How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek?

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David Ting
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Joined: July 9th, 2011, 9:32 am

How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek?

Post by David Ting »

I would like to translate "My commandment in righteous". I have come to two translations and don't know which one is right.

δικαιη ἡ ἐντολη μου.
ἡ ἐντολη μου ἐστιν δικαιη.

Your help is much appreciated.
Mark Lightman
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Joined: May 6th, 2011, 6:30 pm

Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by Mark Lightman »

χαιρε Δαυιδ,

ἡ εντολη μου δικαια εστιν,

δικαιον το εμον προσταγμα,

εστιν δικαιοσυνη μονον εν τῃ μου εντολῃ.

δικαιως μεν ουν κελευω.

εντελλομαι μεν, δικαιῶ δε.

ερρωσο, ω φιλε μου.
timothy_p_mcmahon
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Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

Sounds like an old Machen made-up sentence I recall from my long-ago youth.
Jason Hare
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Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

Mark Lightman wrote:χαιρε Δαυιδ,

ἡ εντολη μου δικαια εστιν,

δικαιον το εμον προσταγμα,

εστιν δικαιοσυνη μονον εν τῃ μου εντολῃ.

δικαιως μεν ουν κελευω.

εντελλομαι μεν, δικαιῶ δε.

ερρωσο, ω φιλε μου.
Wouldn't it be nice to put the accents in for a beginner? Most people need them when they read Greek.
ἡ ἐντολή μου δίκαιά ἐστιν.

δίκαιον τὸ ἐμὸν πρόσταγμα.

ἔστιν δικαιοσύνη μόνον ἐν τῇ μου ἐντολῇ.

δικαίως μὲν οὖν κελεύω.

ἐτέλλομαι μέν, δικαιῶ δέ.
Here are accents on Marcus's words, for those who need them (as I always have).
Jason A. Hare
The Hebrew Café
Tel Aviv, Israel
David Ting
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Joined: July 9th, 2011, 9:32 am

Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by David Ting »

Dear all,

Thank you for your explanation. The actual text to be translated is actually "My commandment is righteous," not "My commandment in righteous." Sorry for the mistake.

The closest one that I can understand (I am a beginner learning Greek for a few weeks) is

ἡ εντολη μου δικαια εστιν

Why it is not ἡ εντολη μου εστιν δικαια? Is there any particular rule for the placement of the present indicative ἐστιν and the adjective δικαια? Parallel to English, I tend to think of "is righteous" as εστιν δικαια.

I read from the textbook that adjective used in the predicate position makes an assertion about the noun. The example given is ἀγαθος ὁ λογος, which means "The word is good." Parallel to this, is δικαια ἡ ἐντολη μου a valid translation also?

Jason, my lecturer ignore accent in his teaching.

Thank you for bearing with me.

David
Jason Hare
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Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

david.healed wrote:Dear all,

Thank you for your explanation. The actual text to be translated is actually "My commandment is righteous," not "My commandment in righteous." Sorry for the mistake.

The closest one that I can understand (I am a beginner learning Greek for a few weeks) is

ἡ εντολη μου δικαια εστιν

Why it is not ἡ εντολη μου εστιν δικαια? Is there any particular rule for the placement of the present indicative ἐστιν and the adjective δικαια? Parallel to English, I tend to think of "is righteous" as εστιν δικαια.

I read from the textbook that adjective used in the predicate position makes an assertion about the noun. The example given is ἀγαθος ὁ λογος, which means "The word is good." Parallel to this, is δικαια ἡ ἐντολη μου a valid translation also?

Jason, my lecturer ignore accent in his teaching.

Thank you for bearing with me.

David
Word order is more fluid in Greek. It's pretty standard, though, to place the predicate adjective before the verb εἰμί. That's how we learn it as we are introduced to Greek. Nothing particularly wrong with ἡ εντολη μου εστιν δικαια, but you'd probably look for a reason that this word order would be used. It just feels better to put it the other way. You'll get used to word order things as you read more Greek.

Don't forget that Greek isn't English. ;) Not everything needs to parallel.

Where are you studying Greek?
Jason A. Hare
The Hebrew Café
Tel Aviv, Israel
David Lim
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Joined: June 6th, 2011, 6:55 am

Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by David Lim »

david.healed wrote:ἡ εντολη μου δικαια εστιν

Why it is not ἡ εντολη μου εστιν δικαια? Is there any particular rule for the placement of the present indicative ἐστιν and the adjective δικαια? Parallel to English, I tend to think of "is righteous" as εστιν δικαια.

I read from the textbook that adjective used in the predicate position makes an assertion about the noun. The example given is ἀγαθος ὁ λογος, which means "The word is good." Parallel to this, is δικαια ἡ ἐντολη μου a valid translation also?
I read someone's explanation before that since word order within a single clause typically follows emphasis, "δικαια εστιν" would be more natural as the focus is about the commandment being righteous. (John 5:30 has a similar phrase "η κρισις η εμη δικαια εστιν" = "my judgement is righteous".) "δικαια ἡ ἐντολη μου" is also valid but with a slightly different emphasis: "righteous [is] my commandment". (John 5:32 has a similar phrase "αληθης εστιν η μαρτυρια ην μαρτυρει περι εμου" = "true is the testimony which I testify about myself".) But I think the predicate is not usually put before the subject unless it is an adjective (like here) or an anarthous noun (like "ανηρ αμαρτωλος ειμι" = "[a] sinful man I am" in Luke 5:8) or an adverbial clause (like "εν αυτω ζωη ην" = "in him life was" in John 1:4), or the it is clear what the subject is (like "εκεινος ουκ ειμι" = "that [one] I am not"). "ειμι" is usually not omitted because usually it contributes the subject but "εστιν" seems to be included or excluded according to the author's style.
δαυιδ λιμ
David Ting
Posts: 24
Joined: July 9th, 2011, 9:32 am

Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by David Ting »

Word order is more fluid in Greek. It's pretty standard, though, to place the predicate adjective before the verb εἰμί. That's how we learn it as we are introduced to Greek. Nothing particularly wrong with ἡ εντολη μου εστιν δικαια, but you'd probably look for a reason that this word order would be used. It just feels better to put it the other way. You'll get used to word order things as you read more Greek.

Don't forget that Greek isn't English. ;) Not everything needs to parallel.

Where are you studying Greek?
Thank you! I understand now.

I am studying a course of Master of Divinity at Malaysia Bible Seminary, Malaysia. I am 44 years old. Learning a new language is quite a challenge to me.
David Ting
Posts: 24
Joined: July 9th, 2011, 9:32 am

Re: How to translate "My commandment is righteous." to Greek

Post by David Ting »

I read someone's explanation before that since word order within a single clause typically follows emphasis, "δικαια εστιν" would be more natural as the focus is about the commandment being righteous. (John 5:30 has a similar phrase "η κρισις η εμη δικαια εστιν" = "my judgement is righteous".) "δικαια ἡ ἐντολη μου" is also valid but with a slightly different emphasis: "righteous [is] my commandment". (John 5:32 has a similar phrase "αληθης εστιν η μαρτυρια ην μαρτυρει περι εμου" = "true is the testimony which I testify about myself".) But I think the predicate is not usually put before the subject unless it is an adjective (like here) or an anarthous noun (like "ανηρ αμαρτωλος ειμι" = "[a] sinful man I am" in Luke 5:8) or an adverbial clause (like "εν αυτω ζωη ην" = "in him life was" in John 1:4), or the it is clear what the subject is (like "εκεινος ουκ ειμι" = "that [one] I am not"). "ειμι" is usually not omitted because usually it contributes the subject but "εστιν" seems to be included or excluded according to the author's style.
Thank you for providing an explanation on the reason which such a word order is used.
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