From: Bruce Terry (terry@bible.acu.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 12 1996 - 14:38:20 EST
On Thu, 11 Jan 1996, Kenneth Litwak wrote (in part):
>3. In II:4, pagis gar qanatou (h diglwssia, does the definite article specify
>that diglwssia is the subject and pagis is the object or vice-versa or what?
>I know this has been somewhat discussed in the context of John 1:1 but I've
>gotten lost in that discussion by the critiques of various rules about this.
The rule of thumb on this is that if one NP has the article and the other does
not, the one with the article is the subject and the one without is the
predicate nominative, regardless of word order. Exceptions are rare but
include examples where the anartharous subject is definite anyway, such as
when it is a name.
>4. Finally, II:7 says ou mishseis panta anqrwpou. I think this says
>"You shall not hate every person", while Lightfoot translates it as
>"thou shalt not hate any man". I don't think I accept translating pas as
>"any". that's what tis is for. Comments?
The rule of thumb here is to translate PAS as "any" when used with a negative.
This is because Greek PAS is used with different meaning than English "all"
with negatives. If you translate this, "You shall not hate every person,"
some English speaker is bound to say, "I don't hate every person; it's just
so-and-so that I hate."
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Bruce Terry E-MAIL: terry@bible.acu.edu
Box 8426, ACU Station Phone: 915/674-3759
Abilene, Texas 79699 Fax: 915/674-3769
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