Help with a Plutarch translation

Other Greek writings of the New Testament era, including papyri and inscriptions
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refe
Posts: 53
Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 11:16 am
Location: Kansas City

Help with a Plutarch translation

Post by refe »

Here's the text:

‘ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς, χρὴ φάναι, καὶ ἔστι κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον καὶ ἄχρονον καὶ ἀνέγκλιτον καὶ οὗ πρότερον οὐδέν ἐστιν οὐδ᾽ ὕστερον

I'm specifically drawing a blank with the function of kata in 'κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον.' I'm thinking it is being used in the sense of LSJ B. VIII - "periphrastically with abstract Subst," but I feel like I'm missing something. Is he basically saying, "There is no time but the immovable age"?
cwconrad
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Re: Help with a Plutarch translation

Post by cwconrad »

refe wrote:Here's the text:

‘ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς, χρὴ φάναι, καὶ ἔστι κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον καὶ ἄχρονον καὶ ἀνέγκλιτον καὶ οὗ πρότερον οὐδέν ἐστιν οὐδ᾽ ὕστερον

I'm specifically drawing a blank with the function of kata in 'κατ᾽ οὐδένα χρόνον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀκίνητον.' I'm thinking it is being used in the sense of LSJ B. VIII - "periphrastically with abstract Subst," but I feel like I'm missing something. Is he basically saying, "There is no time but the immovable age"?
He's speaking about the existence of God in terms of temporal duration; he is saying that God exists not in terms of any particular point in time but in terms of timeless and changeless eternity, with no temporal priority or posteriority.

I'd say that the sense of κατὰ here is "with respect to" or "with regard to" or "in terms of." He's attempting to answer the question, "How does God exist in terms of the passage of time?"
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
refe
Posts: 53
Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 11:16 am
Location: Kansas City

Re: Help with a Plutarch translation

Post by refe »

Perfect, thanks - I knew that my reading was not fitting the context, so your reply is very helpful.
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