[B-Greek] Didache 4:10 TO PNEUMA (Robert Schut)

Bob Schut rschut at sbcglobal.net
Thu May 31 15:52:15 EDT 2007


Hi Everyone

I am having a little trouble understanding verse 4:10 of the Didache.  The translation that I have was translated by Maxwell Stanforth for "Early Christian Writings", Penguin Books.  My difficulty is with this part of the verse:

OU GAR ERCETAI KATA PROSWPON KALESAI, ALL' EF' hOUS TO PNEUMA hNTOIMASEN.

The book translates this as:
"(He has not come to call men according to their rank) but those for whom he has prepared the Spirit.

It seems better translated as:

"(He has not come to call men according to their rank) but for those whom the Spirit prepared."

The question is why the translator chose "He" (referring to God) as a pronoun for the subject, when he could have chosen "the Spirit?"  Since TO PNEUMA is neuter it can be either nominative or accussative depending upon the context.  Can someone let me know if this is grammatically correct or if there are circumstances that I am not seeing?

Thanks all
Robert Schut
El Dorado Hills, CA
rschut at sbcglobal.net







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