Comments on: A Note on εἰ μή in Mark

By: Rod Decker

Rod Decker — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:48:41 +0000

How about Gal 1:7, ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο, εἰ μή τινές εἰσιν οἱ ταράσσοντες ὑμᾶς καὶ θέλοντες μεταστρέψαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Here “if not” makes no sense; this is the “exceptive” sense in which εἰ μή means “but.”

By: Stace Johnson

Stace Johnson — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:08:11 +0000

An example or two of EI MH not rendered accurately by “if not” would be appreciated.

By: Rod Decker

Rod Decker — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:09:08 +0000

No, “if not” is not a “literal meaning” of εἰ μή, it is merely a wooden gloss of two separate words without recognizing the idiom involved. That it may sometimes manage to communicate the correct meaning in a particular context does not mean that it has therefore been understood or defined correctly. Read BDAG’s entry carefully, s.v., εἰ, 277–79, particularly division 6 where several relevant combinations are discussed.

By: Stace Johnson

Stace Johnson — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:28:39 +0000

In most instances, the meaning of the text is accurately conveyed if one sticks to the literal meaning of EI MH, which is “if not”.

By: Rod Decker

Rod Decker — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:52:05 +0000

Thanks Bill. Problem with working at home is that all my index files are at the seminary as well as my back run of periodicals. But Boyer’s articles have all been posted online (if in an awkward font format).

http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/New_Testament_Greek/Text/00-GreekArticlesWebBib.htm

I’ve converted the relevant excerpt on εἰ μή and appended it to the main post above. Boyer appears to want to treat most instances as elliptical conditional statements. I’m not sure about that, but I just now got the article into readable format, so I’ll have to spend some time on it.

By: wcombs

wcombs — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:03:37 +0000

Boyer had an article in the Grace Journal in 1983 where he discussed ei mn.

By: mike aubrey

mike aubrey — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:21:27 +0000

Wakker’s got a great Greek index, but off hand it looks like pages 283-85 or so.

I wouldn’t be able to scan it until Monday when I get back to the library and the scanner. If that’s still of help, let me know.

If you can find a copy at a decent price the book is worth owning (I got mine for something like $65) — but then I don’t have access to as nice of a Greek grammar library as you. Trinity Western is slightly lacking in monographs on Classical Greek grammar.

By: Rod Decker

Rod Decker — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:03:40 +0000

I don’t see anything in Thrall, but there is no Greek index, so I may have missed it. (There is one note on a much longer construction that occurs 5x in Luke, εἰ δὲ μή γε.) I can get Wakker from our library after spring break. If you can give me a page ref, that would save some time. And if you have spare time and want to scan a relevant pg or 2, I won’t complain!

By: mike aubrey

mike aubrey — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:42:51 +0000

I think Thrall’s book on particles deals with this.

And I could scan and e-mail you some pages from Gerry Wakker’s _Conditions and Conditionals in Ancient Greek_, if you’d like.