More Greek Paraphrases of Bible Verses

[Markos]

I will use this thread to add more Greek paraphrases of Bible verses as I write them. I hope others will contribute their own efforts here. Corrections are welcome.

Below are 17 Ancient Greek paraphrases of Romans 10:9:

Romans 10:9: ὅτι ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς ἐν τῷ στόματί σου κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ πιστεύσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ: >

1. τοῖς γὰρ ἀνθρώποις φέρει σωτηρίαν ἡ ὁμολογία καὶ πίστις ἐν τῷ ἐγειραμένῳ Κύριον Ἰησοῦν.

2. ὁ οὖν λέγων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν Κύριος καὶ πιστεύων ὅτι ὁ πάτηρ ἀνέστησεν τοῦτον ἐκ νεκρῶν σωθήσεται.

3. ἵνα σωθῶμεν, δεῖ ἡμᾶς ὁμολογῆσαι τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ πιστεῦσαι ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει αὐτοῦ.

4. ὁμολογήσατε, ἀδελφοί, ἐν τοῖς μὲν χείλεσι ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ κυριότης ἐστίν, ἐν τοῖς δὲ θυμοῖς πιστεύσατε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν, ὅπως σωθῆτε ὑμεῖς.

5. ὁ Θεὸς σῴσει σε ὁμολογοῦντα καὶ πιστεύοντα ὅτι ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἠγέρθη.

6. ἡ σωτηρία ἔρχεται διὰ τῆς γλώσσης τῆς ὁμολογησάσης τὸν ἐγέρθεντα Κύριον καὶ τῆς καρδίας τῆς πιστευσάσης ἐν τῷ ἀνάστει αὐτοῦ.

7. ἐὰν γὰρ σὺ εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ γλώσσῃ σου Χριστόν εἶναι κύριον, καὶ ἐὰν σὺ ἦς πεποιθὼς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ αὐτὸν ἐζωποίησεν, αἰώνιον ζωὴν σὺ ἕξεις!

8. ὁμολογήσωμεν στοματικῶς τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ πιστεύσωμεν καρδιακῶς ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει ὥστε σωθῆναι.

9. σὺ ὁμολογεῖς Κύριον Ἰησοῦν. εἰς δὲ τὴν ἀνάστασιν πιστεύεις. σέσωσαι οὖν.

10. οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείαν εἰ μὴ, ὁμολογήσας κύριον Ἰησοῦν, πιστεύσῃ εἰς τὴν ἔγερσιν αὐτοῦ.

11. ὅτι ἐὰν συμφωνήσῃς ἔμπροσθεν ἀνθρώπων ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς, καὶ κρίνῃς ἐν τῷ πνεύματί σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐκ ἀπολῇ.

12. σωθήτωσαν, πάντες οἱ ὁμολογήσαντές τε καὶ πιστεύσαντες ὅτι ἐγερθεὶς Ἰησοῦς Κύριός ἐστιν.

13. τὸ μὲν στόμα ὁμολογεῖ, ἡ δὲ καρδία πιστεύει, ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος σῴζεται ἐν τῷ ἐγερθέντι Χριστῷ.

14. εἰ σὺ, ὁμολογῶν κύριον Ἰησοῦν, πιστεύσειας ἐν τῇ ἀνάστει, σῳθείης ἄν.

15. ὅτι ἐὰν άρνῇ ἐν τῷ στόματί ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν κύριος, καὶ ἐὰν ἀπιστήσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν οὐκ ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, ἐλεύσῃ εἰς αἰώνιον κόλασιν.

16. ὅτι ἐὰν φράσῃς ἐν τῇ φωνῇ σου ὅτι πάντῃ πάντα τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὕποχα, καὶ νομίσῃς ἐν ταῖς φρεσί σου ὅτι ἀνέστη ἐκ τοῦ σκοτενοῦ ζόφου τοῦ ᾅδου, ἐκ θανάτου ῥυσθῇς.

17. σὺ οὐ σωθήσῃ πρὶν ἂν ὁμολογήσῃς κύριον Ἰησοῦν. οὐδὲ σωτηρίαν ἕξεις ἕως ἂν πιστεύσῃς ὅτι ὁ θεὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν.

[renaissancemedici]

Εὖγε, φίλτατε! Σύ πᾶσι λόγοις ἀριστεύεις, καί βέλτιστον παράδειγμα τελεῖς.

[Markos]

Below are 10 Ancient Greek paraphrases of John 11:35.

John 11:35: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.

1. ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐδάκρυσε.
2. ἔκλαυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.
3. ἐποίησε δάκρυα ὁ Ἰησοῦς.
4. ἐποιήσατο τὰ δάκρη ὁ Χριστός.
5. οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὀφθαλμοὶ πλήρεις τοῦ ὕδατος ἐγένοντο.
6. ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἔπεσεν τὸ ὕδωρ.
7. ὄμμασι ἐβράχη Ἰησοῦς.
8. ἔχων ὑγροὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, ὠδύρατο ὁ Κύριος, στενάζων βαρὺ καὶ κωκύων πολύ.
9. κλαυθμὸς ἦν τῷ Ἰησοῦ.

Nonnus’ paraphrase of John 11:35:
καὶ ἔστενεν αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς ὄμμασιν ἀκλαύτοισιν ἀήθεα δάκρυα λείβων.

[Markos]

Below are 10 Greek paraphrases of Mark 7:27b. Corrections are welcome.

Mk 7:27b: οὐ γάρ καλόν ἐστιν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις.

1. καλὸν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι λαμβόντα τὰ τῶν τεκνίων βρώματα παρέχειν τοῖς κυσί.
2. οὐ γὰρ καθῆκει δοῦναι τὴν βρῶσιν τοῦ παιδὸς τῷ σκύλακι.
3. μὴ λάβῃς τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων μηδὲ τοῖς κυναρίοις βάλῃς.
4. οὐκ ἐπαινῶ τὸν βαλόντα τοῖς κυναρίοις τὸν τῶν τέκνων ἄρτον.
5. ἐὰν, λαβὼν τοὺς ἄρτους ἐκ τῶν υἱῶν, σὺ βάλοις τοῖς κυσί, καλὸν οὐκ ἂν εἴη.
6. τὰ μὲν τέκνα δέξεται τὸν ἄρτον, τὰ κυνάρια δ’ οὔ.
7. οὐ δοτέος τοῖς κύννεσι ὁ τοῦ κληρονόμου ἄρτος.
8. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι βαλεῖν.
9. τὸ λαβεῖν τὰ δῶρα τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τὸ πέμψαι τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς οὐ δίκαιόν ἐστιν.

Mk 7:27b (Alexandrian:) οὐ γάρ ἐστιν καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ τοῖς κυναρίοις βαλεῖν. >

[Markos]

Below are seven paraphrases of Rom 14:4b.

The purpose of this exercise was to put myself in a position where I had to actively produce as many forms of the tricky verb ἵστημι as possible. When I recently did a similar exercise with γιγνώκω, I realized that while I have been passively reading and could recognize the forms okay, I did not have a complete grasp of how this unique verb worked. Since doing that exercise, I now find that when I read the various forms of γιγνώκω they are now somehow a bit more familiar. I have better ownership of them. It’s what we call internalization, and it’s what we strive for.

(N.B. In this exercise, in order to avoid some repetition, I happen to make use of the collateral forms στήκω and στηρίζω, which are used in the Greek NT as stand-ins for the transitive and intransitive forms of ἵστημι respectively. These are not properly part of the paradigm of ἵστημι, but are also of interest in helping to see how this verb works.)

Corrections are welcomed.

Rom 14:4:
σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἢ πίπτει: σταθήσεται δέ, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς στῆσαι αὐτόν.

1. τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ ἵσταται ἢ πίπτει: στήσει δέ ὁ Θεός αὐτόν, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν στῆναι ἐν Θεῷ.
2. τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ ἕστηκεν ἢ πέπτωκε: ἑστήξει δέ, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἑστάναι αὐτόν.
3. τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ ἐστὶ στὰς ἢ πίπτων: στάμενος δ’ ἔσται, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν σταθῆναι ἐν Θεῷ.
4. τῷ σῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στῆθι ἢ πίπτε: στήσῃ δέ, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς στάναι σε.
5. τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ ἱστάσθω ἕκαστος ἢ πίπτετω: μέλλει δὲ ἵστασθαι, στατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἐν Θεῷ.
6. τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν στῶμεν ἢ πέσωμεν: στήξομεν δέ, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς στηρίξαι ἡμᾶς.
7. τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ πᾶς σταίη ἢ πέσοι: στηρίξετο δέ, δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν στήκειν ἐν Θεῷ.

[mwh]

A few things that catch my eye as I glance through the first of these posts.
1 grammar faulty after pistis
9 seswsai
10 en thn egersin dat. or eis
11 krinhs
apolh or apolesh (fut.mid.; apoleseis is trans.)
12 del. o
13 Xristw
14 th anastasei?
15 apisthshs
16 frashs
rusqhsh
You’re aware of course that none of your “paraphrases” could ever have been uttered by Paul, and that all of them variously add to, subtract from, and distort what he wrote. But I realise what you’re doing, and think it’s a useful exercise if you can have the correctness of the greek checked. So I hope you receive this in the spirit in which it’s intended.

[Markos]

Thanks, Michael, for those corrections! I edited the original post for Romans 10:9.

@mwh

You’re aware of course that none of your “paraphrases” could ever have been uttered by Paul, and that all of them variously add to, subtract from, and distort what he wrote. But I realise what you’re doing, and think it’s a useful exercise if you can have the correctness of the greek checked. So I hope you receive this in the spirit in which it’s intended.

Yes, doing these exercises revealed to me that when you retain the meaning but change the form, you wind up changing the style, and this usually results in Greek that does not feel right. On the other hand, doing these exercises shows that Greek has many different words and forms for what is ESSENTIALLY the same meaning.

And as you allude to, the real point of these exercises is to force one to actively produce the various syntax and forms. I can only speak for myself, but stuff like this has improved my reading fluency, which for me has always been the point.

[mwh]

For myself, I find that my reading fluency is best improved by reading, whether close or fast. (That leads to compositional fluency in turn, though practice certainly helps there, and I don’t practice.) The same goes for mastery of grammar and style, by osmosis; of course authorities speed acquisition, and one should think twice before contradicting them, or risk voicing ill-informed opinons. But each to his/her own.

Best,
Michael