Hey guys, I have been working through 2 Corinthians and I got to 2 Corinthians 1:12 and noticed that "the testimony of our conscience" was marked as a "Right-Dislocation" and that the Forward-Pointing Reference's ("this" - αὕτη) target is after the "that" (ὅτι).
The "reason for boasting" (καύχησις) and "the testimony" (τὸ μαρτύριον) agrees in case and number as the definition of "Right-dislocation" states. The only issue I have with "the testimony of our conscience" (τὸ μαρτύριον τῆς συνειδήσεως ἡμῶν) not being the target of "this" (αὕτη) is the flow of argument. It seems that the testimony of our conscience is explained in the "that" (ὅτι) clause.
Harris reads it this way:
"Following the prospective αὕτη, the phrase τὸ μαρτύριον τῆς συνειδήσεως ἡμῶν defines what Paul is proud of, “the testimony that our conscience gives” (BAGD 494a), or simply, “what my conscience tells me” (Goodspeed)." -Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: a Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 184.
I'd love to hear some thoughts here. I could be missing something on how this is better understood as a Right-dislocation.
P.S. I'm excited to talk with others about discourse grammar! This is awesome!
- Good points @jason-peters-434935, thanks for chiming in. I was going to say that discourse grammar should complement rather than contradict traditional claims, in most cases. In other words, if you find yourself claiming something that no other translation or commentator has ever claimed, then there's a good chance you're wrong and missed something in the analysis. This is an awkward verse to maintain in English, but the fact that NRSV does (thanks @ryan-robinson-656891) helps corroborate things. I am afraid that this thread might end up scaring off folks without Greek. The nature of the question demanded a technical answer, but I expect that there will be others that will be easier to handle.
- Just my opinion, but I don't think you should be too worried about scaring off those of us who don't know Greek. First, it's an opportunity for us to learn vicariously. I might not know Greek, but even by reading this dialog I am learning interesting things about this piece of scripture that I didn't know before. Second, it allows those of us who don't speak Greek to really come to understand how important it could be to know the primary languages of the Bible. Maybe those of us who are on the fence about whether to take on the very difficult task of learning Greek might be convinced to put in the effort. So, Dr. Runge, I think your approach to this forum is excellent. And thanks to Jason, Ryan, and others who are contributing their knowledge to the pool!
- I tried to include the HDNT with the LDGNT picture for both audiences and a defintion of right-dislocation. It is more of a technical question though and I knew that it might be a little harder in that respect. But, @jason-peters-434935 I think your thoughts are very helpful and need to be considered as we kinda grow in these discussions. (that I hope will continue to increase) I definitely don't want to see this become a technical Greek group. I'd love to see all sorts of questions come forth from technical to those just beginning to learn about these awesome resources. I think every type of person can glean from these resources, so, I'd love to see that happen through this.