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Idiomatic εἷς τὸν ἕνα?

Posted: April 13th, 2017, 6:01 pm
by msmith1509
Is there something idiomatic about εἷς τὸν ἕνα when combined with ἀλλήλους? In 1Th 5:11 we have:

Διὸ παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε.

I have translated (in a raw sense) the above as:
"Therefore, (you, pl.) encourage one another also build up *into one* just as also (you, pl.) do."
But, I find that most translations (including Young's Literal) don't include the extra word "one".
For example: (NASB) "Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."

If the extra "into one" is a possible translation of the verse, it adds an expectation of common mind on the issues of being prepared for the parousia.

Re: Idiomatic εἷς τὸν ἕνα?

Posted: April 13th, 2017, 8:11 pm
by Jonathan Robie
msmith1509 wrote: April 13th, 2017, 6:01 pm Is there something idiomatic about εἷς τὸν ἕνα when combined with ἀλλήλους? In 1Th 5:11 we have:

Διὸ παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε.
Yes, there is something idiomatic about εἷς τὸν ἕνα, but it's not because of ἀλλήλους. I think this is a little like our idiom "each one teach one", but it's "each one build one", "build ye one the other". Compare the following:
Mark 14:19 wrote:ἤρξαντο λυπεῖσθαι καὶ λέγειν αὐτῷ εἷς κατὰ εἷς· Μήτι ἐγώ;
εἷς κατὰ εἷς = one after the other or possibly "each one".
1 Cor 4:6 wrote:Ταῦτα δέ, ἀδελφοί, μετεσχημάτισα εἰς ἐμαυτὸν καὶ Ἀπολλῶν δι’ ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἐν ἡμῖν μάθητε τό· Μὴ ὑπὲρ ἃ γέγραπται, ἵνα μὴ εἷς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἑνὸς φυσιοῦσθε κατὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου.
εἷς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἑνὸς = "not one in favor of one" in the phrase "that not one of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another."
Rev 4:8 wrote:καὶ τὰ τέσσαρα ζῷα, ἓν καθ’ ἓν αὐτῶν ἔχων ἀνὰ πτέρυγας ἕξ, κυκλόθεν καὶ ἔσωθεν γέμουσιν ὀφθαλμῶν· καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς λέγοντες· Ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος, ὁ θεός, ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος.
ἓν καθ’ ἓν = "each one" or possibly "one after the other".
1 Thess 5:11 wrote:διὸ παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε.
οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα = build ye one the other, which is parallel to παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους comfort one another.

Does that help?

Re: Idiomatic εἷς τὸν ἕνα?

Posted: April 13th, 2017, 11:02 pm
by Stephen Carlson
msmith1509 wrote: April 13th, 2017, 6:01 pm Is there something idiomatic about εἷς τὸν ἕνα when combined with ἀλλήλους? In 1Th 5:11 we have:

Διὸ παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε.

I have translated (in a raw sense) the above as:
"Therefore, (you, pl.) encourage one another also build up *into one* just as also (you, pl.) do."
But, I find that most translations (including Young's Literal) don't include the extra word "one".
For example: (NASB) "Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."

If the extra "into one" is a possible translation of the verse, it adds an expectation of common mind on the issues of being prepared for the parousia.
Look carefully at the accentuation. It's εἷς = 'one', not εἰς = 'into'. With the accentuation, there is no 'into' in the verse.

Re: Idiomatic εἷς τὸν ἕνα?

Posted: April 14th, 2017, 5:08 pm
by msmith1509
Thank you both for your insights and the correction.

Re: Idiomatic εἷς τὸν ἕνα?

Posted: April 14th, 2017, 5:22 pm
by Jonathan Robie
msmith1509 wrote: April 14th, 2017, 5:08 pm Thank you both for your insights and the correction.
One more note, you may already know this, but numbers are a little weird in Greek.

See this paradigm for declination of numerals 1-4.

Here it is for 1:

Screen Shot 2017-04-14 at 5.21.47 PM.png
Screen Shot 2017-04-14 at 5.21.47 PM.png (19.67 KiB) Viewed 4710 times