[B-Greek] 2 Cor. 7:11 A ALLA B ALLA G ALLA D...
Webb
webb at selftest.net
Tue Jan 30 15:30:11 EST 2007
IDOU GAR AUTO TOUTO TO KATA QEON LUPHQHNAI POSHN KATEIRGASATO hUMIN SPOUDHN
ALLA APOLOGIAN ALLA AGANAKTHSIN ALLA FOBON ALLA EPIPOQHSIN ALLA ZHLON ALLA
EKDIKHSIN EN PANTI SUNESTHSATE hEAUTOUS hAGNOUS EINAI TWi PRAGMATI
After all, look at exactly what God's pain accomplished in you: not just a
hasty response, not just determination to clear yourselves, not just anger,
not just alarm, but also yearning, passion, action to right the wrong. In
every way, you've shown yourselves to be innocent in this matter. (SENT
draft)
I'm in two minds about this passage. BDAG says the ALLA functions as a
"rhetorically ascensive" connector (def. 4b). The problem is, it's kind of a
smooth progression from natural and ethically ambiguous responses (like
anger and wanting to defend yourself) to more and more clearly repentant and
positively engaged responses. To express this in English, it's as though you
have to put a "hump" somewhere, so that the progression goes up the "not
just" slope, over the hump, and down the "but also" side.
Most translations put all the elements on the same level, e.g. "what
earnestness...what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear,
what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! (NASB)
But I think they have to play down the ambiguous nature of the earlier
elements in the progression in order to achieve a kind of equal weight for
the elements. Any comments?
Webb Mealy
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