[B-Greek] articles in 1 Peter 1:11

N.E. Barry nebarry at verizon.net
Sat Oct 2 14:45:44 EDT 2010


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jordan Cooper" <jordan.cooper at cornerstone.edu>
To: <B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 2:03 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] articles in 1 Peter 1:11


>I have seen some discussion of the way articles are to be translated, but
> hopefully this will question will help others like myself rather than
> repeating what has already been explained :)
>
> My question is concerning the significance of the use of articles within 
> the
> phrases of 1 Peter 1:11.  As I am translated this passage I notice that 
> the
> construct goes from the average "article right before the noun" like hO
> QEOS, to more of a "article, preposition, pronoun, noun" order like THS 
> EIS
> hUMAS CARITOS, or TO EN AUTOIS PNEUMA CRISTOU.
>
> I just want to know if there is any significance to this (especially 
> because
> this is the first time the writer does this within this writing) or if 
> goes
> back to the way the Greek article has a unique function within it's
> language.

Hey, Jordan, excellent attention to detail here.  The articular 
constructions are what the textbooks call the attributive position of the 
article.  In this case, they show that the phrasing within the articular 
construction specifically modifies the articular phrase, rather than making 
some sort of assertion.  In this case, "the toward you grace" and "the among 
them Spirit of Christ..."  Now, that's awkward in English, so we have to 
render something like "the grace belonging to them" or "the Spirit of Christ 
among them" for idiomatic English -- see your standard translations for how 
they handle it.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter, semper melius Latine sonat...
Classics & Bible Instructor @ The American Academy
2010 Salvatori Excellence in Education Winner
http://theamericanacademy.net
V-P, Academic Affairs, The North American Reformed Seminary
http://www.tnars.net/

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog





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