Greek in a year 2023: Week 3 (November 5th to November 11th) 3rd John verse 3

[Brian K. Mitchell]

 

Quote3rd John Verse 3 in Koine Greek 

ἐχάρην γὰρ λίαν ἐρχομένων ἀδελφῶν καὶ μαρτυρούντων σου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς σὺ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατεῖς

This week's parsing information comes you from http://www.misselbrook.org.uk

Ἐχάρην  Verb, 2nd aor pass dep indic, 1 s  -  χαίρω rejoice, be glad; imperat used as a greeting [Strongs 5463]

γάρ  Conjunction  -  γάρ  for, since, then

λίαν  Adverb  -  λίαν exceedingly, greatly, very much, very, quite; λ. ἐκ περισσου utterly, completely [Strongs 3029]

ἐρχομένων  Verb, pres midd ptc, gen pl  -  ἔρχομαι come, go [Strongs 2064]

ἀδελφῶν  Noun masc gen pl  -  ἀδελφός  brother [Strongs 80]

 

καὶ  Conjuction  -  καί conjunction and, also [Strongs 2532]

μαρτυρούντων  Verb, pres act ptc, gen pl  -  μαρτυρέω bear witness, testify, be a witness, affirm, approve; pass be well spoken of, receive approval [Strongs 3140]

 

σου  Pronoun, gen s  -  σύ (συ σε σου σοι pl) = (ὑμεις ὑμας ὑμων ὑμιν) 2nd personal pronoun you [Strongs 4771]

τῇ  Definite article, fem dat sing  -  ὁ ἡ το pl. οἱ αἱ τα the, this, that, he she, it; του with inf. in order that, so that, with the result that [Strongs 3588]

ἀληθείᾳ  Noun, dat s  -  ἀλήθεια ας f truth, reality; ἐν ἀ. truly [Strongs 225]

περιπατεῖς  Verb, pres act indic, 2 s  -  περιπατέω walk, walk about, live [Strongs 4043]

 

Okay here is

PARSING Information from Accordance

ἐχάρην Verb first singular aorist passive indicative to rejoice; hail

γὰρ  Conjunction coordinating for, since, then, indeed

λίαν  Adverb exceedingly

ἐρχομένων  Verb present middle participle masculine plural genitive to come, go

ἀδελφῶν  Noun masculine plural genitive brother; (adj) brotherly, twin, cognate

καὶ  Conjunction coordinating and, also, even, and yet, but

μαρτυρούντων  Verb present active participle masculine plural genitive to bear witness; suffer martyrdom

σου  Pronoun (personal) second singular genitive you; you people (when pl)

τῇ  Article feminine singular dative the, who, which

ἀληθείᾳ  Noun feminine singular dative truth, truthfulness, faithfulness

καθὼς  Conjunction subordinating as, just as, inasmuch as

σὺ Pronoun (personal) second singular nominative you; you people (when pl)

ἐν  Preposition (+dative) (+dat) in, with, by, to

ἀληθείᾳ  Noun feminine singular dative truth, truthfulness, faithfulness

περιπατεῖς Verb second singular present active indicative to walk, walk around

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brian K. Mitchell]

 

[Brian K. Mitchell]

 

 

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Thanks for all the great videos @Brian K. Mitchell!

[Lawrence]

3 John 3 ἐχάρην γὰρ λίαν ἐρχομένων ἀδελφῶν καὶ μαρτυρούντων σου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς σὺ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ περιπατεῖς.

 

NIV: It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.
CUV (simplified characters): 有弟兄来证明你心里存的真理，正如你按真理而行，我就甚喜乐。
My translation: For I rejoiced greatly when [the] brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you are walking in truth.

 

The part I got stuck on was what the brothers actually testified about: “… μαρτυρούντων σου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ”. That is, what was John telling Gaius about the brothers’ testimony of (the same) Gaius?

 

The NIV has “faithfulness to the truth”. Yarborough in BECNT as “integrity” in the sense of “ethical standards that faith in God and his word brings with it”. Robert Plummer’s Daily Dose of Greek video talks about translations along the lines of “your faithfulness to the truth”. Alfred Plummer (I saw this in my library and took a look out of interest because of the Plummer surname) notes that the second part of verse 3 explains what the brethren “meant by Gaius’s truth”, and notes incidentally that this is different from John 5:33, where the Baptist’s bearing witness to the truth. R Plummer notes the odd word order of σοῦ, and A Plummer comments that “‘thy’ is emphatic” (fronting a word is a way of emphasising it - compare “she sells seashells” with “seashells [was what] she sold”; Greek word order is pretty loose, so using word order to convey emphasis is not unusual).

 

Different languages sometimes bring in different thought patterns, so I took a look at a Chinese version. I know the following is now an English translation of a Chinese translation of [several translations of?] a Greek text so it’s at least third hand. Anyway, the CUV has the content of the brethren’s testimony as “the truth that dwells in your heart”. 真理 has the sense of ‘true philosophy’, denoting mental truth but can have the connotation of a way of life.

 

The brief analysis I did on ἀληθεία (truth) in verse 1 suggests that the semantic range of the word “truth” in 3 John includes the notion of “the ministry”. I don’t think that’s the central meaning in verse 3, but it does colour our understanding of the term a little.

 

Bringing all this together: when John says the brethren testified to Gaius’ truth, it looks like he was referring to Gaius living consistently with the spirit/intent of the gospel. John says that Gaius is a cherished ministry partner in verse 1. He prays that life would go well for Gaius in verse 2, and verse 3 tells us why - it’s because Gaius is a ministry partner whose life reflects the gospel.

 

So 3 John 1-3 looks like this to me:
1 The Elder, to my cherished ministry partner Gaius.
2 Dear friend, I pray that your whole life is blessed and reflects your spiritual health
3 because I was so glad when the brethren came and told me of your exemplary conduct in life and ministry.

[Brian K. Mitchell]

@Lawrence thank you very much for your informative and thought provoking post! I think you have made some salient points well worth considering.

 

On 11/27/2023 at 10:29 AM, Lawrence said:

Different languages sometimes bring in different thought patterns, so I took a look at a Chinese version. 

Yes, I think you are right that different languages have different ways of expressing things and different ways of understanding the world, too!

 

On 11/27/2023 at 10:29 AM, Lawrence said:

真理 has the sense of ‘true philosophy’, denoting mental truth but can have the connotation of a way of life.

真理 (zhēnlǐ )  is also used in Japanese. In Japanese 真理 (Shinri) has a similar meaning to what you have mentioned above. Also, of interest 真理 (Shinri) is used in the Japanese translations of 3 John verse three:

 

Quote__Shinkaiyaku: New Japanese Bible (2017) 

兄弟たちがやって来ては、あなたが真理に歩んでいることを証ししてくれるので、私は大いに喜んでいます。実際、あなたは真理のうちに歩んでいます。

The Japanese translators emphasizes their understanding of the Greek text that Gaius is walking in accordance to the truth/真理. 

 

On 11/27/2023 at 10:29 AM, Lawrence said:

.....Bringing all this together: when John says the brethren testified to Gaius’ truth, it looks like he was referring to Gaius living consistently with the spirit/intent of the gospel. John says that Gaius is a cherished ministry partner in verse 1. He prays that life would go well for Gaius in verse 2, and verse 3 tells us why - it’s because Gaius is a ministry partner whose life reflects the gospel.....

Thanks for the taking the time to write up and share your observations!