TALAIPOROS
Edgar Krentz (ekrentz@lstc.edu)
Mon, 7 Apr 1997 15:47:58 -0600
>Romans 7:24 is Paul's TALAIPWROS EGW ANQRWPOS just ordinary
>or colloquial or literary - or is it truly grammatically striking? (I
>checked BAGD and LSJ on the Internet/Perseus, as well as several
>translations, but found my question unanswered.) The first-positioning
>of TALAIPWROS combined with using just the personal pronoun (EGW)
>instead of - or instead of in combination with - the implied stative
>verb (EIMI) made this cry of his seem really anguished to me. My
>thought: "It isn't that he simply IS a wretched man; rather, his
>identity with such is so great as to warrant omitting the equative verb
>so that to say "wretched man" is the same as to say "I."
>
>Or did I speak over-zealously when I shared in church this morning that
>I didn't find English translations had done justice to the intensity of
>Paul's exclamation?
There is always a danger of "over-interpreting" a NT phrase.
The phrase reminds one of the concluding scenes in Greek tragedy.
TALAIPOROS occurs quite often. [As does OIMOI] It is the outcry of one who
has discovered the depth of evil in one's self and expresses the depth of
his despair. The phrase sounds quite good. No EIMI is needed.
Check LSJM under the word for references to Aeschylus and other ancient
authors.
Edgar Krentz, New Testament
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 EAST 55TH STREET
CHICAGO, IL 60615
Tel: [773] 256-0752; (H) [773] 947-8105
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