v.
7), bearing much fruit (v. 8), abiding in his love (v. 9), keeping his
commandments (v. 10), loving one another (v. 12), laying down their lives
for one another (v. 13), going and bearing fruit that will last (v. 16).
But the topmost item of all these commands, which stack up on one another,
is loving one another. So wrapping them all up in one statement he says,
"I'm commanding you [to do] these things [I've just been saying]: i.e., love
one another" (v. 17). hINA thus specifies the anaphoric TAUTA, indicating
that this is a kind of punch line to the whole line of exhortation from
15:1-14.
That sounds better to me than, "I'm commanding you these things so that
you'll love one another"--which seems terribly bland.
Webb Mealy
-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Iver Larsen
Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 1:04 AM
To: B Greek
Subject: [B-Greek] Kataphoric TAUTA (John 15:17)
----- 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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