Friday 24 February 2012

Galatians 1:10

ἄρτι γὰρ ἀνθρώπους πείθω ἢ τὸν Θεόν; ἢ ζητῶ ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκειν; εἰ γὰρ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην.

ἀρτι - now
γαρ - for or because (timid word that avoids starting a sentence, but logically should be there)
ἀνθρωπους - people, accusative case which tells us it is the object of the sentence
πειθω - I persuade
ἠ - or
τον Θεον - God, accusative case and thus an object of the sentence
; - ? So this must be phrased as a question

For now, is it people that I am persuading or God?

ἠ - or
ζητω - I seek (do I seek?)
ἀνθροποις - to/for people (dative case, indirect object)
ἀρεσκειν - to please, to be agreeable to. This is the verb that is taking indirect object, not 'seek'.

Or am I seeking to be pleasing to people?

εἰ γαρ - for if
ἐτι - still, yet
ἀνθροποις - people, dative case, thus indirect object
ἠρεσκον - I was pleasing (imperfect tense)

Χριστου - of Christ
δουλος - a servant, slave
οὐκ - no, not
ἀν - this sort of word is called a 'particle'. It expresses uncertainty and is followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood.
ἠμην - I was (subjunctive)

I'm not sure how to express this last bit. I need to show past tense without using an English perfect tense which comes more naturally.

For if I was still pleasing to people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The whole verse:
For, now, is it people that I am persuading or God? Or am I seeking to be pleasing to people? For if I was still pleasing to people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

This translation does raise questions, because I also want it to make sense. 'Persuade' doesn't seem a good translation of πειθω. And theologically the last part presents an either/or that doesn't make sense. The NIV has 'seeking approval of'' rather than 'persuading'.
In the absence of a good dictionary, Wikipedia offers 'appease' as another meaning for πειθω.
I can also translate the imperfect tense with 'I began to please'.

So here is a better version, I think.

For now, is it people whom I am appeasing or God? Or am I seeking to be pleasing to people? For if I ever began to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

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