[B-Greek] Eis erga autou (Proverbs 8:22) in NETS

vasilis tsialas tsialas78 at hotmail.com
Thu Aug 21 10:00:06 EDT 2008


It's true that the Modern Greek "gia" is a big headache,
(a lexicon gives 14 different meanings) 
a result of the simplifications of the language during the centuries,
and the good writers avoid it when it could mislead the readers.
Hopefully, in a number of cases its meaning could be quite clear,
especially in some standard expressions.

Concerning, now, the rendering "for the sake of his works", I think
this could be really justified if the original Greek text had "hYPER" instead of "EIS":
hYPER TWN ERGWN AYTOU", which is not the case here, of course.

On the other hand, as far as I understand, if we could accept that "EIS" denotes purpose, 
possibly then the sole meaning of the phrase would be: "in order to accomplish his works".
I cannot see any other possible rendering for EIS as denoting purpose in this context.

But again, I feel that the most logical and simple understanding of EIS here
is to take it as a "marker of a specific point of reference". And this understanding
is the only one compatible with the meaning of the original Hebrew verse.


Vasileios Tsialas

Athens, Greece

----------------------------------------
> From: cwconrad2 at mac.com
> To: tsialas78 at hotmail.com
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek]  RE:  Eis erγa autou (Proverbs 8:22) in NETS
> Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:41:56 -0400
> CC: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> 
> For what it's worth, I find the same sort of "fuzziness" in the Modern  
> Greek preposition για (GIA). The English preposition "to" is not  
> that easy to pin down, either.
> 
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> 
> On Aug 21, 2008, at 7:09 AM, vasilis tsialas wrote:
> 
>>
>> I understand that "eis" can express-usually structured with  
>> dynamic nouns that denote action-
>> a purpose for the achievement of the action of the noun:
>> For example, εις αφεσιν αμαρτιων "so that sins may  
>> be forgiven".
>>
>> However, with my limited knowledge of English, since it is not my  
>> mother tongue,
>> I feel that "for the sake of" could convey thoughts that cannot  
>> be justified with the mere use of "eis".
>> I think that "for the sake of his works" could be understood to  
>> mean:
>> "Wisdom was created in order to play a beneficial role for God's  
>> works".
>>
>> It is even more important for me that the expression "for the sake  
>> of his works"
>> cannot be justified at all if we take into account the original  
>> Hebrew wording. I strongly
>> believe that when the Greek text allows more than one rendering,
>> the translator is obliged to choose the one that is in accordance  
>> with the meaning of the Hebrew text,
>> since that would be the most possible the ancient Greek translator  
>> had in mind.
>>
>> Again, I would be grateful for your comments and corrections.
>>
>>
>> Vasileios Tsialas,
>>
>> Athens, Greece
>>

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