Re: Night and Day

From: GregStffrd@aol.com
Date: Tue Feb 08 2000 - 11:03:17 EST


In a message dated 02/08/2000 5:01:41 AM Pacific Standard Time,
behrman@email.unc.edu writes:

<< 1 Clement 27:7 gives a quotation of LXX Ps. 19:1-3, which includes the
 puzzling hH hHMERA THi hHMERAi EREUGETAI RHMA KAI NUX NUKTI ANAGGELLEI
 GNWSIN. A typical translation is something like "day utters speech to day
 and night proclaims knowledge to night." But I have no idea what that
 means (i.e., in English) (and note: I'm *not* asking what the original
 Hebrew meant, but what the Greek in 1 Clement did).
 
    What would you think of something a bit more paraphrastic that, while
 still strange, can at least be construed, something like: "One day utters
 a word to another, and one night proclaims knowledge to the next"?
 
 -- Bart D. Ehrman >>

Dear Bart:

The only problem I see with your suggested translation is whether or not the
text is really suggesting that a particular day/night speaks and proclaims
knowledge to "another" DAY/NIGHT (figuratively speaking, of course). Rather,
it seems that the sense of the datives is "by day" and "by night,"
respectively, so that the idea conveyed is the regularity/consistency with
which the created heavens make known the glory and wisdom of God.

Thus, I would translate: "Day by day the firmament/sky [TO STEPEWMA] gives
forth speech [speech that DIHGOUNTAI DOXAN QEOU], and night by night it [TO
STEREWMA] proclaims [His] knowledge."

Greg Stafford

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