Matthew 10.29

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Thomas Hagen
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Matthew 10.29

Post by Thomas Hagen »

Hello everyone -
I have a question concerning Mattew 10.29.

"οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται; καὶ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ πεσεῖται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν."
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father."

My question is about the phrase "ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν" ("without your Father"). The translations are divided between "without your Father's will" and "without your Father's knowledge". I would like to know whether both ideas are possible and, if so, if there is a way to decide which translation is best in the context of this verse. (Luke 12.7 would seem to indicate the latter.)

I would also like to ask if "ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν" is standard Greek or possibly an Aramaicism. In this case, could the meaning of the underlying Aramaic aid in translation?

Thank you,
Thomas
Thomas Hagen
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Matthew 10.29

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Thomas Hagen wrote: September 8th, 2023, 11:26 am My question is about the phrase "ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν" ("without your Father"). The translations are divided between "without your Father's will" and "without your Father's knowledge". I would like to know whether both ideas are possible and, if so, if there is a way to decide which translation is best in the context of this verse. (Luke 12.7 would seem to indicate the latter.)
This is really a question about translations, not about the Greek text. You translated the Greek correctly:
"ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν" ("without your Father")
ESV translates this:
And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
The word ἄνευ is not common in the NT, but it also appears in 1 Peter 3:1:
Ὁμοίως, αἱ γυναῖκες, ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν, ἵνα, καὶ εἴ τινες ἀπειθοῦσιν τῷ λόγῳ, διὰ τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν ἀναστροφῆς ἄνευ λόγου κερδηθήσονται,
And 1 Peter 4:9:
φιλόξενοι εἰς ἀλλήλους ἄνευ γογγυσμῶν·
BDAG is quite helpful here. When ἄνευ is used of persons, it says it means "without the knowledge and consent of". When used of things, it means simply "without". That is consistent with the three uses in the GNT. BDAG gives other examples.
ἄνευ prep. w. gen., never used in compos. (Hom.+; and s. lit. s.v. ἀνά) without (cp. ἄτερ, χωρίς, fr. which it can scarcely be distinguished in usage).
ⓐ of pers. without the knowledge and consent of (Od. 2, 372; Appian, Bell. Civ. 5, 100 §416; Ael. Aristid. 28, 105 K.=49 p. 525 D.: ἄνευ θεοῦ; UPZ 69, 4 [152 B.C.] ἄνευ τ. θεῶν οὐθὲν γίνεται; PPetr II, Append. p. 3; O. Wilck I 559f). ἄ. τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν Mt 10:29 (cp. Am 3:5); ἄ. θεοῦ B 19:6; IPol 4:1 (cp. Just., D. 102, 7). IMg 7:1; ITr 2:2.
ⓑ of things (Jos., Bell. 2, 1, Ant. 7, 72, Vi. 167) ἄ. λόγου without a word (opp. διὰ τῆς ἀναστροφῆς contrast Just., A I, 46, 4 [opp. μετὰ λόγου] of non-Christians) 1 Pt 3:1. ἄ. γογγυσμοῦ without complaining 4:9. ἄ. χειρῶν (Da 2:34) built without hands Mk 13:2 D. ἄ. ζυγοῦ ἀνάγκης without the yoke of constraint (=free from the yoke of compulsion) B 2:6; ἄ. γνώμης σου without your consent IPol 4:1; ἄ. γνῶσεως without understanding Dg 12:4, 6; ἄ. ζωῆς ἀληθοῦς without real life 12:4; ἄ. ἀλήθεια without truth 12:5. W. χωρίς: οὐ δύναται κεφαλὴ χωρὶς γεννηθῆναι ἄ. μελῶν the head cannot be born separately, without limbs ITr 11:2.—DELG. M-M.

William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 78.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Matthew 10.29

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Thomas Hagen wrote: September 8th, 2023, 11:26 amI would also like to ask if "ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν" is standard Greek or possibly an Aramaicism. In this case, could the meaning of the underlying Aramaic aid in translation?
If there was an Aramaic original for Matthew, we do not have it. If I read a German text that is translated from English, I am not at all sure what the original English said. There are often multiple possibilities, with different shades of meaning, so "the original English" becomes an exercise in speculation.

My own belief is that Matthew was originally written in Greek, though Jesus spoke Aramaic. Regardless, I don't think fishing around for Aramaic is very helpful for understanding what a Greek text says unless we also have the Aramaic.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Thomas Hagen
Posts: 8
Joined: June 16th, 2023, 3:40 pm

Re: Matthew 10.29

Post by Thomas Hagen »

Thank you for the clarification concerning the meaning of "without your Father".
I was simply curious about the possibility of an Aramaicism, but all the examples you provided show clearly that it's standard Greek.
Thank you for your patient guidance,
Thomas
Thomas Hagen
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