[B-Greek] EGW EIMI ANHR in Acts 22:3

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Tue Nov 23 19:45:02 EST 2010


I suppose the way you translate it would depend upon how insistent you are 
regarding translating a passage in a formally equivalent manner.  You could 
translate it as "I am a male Jew."  I'm not convinced that it really makes any 
difference.
 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 Buck <bucksburg at yahoo.com>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Tue, November 23, 2010 4:56:22 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] EGW EIMI ANHR in Acts 22:3

I've see EGW EIMI carrying the following different meanings in English:
- It is I -
- I am he -
- I am -

This last dissipates the intensity of the Greek, but is understandable in a 
popular language translation. What I'm trying to figure out, though, is just 
what Paul was trying ot convey with ANHR in EGW EIMI ANHR IOUDAIOS. Some of the 
more expanded or literal translations render it "I am indeed a Jew" but no 
modern translation seems to find a way of independently expressing the intensity 

behind the word ANHR--they all treat the word as if it were not even there. 
Even Shakespeare had Shylock state simply "I am a Jew" (as most English 
translations of Acts 22:3) when the English Bible of his day used a full nine 
English words to translate the four Greek ones.

Are there other examples in Greek literature where ANHR is used to further 
intensify EGW EIMI? Any ideas on how to convey that into English--other than 
literally, of course?

Daniel Buck


      
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