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Re: Martha and Mary
grayt1@jupiter.netdepot.com asked:
>In John 11, both Martha and Mary speak similar things to Jesus: "Lord, if
>you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died." In all the english
>versions I've seen, the sentences are identical. But in Greek, the word
>order is different:
>11:21: [Martha] Kyrie, ei Es hOde, ouk an apethanen ho adelphos mou.
>11:32: [Mary] Kyrie, ei Es hOde, ouk an mou apethanen ho adelpos.
>The 'mou' is in different places. What nuance does that convey?
>Gray
There would be a slight difference in emphasis depending on which word
(ADELFOS or MOU) is in the final position. Final position normally gives a
word more emphasis. It may mean that Martha was thinking of her own loss
while Mary, of her brother's having lost his life. At any rate, the
difference is very slight.
One should also note that there are also textual variants of the word
order in v. 21 which would, if adopted, give yet other emphases.
David Moore