About the Colwell rule....

by grzesiek32 4 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  grzesiek32

  I would like to correct the Colwell's rule.

  In Greek when subject of the sentence is definite (by the article), the predicate is also definite, although in English it isn't. I think that english speaking people should stop thinking in English while considering the Greek Bible. Greek article isn't the same as Greek article. Greek isn't English!!! You should start trying to think in foreign language!!!

  A is the subject
  B is the predicate

  (B + verb + article + A) is exactly the same as (article B + verb + article + A) and there is no difference between them.

  I will give some examples I have found in Bible (so far I have inspected ony one part of this book - from J 1,1 to J 10,42)

  Jn 1,21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet (ho profetes)?" He answered, "No." (NIV)

  There should be "a prophet", not "the prophet". All translations have the same mistake.

  Jn 2,25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man (to anthropo). (NIV)

  Jn 3,10 "You are Israel's teacher (ho didaskalos)," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? (NIV)

  Jn 3,10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master (ho didaskalos) of Israel, and knowest not these things? (KJV)

  Jn 3,29 He that has the bride (ten nymfen) is the bridegroom (nymfios); but the friend of the bridegroom (tou nymphios), who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart because of the voice of the bridegroom (tou nymfiou): this my joy then is fulfilled.

  There also should be "a brigge" and "a bridegroom". It would sound more correct

  Jn 7,40 Many from the multitude therefore, when they heard the saying, said, This is truly the prophet (ho profetes). (ACV)

  It would be better to say "a prophet"

  Jn 10:13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand (misthotos) (and cares nothing for the sheep. (NIV)

  We could say, that this "hired hand" is indefinite. But if we look at the previous verse, we will see a very surprising thing:

  Jn 10:12 The hired hand (ho misthotos) is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. (NIV)

  The hired hand is definite!

  Such examples we can find much more!!! I gave only a few of them. These examples show that english speaking people cannot free from thinking in English.

  In Greek when subject of the sentence is definite (by the article), the predicate is also and always definite!!!

  ...and the Word was God...

  Regards

  Grzegorz Zebrowski (from Poland)
  [email protected]
• 

  funkyderek

  There should be "a prophet", not "the prophet". All translations have the same mistake.

  All of them? Everybody who ever worked on any English translation of the bible missed this elementary mistake, but not you? What are your qualifications?
• 

  uriah

  (S)He is someone who speaks other than english - Polish I'll wager. That must qualify them to teach Greek for sure.
  'Course, us mono-linguists who only speak english (greatest language in the world) and maybe a smattering of French (mais qui!!) or some other EEC lingo would not know about such high-brow stuff and need to be humble under the mighty hand of the great and wise learned one.
  Derek - are you from anywhere near Waterford, or maybe carrick??
• 

  truthseeker1

  Why waste your time translating a book of myths?
• 

  grzesiek32

  I am realy sorry my frinds. I realy didn't want to offend you. If i did, I am sorry. I am not better educated than you, and those people who translated the Bible into English, but I can't understand those translations. In my opinion it is a mistake (see the examples I gave). I is often presented to us that the greek article is based on the same grammar rule as the english article 'the'. I am able to give a lot of examples showing that it isn't true. I just want to show that we sometimes have to translate definite nouns in Greek into indefinite nouns in English. And in this way I want to show you that the rule I wrote before is true. In Polish there are no articles before nouns, so we don't have that problem. Most of polish people cannot understant the problem with J 1,1. This problem was made by english-speaking people who thought that it was possible to translate "theos en ho logos" into "The Word was a god", because the theos didn't have the article. They considered this problem from English gramar point of view. The apostoles knew nothing about this, and their grammar had nothing in common with English grammar.

  Regards.

  Greg