Re: Lk 23:43

Alan Repurk (lars@repurk.mw.com)
Thu, 01 Aug 1996 10:44:45 -0700

George Gunn wrote:
>
> Dubious theological considerations re: the identity of "paradise" aside, I
> believe it's important to consider the use of the phrase AMHN LEGW SOI in
> the Gospels. The prhase occurs 9 times in the sayings of Jesus (Mt 5:26;
> 26:34; Mk 14:30; Lk 23:43; Jn 3:3,5,11; 13:38; 21:18). Since it occurs only
> once in Lk, one can only draw conclusions from the other occurrences
> assuming the gospel writers accurately quote Jesus. I make that assumption
> though others may not. Of the other 8 occurrences, none, in my opinion, use
> any kind of adverbial qualifier for LEGW. Three of the occurrences use a
> hOTI clause immediately following the prhase, thus ruling out the
> possibility of there being an adverbial qualifier. Of the references lacking
> hOTI, only one might be considered parallel in structure (i.e. including a
> possible adverbial qualifier), viz. Jn 21:18; there, I hardly think anyone
> would consider the temporal clause hOTE HS NEWTEROS "when you were young" as
> modifying LEGW rather than EZONNUES and PERIEPATEIS. In conclusion, on
> linguistic evidence, I favor taking SHMERON in Lk 23:43 with the following
> George Gunn

I am not sure I fully understand the implications of rejecting a translation
based upon the premise that a particular construction must be found in other
texts to be valid grammar. This whole business of statistics in linquistics
puzzles me, and if anyone has and references on this subject I would be very
interested. From what little background I do have in statistics as applied to
another science, I know that the sample size available for study significantly
affects the accuracy of the premise. Because of this I opened up my search
for similar constructions in meaning.

Please forgive me if I have misunderstood the syntax, because I freely admit to
being a rank novice in Greek. Therefore I looked for a construction in Greek
which fit the criterion of 'I [Tell | say ] today' where today is not refering
to the physical 24 hour time frame, but in the context of emphasizing that 'you
better believe what I am about to say' , because the alternative of 'This is the
day I am telling you this' would appear to add no real information.

Therefore I submit the following construction to this group for criticism.

De 30:18 ANAGGELLW SOI SHMERON OTI APWLEIA APOLEISQE KAI OU MH POLUHMEROI GENHSQE
EPI THJ GHJ HJ KURIOJ O QEOJ SOU DIDWSIN SOI EIJ HN UMEIJ DIABAINETE TON IORDANHN
EKEI KLHRONOMHSAI AUTHN (lxx)

I realize that the hOTI clause removes all doubt as to how to interpret SHMERON,
but I do not know enough Greek (yet) to determine if this disqualifies my
example as a parallel construction to Luke 23:43.

Sincerely,
-lars