From: Jeffery W Grams (jgrams@juno.com)
Date: Thu Jul 25 1996 - 14:20:35 EDT
Luke 12:10
This passage concerning blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has long
puzzeled many Christians and Theologians, and there is some unique
structure to the Greek that should be carefully studied...
I would like to propose the following translation of the passage on the
basis of the greek text and the context of the passage...
"And anyone who will speak a word to the Son of man, he will be forgiven,
but he who toward the Holy Spirit blasphemes, he will not be forgiven."
I would like to understand the construction of EREI LOGON EIS TON UION
TOU ANTHROPOU in the sense of "to speak a word to" = "to confess"...
This exact string does not seem to appear in the LXX or NT in any other
place... For the moment I would also like to consider this text apart
from the "parallel" passage in Matthew, since there the context and the
Greek differ significantly...
The strong advantage of this transation (to my mind) is that it not only
does not set up an opposition between the Son of Man and the Holy Spirit,
it also continues the flow of arguement that is seen in verses 8 & 9
where Jesus says plainly that if we confess him he will confess us, and
if we deny him he will deny us... Strangely enough, modern translations
tend to translate the EIS exclusively as "against" which does not fit
well into the context...
I am uncomfortably aware that my translation seems unique, yet I can not
see where I have "erred" in my grammar...
Any thoughts on the translation of this text? Where have I gone astray?
JGrams@juno.com
Rev. Jeffery W. Grams - St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School - Fulda,
Minnesota
"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves
as your slaves for Jesus' sake." [2 Corinthians 4:5]
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