[B-Greek] Ambiguity

Dr. Don Wilkins drdwilkins at verizon.net
Fri Feb 5 16:26:14 EST 2010


Not so, George! Hebew and Aramaic both have me'al (מעל), a  
combination of the two prepositions min ("from") and al ("on, over,  
above"). This is seen for example in Ex. 25:22 and Ps. 50:4, where it  
refers to God's domain. As far as I can tell the combo never means  
"again," so Nicodemus was just trying to ignore it by pointing to the  
absurdity (from his viewpoint) of anyone going through the birth  
process again, as if to say that one cannot be born again regardless  
of the source of birth. Reductio ad absurdum was a common element of  
rabbinic rhetoric. Jesus responds very properly by pointing out that  
Nick should know better, if that is what he is really thinking. This  
is because the rabbis taught that a proselyte is a brand new  
creature, as if he had been reborn and all of his previous  
relationships never happened. Of course this does not mean that Jesus  
and Nick could not have been speaking Greek on this occasion, but it  
seems unlikely, and more plausible that John was simply translating  
what was said.

Don Wilkins

On Feb 5, 2010, at 11:36 AM, George F Somsel wrote:

> Not that I can think of offhand.  It would thus appear that this  
> discourse was a composition of the early church.
>
> george
> gfsomsel
>
>
> … search for truth, hear truth,
> learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
> defend the truth till death.
>
>
> - Jan Hus
> _________
>
>
> From: "Daniel, Robert S" <rob.daniel at hp.com>
> To: George F Somsel <gfsomsel at yahoo.com>; Dr. Don Wilkins  
> <drdwilkins at verizon.net>; Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
> Cc: B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Fri, February 5, 2010 12:24:12 PM
> Subject: RE: [B-Greek] Ambiguity
>
> Something I've wondered about this conversation for a long time is  
> whether we can conclude that this conversation must have taken  
> place in Greek -- is there an equivalent word, with the same double  
> meaning, as ANWQEN in either Aramaic or Hebrew?
> Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:b-greek- 
> bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of George F Somsel
> Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 12:19 PM
> To: Dr. Don Wilkins; Carl Conrad
> Cc: B-Greek
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Ambiguity
>
> One of my favorite ambiguities is the discourse between Jesus and  
> Nicodemus in Jn 3
>
> 3ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ·  
> ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις  
> γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν  
> τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ
> 3 APEKRIQH IHSOUS KAI EIPEN AUTWi, "AMHN, AMHN, LEGW SOI, EAN MH  
> TIS GENNHQHi ANWQEN, OU DUNATAI IDEIN THN BASILEIAN TOU QEOU."
>
> followed by Nick's response
>  4λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν [ὁ]Νικόδημος·  
> πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι  
> γέρων ὤν; μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν  
> κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον  
> εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;
>
> 4 LEGEI PROS AUTON [hO] NIKODHMOS, "PWS DUNATAI ANQRWPOS GENNHQHNAI  
> GERW WN?  MH DUNATAI EIS THN KOILIAN THS MHTROS AUTOU DEUTERON  
> EISELQEIN KAI GENNHQHNAI?"
>
> Obviously Nick means "born again", but this has been put into the  
> mouth of Jesus in translations.  What Jesus seems to have intended  
> was "born from above."  This is indicated by Jesus' response to Nick
>  10ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν  
> αὐτῷ· σὺ εἶ ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ  
> Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ταῦτα οὐ γινώσκεις;
> 10 APEKRIQH IHSOUS KAI EIPEN AUTWi, "SU EI hO DIDASKALOS TOU ISRAEL  
> KAI TAUTA OU GINWSKEIS?"
>
> The two are obviously talking past one another, but "born again"  
> has become engrained in the language of the Church.
>
>  george
> gfsomsel
>
>
> … search for truth, hear truth,
> learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
> defend the truth till death.
>
>
> - Jan Hus
> _________
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Dr. Don Wilkins <drdwilkins at verizon.net>
> To: Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
> Cc: B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Fri, February 5, 2010 11:55:14 AM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Ambiguity
>
> No complaints from me, Carl, for what that's worth. I'm touching on
> the subject of ambiguity right now with a basic Greek class at
> church. We've all heard how much more precise ancient Greek is
> compared to English, and while that's true on many fronts, it's just
> as important to know where the Greek is ambiguous. My favorite
> nomination is the circumstantial participle. The Greeks seem to have
> been entirely comfortable with the multiple ways these participles
> can be interpreted in various contexts, while in English it is almost
> automatic to avoid them and use a subordinate clause with an adverb
> instead to clarify the relationship to governing verbs. Another one
> that came up in my class last night was the middle/passive voice. I
> was explaining the voices and how one can determine the voice from
> endings, when a bright young man asked how you tell the difference
> between the middle and passive in the present tense. I confessed that
> one cannot, and that one has to rely on context (marginal "Or" notes
> in many translations testify to the fact). I illustrated with the
> middle/passive imperatives in James 2:16 (which can also be parsed as
> indicatives, about which I said nothing), pointing out that there,
> even the context does not nail down the voices used. I also pointed
> out that while the reflexive concept might be the simplest (or
> simplistic) way to understand the middle voice, it is also unlikely
> in most instances and one has to resort to a lexicon for a probable
> meaning (I know that analysis of the middle voice is dear to your
> heart, Carl). So I think it's a good idea to discuss ambiguity in
> ancient Greek at the beginning of a Greek curriculum. After all, the
> reality of the situation is that all real languages were put together
> by committees consisting of entire peoples and nations, and it's no
> wonder that they all have shortcomings.
>
> Don Wilkins
> S.I.R. The Lockman Foundation
>
> On Feb 5, 2010, at 5:37 AM, Carl Conrad wrote:
>
> > On Feb 5, 2010, at 8:14 AM, Mark Lightman wrote:
> >> For what it is worth, Todays Greek Version renders the first
> >> hHNIKA with οποτε hOPOTE and the second hHNIKA with
> >> οταν hOTAN.  The ABE Modern Greek gives οσακις hOSAKIS
> >> for the first, and for the second it gives
> >> μολις (which in Modern Greek means something like
> >> "as soon as")  All temporal expressions, though
> >> maybe as Carl said, "temporal/generalizing."
> >>
> >> The Modern Greek has no more authority than any other
> >> translation, but I mention it only to remind everyone that
> >> Ancient Greek is a more ambiguous language than even
> >> Modern Greek.
> >>
> >> I think Donald is correct that while one CAN go
> >> see the conditional and or causal force of the
> >> hHNIKA's here, one should not.
> >
> >
> > I think Mark's statement about the ambiguity of ancient Greek is
> > right on target. I do believe that there are quite a few texts, the
> > meaning of the Greek text which is essentially unmistakable. I
> > think, however, that there are several that are open to alternative
> > interpretations whereof one or more is/are more probable than
> > othres -- and I rather think that there are more passages than we
> > readily
> > admit that do not provide clear grounds for determining which
> > sense is preferable (my apologies to any who find my opinion
> > offensive). I think too that we often ask questions about
> > what's in an author's mind that go beyond anything that s/he has
> > clearly stated. This is not, of course, just a matter of ancient
> > Greek;
> > it's true, I believe, of all communication: making oneself clear is
> > an enterprise that we sometimes succeed at and sometimes don't.
> > It does demand an effort -- if we really care to be understood.
> >
> > Carl W. Conrad
> > Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
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