[B-Greek] John 2:4 - TI EMOI KAI SOI

Emil Salim neokantian at gmail.com
Tue Mar 17 14:55:26 EDT 2009


Text:
KAI LEGEI AUTHi hO IHSOUS; TI EMOI KAI SOI, GUNAI? OUPW hHKEI hH hHWRA MOU.

I am aware that TI EMOI KAI SOI is a rather popular phrase that means "what
have I to do with thee?" (see Smyth #1479, for example). Translated thus, it
sounds to me like Jesus didn't really care about Mary's concern that the
wedding party in Kana was running out of wine, as though Jesus was saying:
"why should I care about what you're concerned with?"

I was wondering, though, whether we can translate the phrase more literally
as saying: "what is it to me that is (also) to you?" This is admittedly an
awkward translation and not real English. But is it possible to translate
the phrase along this line: "what is my concern that is also your concern?"?
Rendered this way, the phrase might convey a different tone, viz., that
Jesus was asking Mary whether *she* was concerned with what's important for
him, and not the other way around. Thanks!

Emil Salim



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