[B-Greek] John 11:21b & 11:32c: Does the MOU make a difference?

Michael Aubrey mga318 at yahoo.com
Sun Apr 3 16:42:10 EDT 2011


> 21...KURIE, EI HS hWDE OUK AN APEQANEN hO ADELFOS MOU
>
> 32...KURIE, EI HS hWDE OUK AN MOU APEQANEN hO ADELFOS

[IVER]: That is a nuance I had not noticed. If my understanding of the function 
of word 


order is correct, it does show a small difference. Martha in v. 21 talks about 
"my brother" without any particular emphasis. She seems somewhat businesslike. 
Mary was crying when she knelt before Jesus. She seems more emotional and had a 
closer relationship to Jesus. She may also have had a closer relationship to 
Lazarus, at least more emotional. That might explain why she in John's 
recounting does not simply say "my brother", but "MY brother". I would put "my" 
in italics to indicate that emphasis, since the word could then be spoken with 
greater stress in English (and Danish) - and with a crying voice.

[MIKE]: This cannot be the case. MOU is enclitic and thus by definition cannot 
receive greater stress--it, in fact, cannot receive *any* stress.

Mike Aubrey
http://evepheso.wordpress.com



More information about the B-Greek mailing list