Luke 14:26 (A matter of emphasis perhaps)

From: Danny Andre' Dixon (bereandad@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Jan 12 2000 - 09:30:54 EST


<x-flowed>On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, Roger Hutchinson wrote:

<<Luke 14:26 has--
EI TIS ERXETAI PROS ME KAI OU MISEI TON PATERA AUTOU....OU DUNATAI EINAI MOU
MAQHTHS.
<<My question is whether the location of MOU in the above makes a difference
if it is placed before MAQHTHS or after.
<<The verse appears to state a qualifying condition that one must meet in
order to become a disciple.
<<If the purpose of the verse was instead to describe one characteristic of
a disciple, would one write OU DUNATAI EINAI MAQHTHS MOU? If not, how would
one write the verse in order to describe a characteristic of a disciple
rather than a condition one must meet before one can become a disciple?>>

My Response:

The possibility occurs to me that perhaps Luke places MATHETES at the end of
the verse because that would be the best placement to indicate the emphatic
use of the substantive. I would think this would be so since he does deal
with this issue in two other verses (14:27, 33). In addition, if he is NOT
speaking emphatically, I would think he is trying to say something like this
in verse 25: "Discipleship with respect to me requires that any
relationship--father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters--must be
hated if it would assume the position that I reserve for myself." (A loose
dynamic equivalence translation to be sure.)

Also remember that the language IS capable of saying that Jesus must be
loved more:

HO PHILON PATERA E MATERA HUPER EME OUK ESTIN MOU AXIOS. KAI HO PHILON HUION
E THUGATERA HUPER EME OUK ESTIN MOU AXIOS: "The one who loves father or
mother above me is not worthy of me. And the one who loves son or daughter
above me is not worthy of me." (Mt. 10:37).

That is a rather emphatic statement in and of itself. Yet Luke even uses the
stronger language.

________________________________
Danny Andre' Dixon
M.A. Bible and Related Studies,
Abilene Christian University

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