Greek in a year 2023: Week 2 (October 29th to November 4th) 3rd John verse 2

[Brian K. Mitchell]

Quote3rd John verse 2

ἀγαπητέ, περὶ πάντων εὔχομαί σε εὐοδοῦσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνειν καθὼς εὐοδοῦταί σου ἡ ψυχή.

 

Now, let's parse this verse!

Those beginning Greek and intermediate Greek students are in for a treat because In addition to Accordance Bible Software's instant details that gives them a wealth of information about individual words at their finger tips Accordance also has the Parsing tab that will parse any word or string of words a user chooses. The Parsing tab's display can be customized to show as little or as much information about each word or verse you would like. Okay, let's try using the Parsing tab on the Greek verse of the week 3rd John verse 2 by default the Parsing tab will give display something like this:

 

But as mentioned before this display can be customized. I for example you selected the following options....

 

 

Then the parsing tab would display the following...

 

 

Now, let's say that feel the need to check or compare and contrast Accordance parsing information about a particular word (lets that word is Ἀγαπητέ) with other opinions on the matter. In that case all you need to do is select Ἀγαπητέ and copy and paste it into Perseus' Greek Word Study Tool...

You can find that tool at   https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph

 

As you can see Accordance parsing tab and Perseus' Greek word study tool both provided with similar but different parsing information on Ἀγαπητέ.

 

[Brian K. Mitchell]

New Testament professor at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY   Rob Plummer's  A DAILY DOSE OF GREEK on 3rd John verse 2

 

 

3 John 1:2

 

[Brian K. Mitchell]

Remember Parsing and Reading are not the same thing! When you read your native language or mother tongue you probably do not take the time to stop and parse each word. Rather you read texts intuitively and understand what is going on from context and from your vast experience with your native tongue. This in my opinion is what we should be doing with text written in classical Hebrew and Greek. If you spend time practicing parsing you will get better at parsing, but if you spend time reading you will get better at reading.

 

So let's read 3rd John.

We, can start by using a technic called 'Shadowing'

 

Quotehttps://www.leonardoenglish.com/blog/what-is-shadowing#:~:text=Shadowing is a language learning,say them back out loud.

What is shadowing?

Shadowing is a language learning technique where you repeat an audio just after you hear it. You’re acting like an “echo” or a “shadow” (hence the name “shadowing). You listen to the words and then say them back out loud. 

 

Here is the text of 3rd John read (not parsed) in Greek.. Try to shadow it........

 

 

[Gary Raynor]

I have a one year reading plan and am doing exactly the above in Biblical Hebrew.

But with the Greek I am still at parsing the first verse stage of the daily reading and getting 1 John under the belt.

The plan is: phrasing followed by shadowing and then repeat enough times to build up "muscle" memory.

Persistence rather than language or academic gifting is my lot in life- I would probably flunk a formal course.

Your inspiration is very much appreciated.

[Brian K. Mitchell]

2 hours ago, Gary Raynor said:

Your inspiration is very much appreciated.

(you're welcome) !בְּבַקָּשָׁה

 

2 hours ago, Gary Raynor said:

Persistence rather than language or academic gifting is my lot in life-

Persistence is the better gift and you have it

So, do not envy those who do well in language classes in High school, seminary, or university not all such individuals retain their language skills once they leave the academic environment. 

 

Okay this probably TMI (Too much information) but...

"Almost everybody who has learned a foreign language shares the experience of forgetting the acquired language skills once the period of formal instruction is over" (Schöpper-Grabe 1998: 231).

 

"More than 1 in 4 of those who learned a second language haven’t studied it in the past 10 years. And, even at the height of their study, less than half (48%) viewed their ability as intermediate. Today, 10% of foreign language learners could no longer understand the language they studied. Nearly 40% couldn’t make it through a day in the country whose language they studied using only that language." https://preply.com/en/blog/americans-foreign-language-survey/

 

"Most stopped learning after an educational requirement, like college credits, was fulfilled. Furthermore, more than 25% forgot their skills within a year. Some felt that they would never need to use it in the real world. Others simply had no opportunity to continue practicing the language. Whatever the reasons, 71% regretted losing their foreign language skills." https://preply.com/en/blog/americans-foreign-language-survey/

 

"Language attrition is the loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language by either a community or an individual. Language attrition is related to multilingualism and language acquisition. Many factors are at play in learning (acquisition) and unlearning (loss) the first and second languages. This can be a simple reversal of learning. In other cases, the type and speed of attrition depends on the individual, also on his or her age and skill level. For the same second language, attrition has been affected differently depending on what is the dominant first language environment. In many cases, attrition could well be case-by-case. Those language learners motivated to keep their first and second languages may very well maintain it, although to do so will likely involve continuous study, or regular use of both."https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/37367

 

"For years, I’ve had the joy of seeing students become infected with a holy passion to read the New Testament in the original Greek. Unfortunately, many of those eager students go on to apostatize from the language they once loved." Dr. Rob Plummer

 

3 hours ago, Gary Raynor said:

The plan is: phrasing followed by shadowing and then repeat enough times to build up "muscle" memory.

 

This sounds like a good initial plan of action! 

 

[Lawrence]

3 John 2: ἀγαπητέ, περὶ πάντων εὔχομαί σε εὐοδοῦσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνειν καθὼς εὐοδοῦταί σου ἡ ψυχή.

NIV: Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

ESV: Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

My translation: Dear friend, I pray for you to do well in everything and to be healthy just as your soul is doing well.

 

From what I've seen, the καθώς clause is always the standard by which something else is compared. E.g. Mark 14:16 ... εὗρον καθὼς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ... = "they found it just as he said". So Gaius' spiritual health is known, and used as the standard for Paul's prayer for his physical well-being and success. This might sound strange since we'd think that one's spiritual health would usually be harder to discern than one's physical health. But verse 3 tells us that this is because Paul received news about Gaius' spiritual wellbeing.

 

A grammatical point of interest is whether καί here joins the two infinitives or whether it joins the references to physical and spiritual health. There is clearly a parallel between εὐοδοῦσθαι and εὐοδοῦταί, but there's also a parallel between physical health referenced by ὑγιαίνειν and spiritual health (as Plummer's video notes) referenced by ἡ ψυχή. The NIV seems to support the former by swapping the order of the και clauses (which is grammatically legitimate) whereas the ESV retains the Greek clause order and keeps the health clauses close together. Both associate περὶ πάντων with just εὐοδοῦσθαι, which seems fair enough. Plummer's video links both καί clauses with the clause about the soul doing well, but also speaks first about physical health.

 

Perhaps we can capture all this in this way in modern, informal English:

3 John 2: Dear friend, I've heard that you're doing well spiritually, and I pray that you do just as well health-wise and in every other way.

[Brian K. Mitchell]

@Lawrence thank you for posting your thoughts and analysis!