Ephesians 4:29 ἀλλὰ εἴ

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Jonathan Robie
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Ephesians 4:29 ἀλλὰ εἴ

Post by Jonathan Robie »

πᾶς λόγος σαπρὸς ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ὑμῶν μὴ ἐκπορευέσθω, ἀλλὰ εἴ τις ἀγαθὸς πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας, ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν.
Can someone help me with the precise meaning of ἀλλὰ εἴ in this sentence?
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
cwconrad
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Re: Ephesians 4:29 ἀλλὰ εἴ

Post by cwconrad »

Jonathan Robie wrote:
πᾶς λόγος σαπρὸς ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ὑμῶν μὴ ἐκπορευέσθω, ἀλλὰ εἴ τις ἀγαθὸς πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τῆς χρείας, ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν.
Can someone help me with the precise meaning of ἀλλὰ εἴ in this sentence?
Seems to me this is another formulation with some suppressed -- presumed by the author to be obvious to the reader and therefore unstated -- elements called for in a fully grammatical expression. I think we have to start with the sense of πᾶς here as "any", and then understand εἴ τις as another "any" (λόγος) and understand ἐκπορευέσθω from the preceding clause.

Viewed thus in an expanded paraphrase, it's "Don't let any foul thought that comes into your mind leave your lips, but rather give expression to any thought that serves a helpful purpose, so as to bestow a boon on those who hear you."

I'm not much impressed by this author's efforts to make his meaning clear; this is another instance of murky expression.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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