Lk 10:39; [hH]? and how to translate omission

From: Paul S. Dixon (dixonps@juno.com)
Date: Mon Jan 19 1998 - 17:50:13 EST


Mark et al:

I was about to respond, but during the interim my skiing screen saver
came on, and all the messages were inadvertantly deleted. Fortunately, I
had already read your message.

Anyhow, you asked about some discussion on the textual problem regarding
[hH]. Though the UBS text offers no discussion, Nestle-Aland offers
this:
P45, p75, Aleph*, B2, L, and a few other manuscripts omit hH.

As for the KAI, it might best be rendered "also," the idea being that
Mary not only had already done her work in preparation for Jesus' coming,
but was also sitting at His feet. The inclusion of KAI here, then,
makes Mary look even better than we may have thought. It certainly is
commendable to be interested in being fed spiritually and in making that
a priority, but it is even better that she had not neglected her regular
duties in order to do so.

If [hH] is omitted, then the translation might be something like, "and
she had a sister called Mary, and having sat at the feet of the Lord, she
was listening to His word."

One can see the possible ambiguity here, and why someone might insert the
relative pronoun to clarify it was Mary who was sitting at the Lord's
feet.

Paul Dixon



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