[B-Greek] John 12:27 TI EIPW
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Mon Oct 20 07:58:18 EDT 2008
On Oct 20, 2008, at 1:58 AM, Kenneth Litwak wrote:
> I'm looking at the question, TI EIPW, PATER SWSON ME EK THS (WRAS
> TAUTHS? As a subjunctive I can think of several ways that one could
> translate this: what can I say? What should I say? What shall I
> say? I read one book that said this has to mean "What can I say/"
> but I don't think the Greek subjunctive is that narrow. What do
> y'all ((UMEIS) think?
Ken, any one of your suggested versions will do; you could even use
"What do I say?" or "How to response?" The construction is the so-
called "deliberative" subjunctive in an independent clause. The
meaning is not in question; English it however you think best
expresses the sense of hesitancy or momentary uncertainty.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list