[b-greek] Re: Mat 5:18

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Oct 27 2000 - 08:14:40 EDT


At 8:41 AM +0200 10/27/00, Blahoslav Cicel wrote:
>Hello list,
>
>in my study of Mat 5:17-20 I came to (for my beginners greek) a bit
>complicated verse 18. Jesus says:
>
>hEWS AN PARELQHi hO OURANOS KAI hH GH, IWTA hEN H MIA KERAIA OU MH PARELQHi
>APO TOU NOMOU hEWS AN PANTA GENHTAI.
>
>Am I right that hEWS AN PARELQHi hO OURANOS KAI hH GH and hEWS AN PANTA
>GENHTAI are protasis and IWTA hEN H MIA KERAIA OU ME PARELQHi APO TOU NOMOU
>is apodosis?

Yes.
>hEWS determines a time protasis (until...), but in what results hEWS AN +
>aorist subjunctive?

Of course, any AN requires a subjunctive form in the verb; and the force of
the aorist in this instance, I think, is "until such time as heaven and
earth HAVE PASSED AWAY ..."--i.e. the condition must be completed before
the result will ensue. The problem(?) here is that we appear to have a
second conditional statement in hEWS AN PANTA GENHTAI. I've always
understood that to be equivalent in force to the first conditional
statement, another way of saying the same thing, stated in order to make
the assertion OU MH PARELQHi (already couched in the most absolute possible
formulation of what will NOT happen) all the more unmistakable in its
import.

>Could we translate it this way:
>
>Until heaven and earth would disappear,
>let not the smallest letter, not a least stroke of a pen, by any means
>disappear from the Law,
>until everything would be accomplished. ("revised" NIV :-)

I'd make it, "Until heaven and earth have disappeared, until everything has
taken place, not one iota or a character-stroke will ever pass away from
the law."

--

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu

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