Not all plurals are plural

In our Hebrew Reading Group today we came across what appeared to be a confusing grammatical situation.  In proverbs 1:9 the text is:
כִּי לִוְיַת חֵן הֵם לְרֹאשֶׁךָ וַעֲנָקִים לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶיךָ׃
   The confusing part is that the last word לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶיךָ if taken by it's form means "on your necks".  This doesn't agree with all the previous verses and the first half of verse 9 where the addressee is spoken of in the singular.  I looked this up in Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar and in "An Introduction To Biblical Hebrew Syntax" by Waltke and O'Connor.  It turns out that neck (or outside of the neck as this Hebrew word means) is a plural of extension.  Gesenius calls it "local extension" and Waltke calls it just "extension".  It is found in section 124 of Gesenius' grammar. Here is what he writes:

The plural is by no means used in Hebrew solely to express a number of individuals or separate objects, but may also denote them collectively. This use of the plural expresses either (a) a combination of various external constituent parts (plurals of local extension), or (b) a more or less intensive focusing of the characteristics inherent in the idea of the stem (abstract plurals, usually rendered in English by forms in -hood, -ness, -ship). A variety of the plurals described under (b), in which the secondary idea of intensity or of an internal multiplication of the idea of the stem may be clearly seen, is (c) the pluralis excellentiae or pluralis maiestatis.

 (a): Plurals of local extension denote localities in general, but especially level surfaces (the surface-plural), since in them the idea of a whole composed of innumerable separate parts or points is most evident.

Some of the examples he gives are the Hebrew words for sea, face, back, neck (a different word than the one in Prov 1), place around the head, place around the feet, place on the other side of a river, bed... etc..  We spoke about the Hebrew word for blood (because it also occurs here and is always plural) and it appears that blood is also a plural of local extension.

     Here is what Waltke and O'Conner have in their book- "Plurals of Extension indicate that the referent of the noun is inherently large or complex;the plural quality is the result not of countable multiplicity  but of a multiplicity that is nonetheless perceived as real."  

     They go on to give some examples of how we use this in English.  Literal words like...  waters, guts...  metaphorical words like brains, wits, looks...   and abstract words thanks, amends, auspices"  It is interesting to me how we use these words in English without thinking about the plural forms because we are native speakers of the language...  we certainly are not thrown for a loop like we were when we encountered them in our Hebrew reading.

Colossians 1:1

1 Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφὸς

Παῦλος -  noun Nom sing. masc.   "Paul" (nominative absolute  aka. Independent Nominative)

ἀπόστολος -noun  nom sing. masc.  (simple apposition) "an apostle"

Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ - noun Genitive sing. masc.  2x  "of Christ Jesus"  (genitive of possession)

διὰ  -  prep. with the genative ③ marker of instrumentality or circumstance whereby someth. is accomplished or effected, by, via, through^[1]ⓓ of efficient cause via, "through"

θελήματος - noun Genitive sing. neuter  "desire, wish" (genitive after the prep.)

θεοῦ- noun genitive sing. masc. "of God" (subjective genitive)

καὶ -  conj. "and"  (copulative)

Τιμόθεος - Noun nom. sing. masc.  "Timothy" (nominative absolute)

ὁ ἀδελφὸς  - noun nom. sing. masc.  with the definite article  "the brother"  (simple apposition)

Translation- "Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God and Timothy the brother."

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^[1] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (224). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Psalm 1:2b

Matthew 5:3

Matthew 5:3 Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι,
ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.



Μακάριοι adj nominative plural. "blessed, happy" I decided to use the word blessed in my translation because I feel that this term often has a specialized usage in the New Testament(and in this context).. where God is the agent of blessing and the applicable human is the recipient of the blessing from the agent of blessing (God). Happy just seemed to weak of a word to use in this instance and could very very easily lead to a misunderstanding of what Jesus was saying. It is interesting to notice the parallel between Makapios and the use of Blessed in the Hebrew Old Testament (even in the Psalm I have been translating).
I'm going to classify this as a adjective used substantively. I'm going to put the being verb in my translation for fluidity in English.

here are some additional notes I saw on the word.
The special feature of the group μακάριος, μακαρίζειν, μακαρισμός in the NT is that it refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive religious joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the kingdom of God. Thus the verb μακαρίζειν, which occurs only twice in the NT, is used in Lk. 1:48 of the blessing of the mother of the Messiah by all generations (Lk. 11:27), and in Jm. 5:11 of the righteous who endure (ὑπομείναντας). The noun μακαρισμός is found only 3 times, at Gl. 4:15 for the blessedness of receiving the message of salvation, and at R. 4:6, 9 with reference to the remission of sins. In both passages it is used almost technically by Paul. μακάριος is very common in the NT, and it is used almost always in direct beatitudes.40 As in the Gk. world and the OT the reference is to persons. Only occasionally is it to things, e.g., individual members of the body (Mt. 13:16: ὀφθαλμοί, ὦτα; Lk. 11:27: κοιλία, μαστοί).

Here is an interesting not on the paradoxical nature of the Blessings stated in Matthew. This parodixical nature is one of the features of the statements that really causes them to stand out and draw our attention to the statements being made.

Thus the NT beatitudes often contain sacred paradoxes (Mt. 5:3 ff.; Lk. 6:20–22; 1 Pt. 3:14; 4:14; Rev. 14:13). This is particularly true of the striking beatitudes which obviously formed the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount in the very earliest tradition. In the impressive form of beatitudes basic statements are here made about those who may regard themselves as citizens of the kingdom of God. The power of the statements lies in their reversal of all human values. In Lk. the beatitudes consist more of eschatological consolation. Men in certain circumstances, the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated, are promised the blessings of the kingdom of God. In Mt. the factor of their own moral and religious conduct is more prominent, and the connection between right conduct and heavenly recompense is emphasised.

. Vol. 4: Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964- (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (368). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.



οἱ πτωχοὶ nominative plural (nominative predicate) 1. poor, beggarly, destitute

2. of little value, relatively worthless


τῷ πνεύματι noun dative singular "in the spirit"





here is an important not on the Greek idiom that is present in the text here

88.57 πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι: (an idiom, literally ‘poor in spirit’) pertaining to one who is humble with regard to his own capacities (in the one NT occurrence, namely, Mt 5:3, this humility is in relationship to God)—‘to be humble.’ μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι ‘happy are those who are humble before God’ Mt 5:3. A literal translation of πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι may lead to serious misunderstanding, since ‘poor in spirit’ is likely to mean either ‘lacking in the Holy Spirit’ or ‘lacking in ambition or drive.’ In order to indicate clearly that this poverty or need is related in some way to spiritual realities, one may translate ‘happy are those who recognize their need of God.’

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (748). New York: United Bible Societies.


The fact that this is a Greek idiom makes this a difficult potion to translate. I'm not sure if i like just translating it "poor in spirit", because this is pretty hard to understand and again easy to misinterpret. I think I am going to go with "spiritually destitute" I think this translation preserves the meaning of the Greek idiom and also fits well with the contrast between poverty (spiritually) now and the Kingdom that these poor will inherit. I like the word destitute because it seems to emphasize the needy the man is without the false negative connotations that other words might be misunderstood to be saying.

So here is my translation of the first half of the verse
wooden - blessed ones (are) the poor in the spirit.
my final translation- "Blessed are the spiritually destitute"

ὅτι - conjunction "for"

αὐτῶν- personal pronoun 3rd person plural genitive masculine "of them" I'm thinking this is the predicate use of the genitive case

ἐστιν - present active indicative third person singular from the being verb εἰμί

ἡ βασιλεία noun nominative singular femin. "the kingdom" (nominative predicate)

τῶν οὐρανῶν noun genitive plural masculine "of the heavens" (Subjective Genitive)

wooden translation- 'blessed ones (are) the poor in spirit, for of them is the kingdom of the heavens."

Final translation "Blessed are the spiritually destitute, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"

I really didn't like just leaving it "theirs is the kingdom..., but I didn't want to add any extra words to try to make it sound smother and make the verse potentially say more than it does in the Greek"

Psalm 1:2a

כִּי אִמ בְּתֹורַת יְהוָה חֶפְצֹו וּבְתֹורָתֹו יֶהְגֶּה יֹוםָם וָלָיְלָה

כִּי אִמ- After a neg. but is expressed by כִּי אִם, Gen. 32:29 לֹא יַֽעֲקֹב ··· כִּי אִם יִשְׂרָאֵל not Jacob but Israel. 1 S. 21:5, 2 K. 23:9, Jer. 16:14, 15. Or simply by כִּי, Gen. 45:8 לֹא אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם כִּי א׳ it is not you who sent but God. 1 K. 21:15, 2 Chr. 20:15.

The two conjunctions go together here, after the negatives in the first verse to contrast with the statement about to be made in verse 2

בְּתֹורַת יְהוָה - in the Torah of God. Prefixed prep בְּ "in" (location) - the noun Torah is made definite by the definiteness of "YHWH" . Torah could be translated "law or instruction".. but I think it is a specialized term that may be best translated (at least for my purposes) as Torah. I'm going to label this construct pair as either a subjective genitive or as a possessive genitive. I wasn't sure which to chose... they both made sense to me.

חֶפְצֹו- noun singular "delight, joy, pleasure" - with a pronominal suffix attached to the end (3ms suffix) "his"... I'm going to add the word "is" here in my english translation so it makes a little more sense and flows a little better. So it goes from "but in the Torah of YHWH his pleasure" to (after a little moving around) "but his pleasure is in the Torah of YHWH". I'm not sure if I will move the translation around this way or if I will leave it closer to the way the Hebrew has it structured. The Psalms seems to emphasis the importance of God's Torah and I kind of think that perhaps the phrase "in the Torah of YHWH is placed in the beginning of the phrase in order to draw attention to the phrase. So I may translate it "But in the Torah of YHWH is his joy" I am also not sure which word I will use for חֶפְצֹ "joy, pleasure, or delight" Right now I am leaning toward either delight or joy."

I heard a great illustration from my Greek professor from Moody just last week. He was discussing the practice in Greek (but it also happens in Hebrew) of placing a word out of the normal order for the purpose of drawing attention to the word. He said (not an exact quote), "Suppose you were coming over to my house for a visit and I had just purchased a lovely new chair for my living room that I wanted you to complement me on. During your whole visit you did not even once comment on my new chair. The next time you come for a visit I place the chair in a new spot, so that perhaps you will comment on it during your second visit. This time, when you visit, I place the chair on top of my kitchen table. Will you miss it this time?"

More notes on Psalm 1:1

אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ* אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמֹושַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב

A. Here are some figures of speech used in this first verse of Psalm 1.

1. I already made reference to the apparent degregation of the action in the first verse... it goes from walk to stand to sitting. An argument has also been made by some (EW Bullinger in his book "Figures of Speech used in the Bible" pg 429) that this form of Anabasis (aka. Gradual Ascent) is also used in the character of the evil people described. Here is what he wrote, "The first are impious, as to their mind. The second are sinners, who not only think, but carry out the workings of their evil minds. The third are scorners, glorying in their wickedness and scoffing at righteousness."

2. Enantiosis (aka. Contraries) Enantiosis is similiar to antithesis, where two thoughts are placed in contrast to each other in order to make the contrast more striking and to emphasize it. Enantiosis is used when negative and affirmations are used in contrast. In this case the negative in verse one is used in contrast to the affirmation in verse two.. to further instruct us how to live a righteous men and women.

B. I am taking the prefixed preposition בְ in the locative sense meaning in/on.

C. The nouns that are in construct do not have definite articles prefixed to them in any part of the construct chains. I listened to my friend Marty talk about this in the Hebrew class that he taught (second term class 2 part 1 located here for download). His discussion interested me so much I had to stop the class and look up the use of definite articles in construct chains in Waltke and Oconnor's book "Biblical Hebrew Syntax". They noted that in poetic writtings the definite article does not appear at times when it is expected... and grammatically should appear. I am guessing that is what is happening here.

Applications

1. I want the blessing of the Lord.

2. Bad company corrupts good morals. Be careful who and what I allow to be in the sphere of where I walk, stand and sit (both literally and figuratively). When I can't avoid being in the presence of evil men, scoffers, etc... make sure i am not allowing them to be my influence.

3. Moral degradation is a path.. a slippery slope. Once you start down it, it leads further down.

אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃

test

Psalm 1:1b

וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃

וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ- conjunction "and" - prefixed prep "in" - "way, path, route, road, highway", i.e., a thoroughfare to physically get from one place to another (Ge 16:7), note: context will provide the size of the pathway, ranging from a narrow path to a major thoroughfare

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

This word is in construct with the word that follows.. thus allowing it to have definiteness

חַ֭טָּאִים noun masc plural "sinner, wicked person", i.e., a class of persons that offend a standard, and so incur moral guilt (Ge 13:13; Nu 17:3[EB 16:38]; 1Sa 15:18; Ps 1:1, 5; 25:8; 26:9; 51:15[EB 13]; 104:35; Pr 1:10; 13:21; 23:17; Isa 1:28; 13:9; 33:14; Am 9:10+)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

At my first glance of this form, I made a rookie mistake in my head... I mistook the חַ֭ for a הַ and didn't realize until I looked it up which guttural it really was. It was part of the root and not a prefixed definite article.

לֹ֥א - "no, not"

עָמָ֑ד - verb perfect 3MS "he (does not) stand"

וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב conj. "and' - Prefixed prep. in - noun masc singular..

"dwelling, settlement", i.e., a place to live (Ge 10:30); 2. LN 80.1–80.4 place, site, i.e., a location (1Sa 20:25; Eze 8:3); 3. LN 6.106–6.117 "seat", i.e., a place where one sits (1Sa 20:18, 25; 1Ki 10:5); 4. LN 6.106–6.117 throne, i.e., a chair of a king, as a representation of his power (Eze 28:2); 5. LN 67.142–67.162 time interval, i.e., an indefinite period of time (Ex 12:40); 6. LN 63.13–63.20 household members, i.e., those who dwell in residence, who are part of a larger whole (2Sa 9:12); 7. LN 11.12–11.54 unit: מֹושָׁב זָקֵן (mô∙šāḇ zā∙qēn)2 council member, i.e., a ruling socio-religious ruling group (Ps 107:32), note: for NIV text in Eze 37:23, see 5412; 8. LN 7.2–7.25 unit: בַּיִת מֹושָׁב (bǎ∙yiṯ mô∙šāḇ) house, formally, house of dwelling, i.e., a construction where one lives (Lev 25:29)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

This noun is in construct with the participle that follows thus giving it definiteness.

לֵ֝צִ֗ים - verb qal participle masc plural "the ones who mock"

mock, scorn, formally, talk big, i.e., speak words which show no respect for the object, and make fun of the object, with a possible focus of speaking in the situation with confidence and authority (Pr 9:12+); (polel ptcp.) scorner (Hos 7:5+), note: for another parsing, see 4372.5; (hif) mock (Ps 119:51; Pr 3:34; 14:9; 19:28+),

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

לֹ֣א - "no, not"

יָשָֽׁב - Verb qal perf. 3MS "he (does not) sit.

I didn't really want to change the word order of the Hebrew verbs in my translation so I offer the translation in 2 forms. One has a few words adjusted (to make sense in English), the the verbs appear in the sequence they are in the Hebrew text... and the second is in smother English.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and in the path of sinners he does not stand, and in the seat of mockers he does not sit." (verb order kept)

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and does not stand in the path of sinners, and does not sit in the seat of mockers" (a little bit smother, with verb order changed and the word he not repeated)

note-- I could not decide whether to translate the second phrase "in the path" or "on the path". On the path makes more sense in English, but in the path assists in capturing the Hebrew parallelism (plus the same prefixed preposition is used in all three phrases in Hebrew... so I thought that I would try to keep it consistent in my English translation

note-- a lot of translations use the word "scoffers" in this verse, but that's not a word I use much in real life, so I went with "mockers" ... Scoffers just didn't make the cut in the JCV- Joel Conley Version... hey it's my translation, so don't mock me :-)

How to Cheat in Biblical Hebrew

Here is a graph on the number of occurrences of each Hebrew Verb Binyan in the Old Testament. As you can see the vast majority of occurrences are in the Qal Binyan. Years ago, I taught a kindergarten boy in Sunday School, and every question you asked he would answer with "Jesus". If you asked who died for our sins, he would answer "Jesus". If you asked who built an ark, he would answer "Jesus". If you asked, who discovered America, he would answer "Jesus". He had learned through observation that whenever a question is asked in church... odds are, the answer is probably Jesus. As an intelligent Hebrew student... you too can play the odds.. when parsing a verb, just say Qal and odds are.. you will be golden.

Psalm 1:1a

אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים

אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי -Blessed (Happy)

הָאִ֗ישׁ- def article + man

אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀- relative pronoun - who, which, that

לֹ֥א - no, not

הָלַךְ֮- verb Qal 3Masc. Singular "go, come, walk

בַּעֲצַ֪ת prep+ noun in construct, in + counsel, advice

II. עֵצָה constr. עֲצַת (from the root יַעַץ to counsel, for יְעֵצָה), f.

(1) counsel—(a) which any one gives or receives, 2 Sam. 16:20; 1 Ki. 1:12; Ps. 119:24, אַנְשֵׁי עֲצָתִי “my counsellors.” Used of predictions, Isa. 44:26, compare 41:28 (root No. 4).^[2]

עֵצָה (ʿē∙ṣā(h)): n.fem.; ≡ Str 6098; TWOT 887a—1. LN 33.294–33.298 advice, counsel, i.e., the act. of telling someone what they should do based on a plan or scheme (2Sa 15:34), plan, scheme, purpose, i.e., to think about a course of action, often including consultation with a counselor or advisor (Ps 14:6)^[3] From TWOT (Theological Wordbook of the OT)

רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים- noun masc. plural "wicked, guilty (before God)"

1. usually as subst., one guilty of crime, deserving punishment; sometimes also wicked;. 2. guilty of hostility to God or his people, wicked enemies: . 3. guilty of sin, against either God or man, wicked: from רָשָׁע

My Translation: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked,

*note- I think "counsel of the wicked" is a better translation, but "advice" seems like more natural language for me personally... although probably not for most people... and since it's my translation, I get to pick.

*note- I chose to stick with the word "man" instead of "person" or "one", even thought the clear sense here is "person" or "one". I did this because in other Bible verses translating the term "man" becomes an interpretive issue and not simply a translation issue. And to me and the way I have always read English man can either mean "male" or "human" depending on the context. Since this is the case in both English and Hebrew I choose to leave the translation as "man", although I know that perhaps using "man" for mankind is becoming a bit archaic.

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^[2] Gesenius, W., & Tregelles, S. P. (2003). Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (647). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[3] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Hebrew Parallelism

Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked and does not stand in the way of sinners and does not sit in the seat of scoffers"

With just looking at the text from the first verse of the first Psalm.... You can get a great idea of the concept of Parallelism that is used in Hebrew wisdom literature. One line repeats the concept expressed in the previous line, but states it in a different manner. The repetition can be done in a variety of ways so that there is actually a progression of thought between the two phrases. The first part of psalm 1 actually contains 3 parallel lines. I have made a handy dandy chart to display the parallelism:

Action

Place (literal or conceptual)

Person

Walk	Counsel (bad)	Wicked
Stand	Way	Sinners
Sit	Seat	Scoffers

Perhaps there is a progression between the three verbs walk-stand-sit... where walking among the wicked would be bad.. standing with the wicked would be worse... and sitting with the wicked would be even worse. It sounds good, but I'm not willing to go out on a limb with that, I'll just leave it at "perhaps"

Psalm 1 verse 1 from 21 years ago

Psalm 1 outline from 21 years ago

Hebrew Plans

For my Hebrew, I plan on working my way through Psalm 1. My friend Marty is going through Psalm 1 here. I am a quite a bit behind him (only at verse 1), but that's good... that means I can cheat off of him :-) I translated Psalm 1 20 years ago when I was studying Hebrew at Moody.. so I'm excited that the psalm can be a bridge between my Hebrew from 20 years ago and what I am studying now. As far as my method for translating... first I will go through the verse without any tools, so I can improve with my Hebrew reading skills... maybe I will note some of the forms that gave me trouble. Then I will use my Bible software and some Hebrew tools I own and do a sloppy exegesis (hopefully only sloppy in form) of the verse and make some comments on it. I plan on putting some of the information I research using my Logos Bible software on this blog. I have looked a little, but have not found any guidelines to make sure I am with in fair use of my software when I post things from it online. If I find out that I am not I may have to adjust how I post that information. I am doing this blog for my own accountability in Bible study and in all likelihood, I may be the only one reading this, but based on the nature of the internet I want to make sure I am doing what is right... I also may copy paste the verses from Logos until I learn how to type in Greek and Hebrew on my PC. The offline tool I am most excited about using is a Hebrew Syntax book by Ronald Williams that I bought like 22 years ago.. so if I use that book too much, I apologize in advance.

First verse on the Blog

Since indeed many set out* to put together an account concerning the events that have been fulfilled* among you,

WORD BY WORD

Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition

Luke 1:1

Ἐπειδήπερ πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρησαν ἀνατάξασθαι διήγησιν περὶ τῶν πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων, | NA27

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us | ESV

Ἐπειδήπερ Epeidēper Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

ἐπειδήπερ epeidēper inasmuch as, since

conjunction, adverbial causal

Louw-Nida because

DBL Greek because

Greek-English Dict. of N.T. inasmuch as, since

Notes

markers of cause or reason, often with the implication of a relevant temporal element—‘because, since, for, inasmuch as.’ ἐπειδή epeidē; from 1893 and 1211; when now, seeing that:—because(2), since(5), when(1). *(plus+)* περ per; enclitic particle akin to 4012; indeed (adds force to the preceding word):—if*(2).

conj. -- causual conjunction

translation- because indeed, since indeed

This word may be read as either Causal subordinate clause or Explanatory subordinate clause.

Words Modified by Ἐπειδήπερ

• subordinate-conjunctive relation: The word Ἐπειδήπερ modifies εδοχε (verb) in Lk 1:3, word 1 (εδοχε is outside of the current clausal unit).

πολλοὶ polloi Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

πολύς polys many

adjective, nominative, plural, masculine

Louw-Nida (See also; many; much; great; πολύς; for a long time; (very) late

DBL Greek many; much; great

TDNT

Notes

a relatively large quantity of objects or events—‘many, a great deal of, a great number of.

adj.-- subst.

nom--- subject

Syntactic Force: This word functions as Numberical adjective and Ordinal (number) adjective and Substantival adjective and Subject.

ἐπεχείρησαν epecheirēsan Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

ἐπιχειρέω epicheireō endeavor, try

verb, aorist, active, indicative, third person, plural

Louw-Nida try

DBL Greek try to

Greek-English Dict. of N.T. undertake, attempt, try

Notes

‎to undertake to do something, but not necessarily without success—‘to try, to undertake.

‎

‎ ἐπιχειρέω epicheireō; from 1909( ἐπί epi; a prim. prep.; on, upon:) and 5495( χείρ cheir; a prim. word; the hand:) ; to put one’s hand to, hence to attempt:—attempted(1), attempting(1), undertaken(1). to put ones hand on a thing, to put ones hand to a work, set to work at, attempt

‎

Luke 1:1

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us,

Acts 9:29

And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.

Acts 19:13

But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

aorist --- collective (Constative ---wallace-- lumps together many.. ephansis on the events as a whole)

active--- simple

transl- set out, put their hands to, undertaken, attempted, tried

‎

‎

‎

‎

ἀνατάξασθαι anataxasthai Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

ἀνατάσσομαι anatassomai organize in a series

verb, aorist, middle, infinitive, deponent

Louw-Nida compile

DBL Greek compile

Greek-English Dict. of N.T. compile, draw up, write

Notes

infin-- telic/purpose

‎to organize a series of items—‘to organize (a report), to arrange, to compile, to put together

‎

‎ἀνατάσσομαι anatassomai; from 303 and 5021; to arrange in order:—

‎

trans -- to organize, to compile, to arrange in order, to put together.

‎

‎

διήγησιν diēgēsin Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

διήγησις diēgēsis narrative

noun, accusative, singular, feminine

Louw-Nida narration

DBL Greek narration

TDNT

Notes

‎a discourse consisting of an orderly exposition or narration—‘account, report, narration.’

‎In a number of languages it may be necessary to represent the meaning of διήγησις by qualifying the type of writing, for example, ‘many have undertaken to write carefully about what has taken place among us.’ Other equivalent expressions might be ‘to write in detail.’

‎

‎ot uses JgsA7,15; JgsB5,14; Hab 2,6; 2 Mc 2,32; 6,17

‎Contained in: Infinitival Clause

‎Syntactic Force: Direct object

‎acc.- direct obj.

an account, a report, a narration

fr. net notes

2 2 tn This is sometimes translated “narrative,” but the term itself can refer to an oral or written account. It is the verb “undertaken” which suggests a written account, since it literally is “to set one’s hand” to something (BDAG 386 s.v. ἐπιχειρέω). “Narrative” is too specific, denoting a particular genre of work for the accounts that existed in the earlier tradition. Not all of that material would have been narrative.

translation- an account, a report

‎

περὶ peri Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

περί peri about, concerning

preposition, genitive

Louw-Nida around (location); about (content); about (time); because (reason); on behalf of (benefaction); with (association); with regard to (specification)

DBL Greek around; about; about; because; on behalf of; with; with regard to

TDNT

Notes

περίb (with the genitive); ὑπέρb (with the genitive): markers of general content, whether of a discourse or mental activity—‘concerning, about, of.’περίb : γνώσεται περὶ τῆς διδαχῆς ‘he will know concerning the teaching’ Jn 7:17; εὐθὺς λέγουσιν αὐτῷ περὶ αὐτῆς ‘immediately they spoke to him about her’ Mk 1:30.

ὑπέρb: οὗτός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον ‘this is the one concerning whom I spoke’ Jn 1:30; πολλή μοι καύχησις ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ‘my great confidence concerning you’ 2 Cor 7:4; ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν βεβαία ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ‘our hope concerning you is firm’ 2 Cor 1:7.

or

89.6 περίg: a marker of a relation, usually involving content or topic—‘in relation to, with regard to, concerning.’ ἀναβαίνειν … εἰσρουσαλὴμ περὶ τοῦ ζητήματος τούτου ‘go up … to Jerusalem in relation to this question’ Ac 15:2.

translation---- about, concerning, in refrence to

Contained in: Prepositional Phrase

Syntactic Force: Preposition of reference

Words Modified by περὶ

• preposition-to-noun relation: The word περὶ modifies διήγησιν (noun)

τῶν tōn Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

ὁ ho the

article, genitive, plural, neuter

Louw-Nida the

DBL Greek the

Greek-English Dict. of N.T. the; this, that; he, she, it; in order that, so that, with the result that, that

Notes

Contained in: Participial Clause

Syntactic Force: This word may be read as either Attributive article or as Pronominal article functioning as Relative pronoun and Subject.

Words Modified by τῶν

• articular relation: The word τῶν modifies πεπληροφορημένων (verb) in Lk 1:1, word 8 (πεπληροφορημένων is within the current clausal unit, after τῶν).

trans-- the

πεπληροφορημένων peplērophorēmenōn Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

πληροφορέω plērophoreō to fill, fulfill

verb, perfect, passive, plural, genitive, neuter, participle

Louw-Nida make happen; proclaim; accomplish

DBL Greek be completely certain; make happen; proclaim fully; accomplish

TDNT

Notes

to fully accomplish one’s task—‘to perform one’s complete duty, to finish fully one’s task, to accomplish satisfactorily.’ τὴν διακονίαν σου πληροφόρησον ‘fulfill completely your service (to God)’ or ‘… your ministry’ 2 Tm 4:5.

1. Late compound, lit. “to bring to fulness,”1 “to full measure,” in part just a strengthening of πληρόω, in part with its own sense (→ lines 23 ff.). a. “To fulfil completely”

The word means “to achieve,” “to bring forth” in Lk. 1:1. It has here, however, a richer content, for it is used with reference to divine acts in a historical sphere into which the author is directly drawn (ἐν ἡμῖν)

from 4134 (πλήρης plērēs; from a der. of πλήθω plēthō (to be full); ful) and 5409(φορέω phoreō; from 5342; to bear constantly, to wear:—bear(2), borne(1), wear(1), wearing(2).) ; to bring in full measure, to fulfill:

similiar context to 2 tim 4:5 - But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Contained in: Participial Clause

Syntactic Force: This word functions as Attributive participle and Verb and Appositive or appositonal (i.e., epexegetical).

Words Modified by πεπληροφορημένων

• participial relation: The word πεπληροφορημένων modifies πραγμάτων (noun) in Lk 1:1, word 11 (πραγμάτων is outside of the current clausal unit).

Words That Modify πεπληροφορημένων

• articular relation: The word πεπληροφορημένων is modified by τῶν (article) in Lk 1:1, word 7 (τῶν is within the current clausal unit, before πεπληροφορημένων).

• prepositional relation: The word πεπληροφορημένων is modified by ἐν (preposition) in Lk 1:1, word 9 (ἐν is outside of the current clausal unit)

fr. net Bible 4 4 tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43–47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).

participle- atributive

perfect- consummative(extensive)- although possessing a double refrence of finished action and existing result, emphasis here is on the former, attention is directed mainly to the past event as fully completed.

translation- the things that have been fulfilled, the things that have been brought to completion

ἐν en Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

ἐν en in

preposition, dative

Louw-Nida

DBL Greek in; among; on; at; in; into; in union with; with; with; with; with regard to; of; to; by; by; by; because; so that; when; during; in

TDNT

Notes

Syntactic Force: Preposition of location

Words Modified by ἐν

• prepositional relation: The word ἐν modifies πεπληροφορημένων (verb) in Lk 1:1, word 8 (πεπληροφορημένων is outside of the current clausal unit).

trans--- in, among

ἡμῖν hēmin Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

ἐγώ egō I

pronoun, personal, dative, plural, first person

DBL Greek I; me; we; us; our

TDNT

Greek-English Dict. of N.T. I, me; we, us

Notes

Contained in: Prepositional Phrase

Syntactic Force: Personal pronoun functioning as Prepositional object.

trans---us

πραγμάτων pragmatōn Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

πρᾶγμα pragma deed, thing

noun, genitive, plural, neuter

Louw-Nida event; undertaking; lawsuit

DBL Greek event; undertaking; lawsuit

TDNT

Notes

‎that which happens—‘happening, event

‎

‎matter, thing, affair; event, happening, deed; undertaking, task; dispute, lawsuit

‎

‎Syntactic Force: Prepositional object

‎Words That Modify πραγμάτων

‎• participial relation: The word πραγμάτων is modified by πεπληροφορημένων (verb) in Lk 1:1, word 8 (πεπληροφορημένων is outside of the current clausal unit).

‎

transl-- events, deeds, things‎

‎

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COMMENTARIES | ALL COMMENTARIES

A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition

The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament: Expansions and Annotations

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Created 8/21/2011 9:21:43 PM

Modified 8/24/2011 8:00:02 AM

Exported from Logos Bible Software 4, 9:14 AM August 24, 2011.

my translation

Since indeed many set out* to put together an account about the events that have been fulfilled* among you,

comment- The word (in my translation) "set out" gave me the biggest consternation in my translating. The Greek here means literally - "to put ones hand to" being a compound verb (‎ ἐπί epi; a prim. prep.; on, upon:) and 5495( χείρ cheir; a prim. word; the hand:). I didn't feel comfortable including the word "have" at this point in the verse because I felt it weakened the translation of the perfect participle later in the verse and here we have an aorist not a perfect verb. I could have used words like "attempted" or "tried" instead of "set out" but it seemed to me that sometimes these words portray a sense of "tried but failed" in English, and there is apparently no hint of that in the Greek word used here. The Greek word "put ones hand to" hints at writing a gospel (as opposed to some theologians who claim that the gospels were passed down orally for quite some time before they were ever written on paper. This literal origin of "puts ones hand to" causes some people to translate the next word "to put together" (in my translation) as "to write". I think this reads too much into the word "set out" (not allowing for a idiomatic translation) and also fails to convey the gathering together of information in the Greek word that I translated "to put together". It emphasizes the after effects of the putting together of information ie. writing the information down, while the Greek word here seems to emphasize more the fact that many have compiled information of an account. It seems a bit counter intuitive that because many have put together accounts of Jesus' work on earth, that would be a reason for Luke to want to compile an account for Theophilus... but it appears to me that Luke is hinting in the next few verses, that many of these accounts are not accurate... 2 proofs he puts forward supporting his account are[ 1.] v.2 they are based on eyewitness accounts (something no doubt the other accounts were not based on) and not just any eyewitnesses accounts they were eyewitness accounts from trustworthy godly witnesses (servants of the word) [2] His account was "investigated carefully" (perhaps as opposed to other compilations), "from the beginning" and in consecutive order (perhaps many other accounts were very jumbled in order). I wonder if this claim of consecutive order) is taken into account when gospel parallels are compiled, since the other 3 inspired gospels do not make the claim that they wanted their account to be consecutive. Also as a side note.... it does not appear that Luke here is comparing his account to the other gospels (which were based on eyewitness accounts and were exact truth), but to numerous other accounts of the good news about Jesus. With all the information being compiled and passed down about Jesus, Luke wanted Theo to have an accurate account.

Although "set out" was the hardest word to translate in the verse the participle I translated "that have been fulfilled" was the most enjoyable word to translate. It is also the word that I disagree with some of my favorite translations on. The Nasb and ESV both translate it "accomplished". The HCSB and NET bibles translate it as I did "fulfilled" and I think this better fits with what this Greek word seems to be. It also is pertinent to point out that the participle I translated "that have been fulfilled" is in the perfect tense in Greek, which emphasizes a past finished event with consequences now. Not only does this seem to better fit with the meaning of the Greek word, but it also paints a good picture of the fact that Jesus' life and ministry here on earth brought things to completion, fulfilled and finished what was to be accomplished.

application--

God's work on earth spoken of in Luke was fulfilled/accomplished/was finished/completed.. praise God for this