From: Steven R. Lo Vullo (doulos@chorus.net)
Date: Sat Nov 25 2000 - 23:47:45 EST
On 11/25/00 8:29 PM, Rob Somers wrote:
> Ok then, simply what I would like to know is this: -- what is with the [;]
> in this passage? It is not in my UBS GNT -- however, my NASB translates
> this as a question. Is it a question James asking, or a statement?
Rob,
I consulted a multitude of translations (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NLT, NIV, RSV,
NRSV, NJB, NAS, NAS '95, NAB), and each one translated interrogatively
except NJB. (This, of course, proves nothing more than that more scholars
seem to prefer the interrogative approach.) I don't know for sure, but I
think the justification has to do with the pronoun TIS. As you know, TIS,
absent any clue of accentuation, may be either an interrogative pronoun or
an indefinite pronoun. Remember, though, that the original MSS had no
accents, so accentuation in some cases can be iffy. (Yes, "iffy" is a word;
I looked it up!) If TIS is taken as an interrogative pronoun, we have a
question: "Who is sick among you?" Perhaps this idiomatically means "Is
anyone sick among you?" If so, this would call for the action indicated by
the following imperatives.
On the other hand, if my reaction to the text is representative of the
thinking of others, it is hard to see how TIS can here be part of a nominal
clause as subject of PROSKALESASQW, since TIS is the subject of an
indicative verb, giving us "Someone is sick among you." This seems forced as
the subject of PROSKALESASQW. I think it would have been be more natural, if
a nominal phrase had been intended, to use a participial phrase such as TIS
ASQENWN or hO ASQENWN (cf. 1 Cor 1.31). The indefinite relative pronoun
hOSTIS with the indicative verb would also seem to make better sense under
this scenario. Of course, it is always dangerous to surmise what someone
"could have said" or what would have been "more natural to say," so I may be
way off here. Therefore, I look forward to the comments of others who are
far more knowledgeable than I in these matters. I just have fun thinking of
the possibilities and learning from others.
Steve Lo Vullo
---
B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [jwrobie@mindspring.com]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-327Q@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:36:42 EDT