[b-greek] Re: 1Cor.14:21

From: Ben Crick (ben.crick@argonet.co.uk)
Date: Sun Nov 05 2000 - 07:59:57 EST


Dmitriy Reznik <reznik1@juno.com> wrote Sat 4 Nov 2000 (17:49:06)

> Please help me with 1Cor.14:21:
> EN hETEROGLWSSOIS KAI EN CEILESIN hETERWN LALHSW LAWi TOUTWi KAI OUD'
> hOUTWS EISAKOUSONTAI MOU...
> My question is:
> What is right: KAI (and) OUD' (even not) hOUTWS (thus)
> or:
> KAI (even) OUD' (and not) hOUTWS (thus)?
> Of course I am interested in interlinear translation, and not in normal
> English.

 Dorogoi Dmitriy,

 KAI is the copula "and"; OUD' hOUTWS [for OUDE hOUTWS] is "not even then".
 Compare KAI hOUTWS "and so" in 1 Corinthians 11:28.

> Another question is this. Why many translations interpret is as "With
> other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and not
> even so will they hear Me..." Doesn't hETEROGLWSSOIS mean PEOPLE who speak
> in different languages? Also doesn't EN CEILESIN hETERWN mean "with lips
> of others"?

 Paul inaccurately attributes the quotation as from the Law, when it is from
 the Prophets (Isaiah 28:11-12); but even then it is not [OUD' hOUTWS] a direct
 quotation from the LXX, which reads:
 ... DIA FAULISMON CEILIWN, DIA GLWSSHS hETERAS, hOTI LALHSOUSI TWi LAWi
 TOUTWi, LEGONTES AUTOIS, TOUTO TO ANAPAUMA TWi PEINWNTI, ktl..., not an
 accurate rendering of the Hebrew. Perhaps Paul is supplying his own
 translation or paraphrase from the Hebrew.

 Isaiah's message was very clear, and in such simple terms that his hearers
 accused him of treating them like kindergarten children, learning by rote
 (Isaiah 28:9-10). God's answer was that henceforth He will speak to them
 in other words in other languages (Isaiah 6:9-10). Jesus took this up as his
 rationale for speaking in parables, rather than in plain speech (Matthew
 13:13-15). Compare 1 Corinthians 13:10-12 for Paul's context.

 hETEROGLWSSOIS does indeed imply *people* of other languages, speaking to
 them in foreign words. This was in fulfilment of Deuteronomy 28:49, taken
 as a prophecy of the forthcoming Babylonian Captivity. So perhaps Paul
 really meant "The Law" after all! Tongues don't speak; they only modify
 the stream of sounds from the speaker's vocal chords. Likewise lips don't
 speak; they provide the "labial" consonants. "Tongues" and "lips" are a
 Synecdoche, a figure of speech: the part for the whole, the bodily part for
 the whole person. "Tongues" for "Languages" is another Synecdoche. So "other
 lips" and "other tongues" is a pleonastic way of emphasising the point:
 saying a thing twice when once would do.

 ERRWSQE
 Ben

-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick@argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
 http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm

--- B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [jwrobie@mindspring.com] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-327Q@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Feb 11 2002 - 18:40:05 EST