[B-Greek] 1 Tim 1:3-7 1 or 2 sentences

Charles Clayton cdclayton at cableone.net
Mon Nov 5 23:26:40 EST 2007


I was looking at these 5 verses this evening trying to determine if they
make only one sentence or if they make two.  When I looked to my Bibles for
help, they only offered confusion.  The UBS and NA indicate a stop at the
end of verse 4 but it is the stop that is not equivalent to a period in
English.  The MT (Majority Text) editors indicate a lesser stop than UBS or
NA (which I think is equivalent to a semi-colon).  

 

If ESTIN in verse 5 is considered a main verb, then why should the editors
not start a new sentence with TO DE TELOS?  If there is a good reason not to
considered it a sentence, then why even indicate a stop here?  I know that
the punctuation is something that the editors have added over the years but
it does not make sense to me here.

 

So maybe a few of you can clarify for me what exactly constitutes a sentence
in Greek (I thought you just needed a finite verb) and possibly what
advantage there is to noting a stop that is less than a sentence but more
than a subordinating clause.

 

Thanks, 

 

Charles D Clayton Jr

 




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