[B-Greek] Rom 8:10 TO DE PNEUMA ZWH

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Oct 19 07:56:48 EDT 2008


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Moore" <tom at katabiblon.com>
To: "Nikolaos Adamou" <nikolaos.adamou at hotmail.com>; "Barry" <nebarry at verizon.net>; 
<b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 18. oktober 2008 20:37
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Rom 8:10 TO DE PNEUMA ZWH


> I had wanted to know whether the noun ZWH could mean "alive" rather than "life" in this context 
> since it is standing against NEKROS rather than QANATOS. But if there is a proper way to say "the 
> spirit is alive"--TO PNEUMA ZWON--so that TO PNEUMA ZWH clearly means "the spirit is life", are 
> the few translations that do read "the spirit is alive" (http://bible.cc/romans/8-10.htm) 
> therefore incorrect?
>
> Tom Moore

Different translations reflect different interpretations, and it is not a simply issue to declare 
some correct and others incorrect.

Romans 8:10: Εἰ δὲ χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, τὸ μὲν σῶμα νεκρὸν διὰ ἁμαρτίαν,
τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωὴ διὰ δικαιοσύνην
EI DE CRISTOS EN hUMIN, TO MEN SWMA NEKRON DIA hAMARTIAN,
TO DE PNEUMA ZWH DIA DIKAIOSUNHN

Some would take PNEUMA to refer to the human spirit, and that may translate into normal English as 
"the/your spirit is alive" even though a literal rendering would be "the spirit is life".

Others would take PNEUMA to refer to the Holy Spirit, and this may translate into "the Spirit gives 
life" or "the Spirit is the source of life".

The grammar is simply enough, but the intended meaning is not obvious. It is easy to produce a 
literal translation, but that does not solve the question of what it really means.

Iver Larsen




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