[B-Greek] asyndeton in Jas 1:27

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Tue Aug 15 13:16:55 EDT 2006


Here's A.T. Robertson's comment on asyndeton
   
   
  (g) Connection between Separate Sentences. So far we have been considering the matter of connection between the various parts of the same sentence, whether simple or compound, and the various complications that arise. But this is not all. The Greeks, especially in the literary style, felt the propriety of indicating the inner relation of the various independent sentences that composed a paragraph. This was not merely an artistic device, but a logical expression of coherence of thought. Particles like KAI, DE, ALLA, GAR, OUN, DH, etc., were very common in this connection. Demonstrative pronouns, adverbs, and even relative pronouns were also used for this purpose. I happen to open at Mt. 24:32–51 a paragraph of some length. The first sentence begins with DE. The sentences in verses 33 and 34 have asyndeton and so are without a connective. In verse 36 äÝ reappears, while the two sentences in verses 37 and 38 both have GAR. Verse 40 begins with ôüôå, a common word in this
 usage in Matthew, as EN AUTHi THi hWRAi is in Luke. Verse 42 begins with OUN as its connective, while 43 drops back to äÝ. In 44 äéὰ ôïῦôï answers as a link of union while 45 uses ARA. verse 46 f. have asyndeton while 48 has DE. This long sentence completes the paragraph save the short sentence in verse 51 introduced by EKEI. I think this paragraph a fair sample of the didactic portion of the Gospels. Asyndeton occurs, but it is not the rule. In the Gospel of John OUN is a much more frequent connective between sentences than KAI, as any chapter (11 for instance) will show. The Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3–12) have no connectives at all, and are all the more effective because of the asyndeton. Winer finds this didactic asyndeton common also in *** James, *** the Gospel of John (cf. 14–17) and 1 John. But asyndeton is sometimes noticeable also in the non-didactic portions of John, as 20:14–18. No formal rules on the subject can be made, as the individual
 speaker or writer follows his mood of the moment in the matter. The point is to observe that, while asyndeton often occurs, in general Greek writers even in the N. T. use connectives between separate sentences. 
       
  Robertson, A. (1919; 2006). A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (p. 443). Logos.
   
  Thus, I would not be surprised to find it in James.
   
  As regards the relationship between the clauses, I would take them as a list of two items.  Cf. the definition of asyndeton in one dictionary
   
  "The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used, as in "Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils / Shrunk to this little measure?" (Shakespeare).
   
  __________


  

Jim Darlack <jdarlack at gcts.edu> wrote:
  In James 1:27, the two clauses, at the end of the verse are not connected by a conjuction: 
åðéóêåðôåóèáé ïñöáíïõò êáé ÷çñáò åí ôç èëéøåé áõôùí, áóðéëïí åáõôïí ôçñåéí áðï ôïõ êïóìïõ. 
EPISKEPTESQAI ORAFANOUS KAI XHRAS EN THi QLIYEI AUTWN, ASPILON EAUTON THREIN APO TOU KOSMOU.

Here are the questions:
How are the two clauses related?
1. Simple coordination? "to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction AND to keep oneself unspotted from the world"
2. Antithetical? "to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction BUT to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (see Mayor's commentary, pg ccxxvi)
3. Epexegetical? "to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction, THAT IS to keep onself unspotted from the world"

OR, should there even be a relationship here? Could one simply translate "to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction, to keep onself unspotted from the world"?

I've surveyed English translations in BibleWorks and only Darby's translation explicitly retains the asyndeton here, while the ASV, ERV, KJV, NAS, RWB and WEB all have "and" in italics or otherwise distinguished from the rest of the text.

Of course one could make a mountain out of this conjunction mole hill, but does the insertion of a conjunction between these two clauses help to separate sanctification from social concern? Would an adoption of a translation that removed the conjunction still make sense?

I'm curious to know what those who know a lot more about Greek than I would say about this...

________________________________

James M. Darlack
Assistant Librarian for Reference & Bibliographic Instruction
Goddard Library, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary 
130 Essex Street, South Hamilton, MA 01982
http://www.gordonconwell.edu/library/hamilton 
978.646.4004 Phone - 978.646.4567 Fax 

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george
gfsomsel
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