From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Mon Jun 23 1997 - 08:09:24 EDT
At 7:47 AM -0400 6/23/97, Josef Lowder wrote:
>To: b-greek@virginia.edu
>Subject: 2 Corinthians 9:7 "God loves"?
>
>ekastos kaqws proaireitai th kardia mh ek luphs h ex anagkhs
>each as purposes the heart not of sorrow or of necessity
>
>ilaron gar dothn agapa o qeos
>cheerful for giver loves God
>
>What criteria of Greek grammatical construction warrants or requires
>the translation "for God loves [a] cheerful giver" (as seems to be an
>almost universal translation in most English texts) ... rather than
>"for [the] cheerful giver loves God" ?
>
>Why is the translation "for the cheerful giver loves God" not equally
>or more viable, and would that not be more consistent with the context?
This is a rather simple matter of basic Greek grammar rather than of
interpretation of the writer's underlying intentions: the form DOTHN can
only be an accusative sg. noun and in this context can only be the
grammatical object of the verb AGAPAi, while the form hO QEOS can only be a
nominative sg. noun and in the context can only be the grammatical subject
of AGAPAi.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(704) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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