From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Wed Sep 15 1999 - 19:32:53 EDT
At 4:45 PM -0400 9/15/99, Bryan Rocine wrote:
>B-Greeks,
>I think DE is a significant connective in Gk discourse,
>right? Why do about half of the twenty or so Eng
>translations I checked *not* translate it in Luke 17:7? I
>ask because it seems to me that when the translators ignore
>the particle here, they weaken a more explicit connection
>between Jesus' description of the unprofitable servant and
>the apostles' request, "Increase our faith!" Making use of
>the connective DE, I suggest an outline vv. 5-10 as follows:
>
>Request:
>"Increase our faith"
>
>2-fold Reply:
>A. Faith's possibilities (mustard seed analogy)
>DE ("but")
>B. Believer's responsibility (unprofitable servant analogy)
>
>What DE ye think?
Lk 17:5 KAI EIPAN hOI APOSTOLOI TWi KURIWi, "PROSQES hHMIN PISTIN. (6)
EIPEN DE hO KURIOS, "EI ECETE PISTIN hWS KOKKON SINAPEWS, ELEGETE AN THi
SUKAMINWi, 'EKRIZWQHTI KAI FUTEUQHTI EN THi QALASSHi, KAI hUPHKOUSEN AN
hUMIN. (7) TIS DE EX hUMWN DOULON ECWN AROTRIWNTA H POIMAINONTA, hOS
EISELQONTI EK TOU AGROU EREI AUTWi, 'EUQEWS PARELQWN ANAPESE, ...'"
The problem with DE is that it is generally a pretty WEAK connector, one
which may have about the force of an English comma or semicolon connecting
two clauses. It's more forceful if there's MEN in the preceding clause.
Another factor here is that it is the nature of the beast that is the Greek
language to require connective particles in a regular sequence of
discourse, and the weakest of such links is a DE. The beast that is the
English language has no such requirement. In this instance, I'm inclined to
think that when 17:6 ends with "and it would have heeded you," a more
forceful disjunction such as the DE implies in the Greek is actually
created by NOT translating the DE, i.e., by continuing straight on with,
"Which of you who has a slave who is plowing or tending a flock ... ?"
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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