From: Iver Larsen (iver_larsen@sil.org)
Date: Wed Mar 13 2002 - 10:44:18 EST
> Would
>
> (a) EN TINI AUTHN PARABOLHi QWMEN;
> be different in emphasis from
> (b) EN TINI PARABOLHi AUTHN QWMEN; ?
>
> Would (a) give more emphasis on AUTHN, being placed earlier in the
> sentence than that of (b)?
>
> Moon
> Moon R. Jung
Well, the function of word order in Greek is still disputed. But if you ask
me, I would say that mentioning AUTHN first does give slightly more
prominence to that word as opposed to PARABOLHi.
The first half of Mark 4:30 said:
PWS hOMOIWSWMEN THN BASILEIAN TOU QEOU
followed by the second half:
H EN TINI AUTHN PARABOLHi QWMEN.
The topic is "kingdom of God" and the fact that it is a question is
prominent, first indicated by PWS and second by the fronted EN TINI (by
what). Because of the first half and especially the word hOMOIWSWMEN, the
word PARABOLHi is almost predictable and carries little semantic weight.
Therefore it tends to occur late in the clause. AUTHN coming before it,
indicates IMO that the topic of kingdom of God needs to be kept in focus.
To get the difference in nuance in English I would suggest to translate
rather freely:
(a) "by what parable can we explain this kingdom"
(b) "by what parable can we explain it".
It is not a matter of being impatient but of expressing small nuances by
word order.
Iver Larsen
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