Re: Verses which need to be read in the Grk

From: Jim West (jwest@Highland.Net)
Date: Thu Dec 31 1998 - 11:16:09 EST

At 02:11 PM 12/31/98 -0600, you wrote:

>Jim: what would you say about the particularly edifying nature of reading
>the following sentence in Greek--rather than in the KJV?
>
>John 11:35 EDAKRUSEN hO IHSOUS.

Okie dokie- I'll bite...

Generally this is rendered with the rather dull "Jesus wept". I take
edakrusen as a first aorist active indicative, 3rd singular. Further, I
believe it to be an ingressive aorist= making a translation something
like.... "burst into tears". hO I take as the definite article (!)-
attached to the subject- Ihsous.
This "Jesus" is the one who "burst into tears". Indeed- BAG also translate
it in this very way!!! (and I didn't even look there first...!!!!) (chuckling).

Moulton and Milligan have "dakruw survives today, with ptc. dakrusmenos =
'red with weeping'. It may be quoted from Preisigke 373, an undated
tombstone, magna, se thanousan pasa gh dakrusatw".

The noun occurs in Heb 5:7- and as Moloney points out in his Sacra Pagina
commentary on John- "significantly in the passage on Jesus' loud cries and
tears".

There is, then, more than meets the English eye here (as is true
everywhere). It is not so that the gospel portrays Jesus as snivelling a
bit and having some tear or two drip down his beard- rather we have here a
word that denotes real gut wrenching- making the eye red- end of life cuz
some loved one is dead crying.

I can certainly appreciate that on the surface it appears that such little
verses are simply there and nothing really is gained by an understanding of
the underlying greek text. I disagree with that perception however and
again reiterate my earlier point that without a good grasp of the language-
one simply cannot see all the cool stuff that is there.

Best, and happy new year to all.

Jim

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jim West, ThD
Quartz Hill School of Theology

jwest@highland.net 

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