From: Eric S. Weiss (eweiss@gte.net)
Date: Thu Aug 10 2000 - 09:44:34 EDT
I was reading Rev. 21:5 and wondering whether to translate it as: "Behold,
I am making all things new" or "Behold, I make all things new." This got me
thinking:
In English, if I were to answer the question, "What do you do in the
morning?" I would say:
I wake up
I get dressed
I eat breakfast
I brush my teeth
If someone was there while I was doing these things, and asked me at
appropriate intervals what I was doing, I would respond:
I am waking up
I am getting dressed
I am eating breakfast
I am brushing my teeth
I don't know if these "-ing" words are participles or gerunds (I don't
remember!), but there does seem to be a way in English, as above, to
distinguish between kind of an "aoristic" series of descriptions of
activities and a "present/continuous" description of one doing the
activities.
However, in Greek, it seems to me that BOTH listings would be rendered in
the present indicative. Hence my confusion on how "best" to translate
Revelation 21:5. What "markers" or other grammatical methods would or does
or should KOINH use to make this distinction?
(Maybe my mind is asleep and I am asking a stupid question because Greek
has an obvious way of doing this! If so, I apologize, and I'll get some
coffee!)
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