[B-Greek] hEWS AN--"While" (Heb. 1:13)?

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Thu May 10 08:02:43 EDT 2007


That hEWS does not have the same implications as English "until" has been discussed before. I think 
the latest thread was from 23-25 May, 2005. Search for hEWS in the archives. The intended meaning is 
often best expressed by "while" as in Heb 1:13, but I cannot see how it could be "so that".

A small study on this topic is available from the following site:

http://www.geocities.com/bible_translation/list/files/until.doc

Iver Larsen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Webb" <webb at selftest.net>
To: "'B Greek'" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 1:37 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] hEWS AN--"While" (Heb. 1:13)?


> KAQOU EK DEXIWN MOU hEWS AN QW TOUS ECQROUS SOU UPOPODION TWN PODWN SOU
>
> I was about to render Heb. 1:13 (quoting Ps. Ps. 109:1 LXX [=110:1 English])
> similarly to the way I've seen it in many English translations:
>
> Sit on my right, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
>
> But then I read Lattimore's rendering, and it got me thinking.
>
> Sit on my right, so that I may make your enemies a footstool for your feet
>
> I started thinking that we don't say "until", but "while", to convey what I
> suspect the statement might be getting at:
>
> Sit on my right, while I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
>
> Does anyone want to demonstrate that hEWS AN always has to mean "until", in
> the sense that most English speakers would get from it, that carries the
> implication that the "sitting on the right" comes to an end when God's
> making footstools of the enemies comes to an end? BAGD lists the sense
> "while" for hEWS (def. 2: see Mk 14:32; Lk. 17:8), but, apart from those
> instances of hEWS AN that come from this LXX quotation (6/19) and that in
> Mt. 12:20, the NT instances all clearly mean "until".
>
> Webb Mealy




More information about the B-Greek mailing list