From: Dale M. Wheeler (dalemw@teleport.com)
Date: Wed Dec 17 1997 - 14:53:16 EST
Paul Dixon wrote:
>
>On Wed, 17 Dec 1997 10:10:47 -0800 "Dale M. Wheeler"
><dalemw@teleport.com> writes:
>>Edward Hobbs wrote:
>>
>><snip>
>>>Thanks to Paul for discovering this omission. (I wouldn't have, since,
>>>like Carl, I find this long opening super-sentence too stupefying to
>>>seem worth the gymnastics to decode its Greek [did I say Greek?].)
>>
>>Before I say anything, let me say that the following is NOT intended
>>as a criticism of Edward (or Carl for that matter), so *PLEASE* don't
>>read it that way !!!!! Edward is *absolutely* correct that Eph 1:3-14
>is
>>a unique sentence in Greek, at times almost defying analysis by any
>>normal standards of Greek syntax and rhetoric...though surprisingly
>>very readable...but so is Revelation, and its Greek goes off the
>>charts at times (BTW, I think the cause of both problems is similar).
>
>Thanks, Dale. If I can read between the lines, I would agree that the
>Greek employed by both Paul and John was affected by their ecstatic
>outbreaks of worship and praise. Besides that, however, one's view of
>the sacredness of Scripture is not dependent upon the quality of Greek
>so employed, as though we should expect the highest level of Greek
>throughout Scripture. Is it not a testimony of God's grace and power
>that He usually took the things that "were not," such as the vernacular
>Koine Greek and the nobodies of this world, and used them for His glory,
>that no flesh should boast?
>
>Please excuse my sermonizing. I must have gotten carried away.
>
>Paul Dixon
>
Paul:
I tend to agree that there was a certain spontaneity in Revelation (my
own view is that he was hearing in Hebrew and on the spot "translating"
into Greek...others would say its just a good example of prophetic
Septuagintalism...if I'm correct then that means that Hebrew is the
language of heaven (-;). I'm not so sure about Eph (or 1Pet, or
2Cor) however; Eph esp., seems very thoughtfully crafted, and the OT
Psalms exhibit--the best I can tell--the same thoughtfulness in
making the written copy. Nevertheless, the "praise" factor is still
important.
On the "scripture" issue, I also agree... Anyone who has read Acts,
Hebrews, Jude, and John/Revelation can see this clearly in action.
BTW, I guess I should have said this in the post (it occurred to me
after the fact), I wasn't intending my comments to be a response *in
any way* to what Randy Leedy said. I know that I have (inadvertently)
stepped on my share of toes, and frankly, I'm glad when people have
pointed it out to me, since I have no desire to offend anyone on this
list...you'll have to talk to me personally if you want me to offend
you... (-: I don't want to get involved in this discussion at all;
its between Randy and Edward...and since I know, like, and respect both
of them, and am convinced that they are gracious christian gentlemen,
I'm sure they can resolve it offlist to their mutual satisfaction
regardless of their theological differences. Quite frankly, this is
why BGreek is so much fun...it tends to be frequented by adults !!
XAIREIN...
***********************************************************************
Dale M. Wheeler, Ph.D.
Research Professor in Biblical Languages Multnomah Bible College
8435 NE Glisan Street Portland, OR 97220
Voice: 503-251-6416 FAX:503-254-1268 E-Mail: dalemw@teleport.com
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