Preposition Repetition

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhay,

A characteristic feature of Semitic grammar is the repetition of a preposition before every noun of a series which it governs. Such a construction is intolerable in literary Greek (as it is in English.)

Joshua 11:21

ויבא יהושע בעת ההיא ויכרת את־הענקים
מן־ההר מן־חברון מן־דבר מן־ענב ומכל הר יהודה ומכל הר ישראל
עם־עריהם החרימם יהושע

και ηλθεν ιησους εν τω καιρω εκεινω και εξωλεθρευσεν τους ενακιμ εκ της ορεινης εκ χεβρων και εκ δαβιρ και εξ αναβωθ και εκ παντος γενους ισραηλ και εκ παντος ορους ιουδα συν ταις πολεσιν αυτων και εξωλεθρευσεν αυτους ιησους


Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.

Now, let's look at an example from the New Testament:

Marqus 3:7-8

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0my twl hl Lz0 Yhwdymlt M9 (w4yw[/font]
[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0wh hpqn fylg Nm 00ygs 0m9w[/font]
[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Mwd0 Nmw Ml4rw0 Nmw dwhy Nmw[/font]
[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Jdyc Nmw rwc Nmw Nndrwyd 0rb9 Nmw[/font]
[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]htwl wt0 db9d Lk wwh w9m4d 00ygs 04nk[/font]

και ο ιησους μετα των μαθητων αυτου ανεχωρησεν προς την θαλασσαν και πολυ πληθος απο της γαλιλαιας [ηκολουθησεν] και απο της ιουδαιας
και απο ιεροσολυμων και απο της ιδουμαιας και περαν του ιορδανου και περι τυρον και σιδωνα πληθος πολυ ακουοντες οσα εποιει ηλθον προς αυτον

Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan, and from Tyre, and from Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.

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[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhay,

To illustrate this concept a little further, I'd like to demonstrate how two different translators approached this problem:

Mattai 16:21

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0nhk Ybr Nmw 04y4q Nm $xn Ygsw[/font]

And He would suffer much from the Elders and from the High Priests (Aramaic)

και πολλα παθειν απο των πρεσβυτερων και αρχιερεων

And He would suffer much from the Elders and the High Priests (Greek)

As you can see, the Greek translator responsible for translating Mattai decided to polish the Greek and avoid the use of the redundant preposition, in accordance with proper Greek grammar.

Now, let's look at the parallel saying in Marqus:

Marqus 8:31

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0nhk Ybr Nmw 04y4q Nm ftsndw Ygs $xnd[/font]

And He would suffer much and be rejected from the Elders and from the High Priests (Aramaic)

πολλα παθειν και αποδοκιμασθηναι υπο των πρεσβυτερων και των αρχιερεων

And He would suffer much and be rejected from the Elders and from the High Priests (Greek)

Now, the Greek translator responsible for translating Marqus decided to translate more conservatively and follow the original Aramaic grammar word-for-word.

The same exact saying in Aramaic, but one Greek translator decides that the rules of Greek grammar are most important, while another Greek translator decides that the underlying Aramaic text is more important and that he will follow it word-for-word, translating the redundant preposition, even at the expense of proper Greek grammar.

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[gbausc]

Now, let's look at the parallel saying in Marqus:

Marqus 8:31

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0nhk Ybr Nmw 04y4q Nm ftsndw Ygs $xnd[/font]

And He would suffer much and be rejected from the Elders and from the High Priests (Aramaic)

πολλα παθειν και αποδοκιμασθηναι υπο των πρεσβυτερων και των αρχιερεων

And He would suffer much and be rejected from the Elders and from the High Priests (Greek)

Now, the Greek translator responsible for translating Marqus decided to translate more conservatively and follow the original Aramaic grammar word-for-word.

The same exact saying in Aramaic, but one Greek translator decides that the rules of Greek grammar are most important, while another Greek translator decides that the underlying Aramaic text is more important and that he will follow it word-for-word, translating the redundant preposition, even at the expense of proper Greek grammar.

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πολλα παθειν και αποδοκιμασθηναι υπο των πρεσβυτερων και των αρχιερεων has only one preposition- υπο .
των is the plural definite article in the genitive case. The genitive noun αρχιερεων [/size] follows. A genitive noun may or may not have the genitive def. article before it, yet it will still carry along the meaning of any previous preposition before a previous noun. The article may be translated "the" in English or left untranslated.

,[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]Fkrwbw Fwby+[/font]


PS : How did you get Greek fonts to actually display in Greek characters ? "Galatia" does not do it for me.

Dave B