[B-Greek] Tranlsating the Imperative: John 4:7

Jason Hare jason at thehebrewcafe.com
Thu Apr 7 18:10:24 EDT 2011


Might be worthwhile to note that in Hebrew (if you consider this
relevant), it is extremely common to use a simple command where we
might use a more polite question form in English. It's familiar, for
sure, but it isn't considered rude in the slightest. Was δός μοι a
translation from Hebrew or Aramaic? Perhaps outside of B-Greek
limitations, but it's something to take into consideration. A Semitic
underlying original dialogue could probably be assumed, if it causes
problems in the Greek text itself.

Don't need responses. I just wanted to throw that out there --
off-topic though it may be.

Best regards,
Jason Hare
Rehovot, Israel
________________________________________
יהיו לרצון אמרי פי והגיון לבי לפניך, ה' צורי וגואלי



On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 3:22 PM, Mark Lightman <lightmanmark at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi, Stephen,
>
> One of my all time favorite imperatives is Archimedes:
>
> δός μοι ποῦ στῶ και κινήσω τὴν γῆν.
> DOS MOI POU STW KAI KINHSW THN GHN.
>
> He's not literally asking for a place to stand.  It's really a future
> more-or-less vivid condition:  "If I had a place to stand, I would move the
> world."  The imperative is not a request, polite or otherwise, but is a
> rhetorical devise to involve the hearer more vividly in the absurdity of the
> proposition.  Wallace would call it the protastic pseudo-imperative.
>
> We do it in English.  "Give this guy fourteen runs and he is tough to beat."
>
>  Mark L
> Φωσφορος
>
>
> FWSFOROS MARKOS
>
> ________________________________
> From: Stephen Baldwin <stbaldwi at hotmail.com>
> To: B- Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Wed, April 6, 2011 9:03:52 PM
> Subject: [B-Greek] Tranlsating the Imperative: John 4:7
>
>
> Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
> e.g.
> NASB: 7There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me
> a drink."
> NIV:  7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you
> give me a drink?”
> Greek: DOS MOI PEIN
>



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