I have been following a discussion about modern techniques and tools for translation in worship and came across this Greek argument. I was curious if anyone could offer opinion(s) on the validity of this Greek argument. I will paste it below:
Self-Translating—Thoughts
1 Corinthians 14:27 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
"and let one interpret" (καὶ εἷς διερμηνευέτω) =
• The lemma of the verb is διερμηνεύω. • The morphological form (διερμηνευέτω) of this verb is: present, active, imperative, 3rd person, singular.
First: Consider the voice of the verb: Active voice.
Q: What is the significance of the active voice?
Concerning the voice of a verb, Ray Summers writes the following:
Voice. The quality of the verb which indicates the relationship of the subject to the action is voice. The active voice means the subject is acting, and the passive voice means the subject is passive or being acted upon. These are the same as in English. Greek has a third voice called the middle, which expresses the action returning to the subject. You will study this in greater detail in lesson 11. Ray Summers and Thomas Sawyer, Essentials of New Testament Greek, Rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 11–12.
Applying the above information (active voice) to the verb in 1 Corinthians 14:27 means that a man is translating what another man has spoken. Two men are clearly in view here.
• One man speaks and • A different man translates (interprets).
Q: How do we know two men are involved? How do we know a man is not translating himself?
A: We know this by the voice of the verb. If the speaker is translating himself, the voice of the verb would be the middle voice.
Summers explains the middle voice in lesson 11. I have highlighted the portion of the text which pertains to the question of self-translating a sermon.
11.2 Middle and Passive English has the active and passive voices. In Greek these voices are the same as in English: active—the subject is performing the action "The church sees the messenger" (ἡ ἐκκλησία βλέπει τὸν ἄγγελλον); and passive—the subject is being acted upon by another agent "The messenger is being seen by the church" (ὁ ἄγγελος βλέπεται ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας). Greek also employs a third voice which English must express with reflexive pronouns, the middle voice "The messenger sees himself" (ὁ ἄγγελος βλέπεται). This voice depicts the subject as participating in the action, either directly or indirectly, and yet the action is also upon the subject itself. (Ray Summers and Thomas Sawyer, Essentials of New Testament Greek, Rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 49.)
The above comes from Summers' revised edition. His first edition has the following:
(1) In the middle voice the subject is acting so as to participate in some way in the results of the action. There is no English equivalent for this Greek construction. The subject rather than the action is the point of emphasis. Special attention is called to the subject. (Ray Summers, Essentials of New Testament Greek (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1950), 38.)
There are different functions of the middle voice which Summers elaborates on:
11.4 Function of the Middle Voice Although the middle voice has many shades of meaning, the following uses are important for understanding this construction: a. Direct Middle • The reflexive use is the one nearest the basic idea. It refers the result of the action directly to the agent. ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐγείρεται (The man is raising himself up). • The reciprocal is similar except in this usage a plural subject engages in an interchange of action, οἱ ἄνθρωποι διδάσκονται (The men are teaching one another). b. Indirect Middle. Here the subject is acting with reference to itself or in behalf of itself. λαμβάνεται δῶρα (She is taking gifts for herself). c. Intensive Middle. The stress is on the agent producing the action rather than participating in it. The word "self" may be used to show the strong involvement of the subject in the action. διδάσκεται τὴν ἀλήθειαν (He [himself] is teaching the truth). The idea is that he and no other is doing the teaching. d. Defective Middle. Some verbs are "defective," which some also call "deponent" verbs. They appear in the middle form but are active in function. The word deponent implies that they have laid aside their active voice. It is more likely that they never had an active form and thus were "defective." Many of these verbs are intransitive and not action verbs; thus they do not need an active voice. An example is the verb ἔρχομαι (I come). Defective verbs appear in the vocabulary in the middle or passive form. Sometimes defective verbs use the passive form, but this will be the same as the middle in the present tense. (Ray Summers and Thomas Sawyer, Essentials of New Testament Greek, Rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 50–51.)
Look carefully at the above highlighted material. If God wanted men to translate themselves while they preached, He would have used the middle voice in 1 Corinthians 14:27. He would have used either the reflexive or the indirect middle which would have been worded something like, "and let one interpret himself," but He did not do this.
Second: Consider the mood of the verb: Imperative mood.
The mood of the verb is described by Summers:
c. Mood. This aspect of the verb shows the relation of the action to reality. Mood (which some refer to as mode) tells whether the action is real or potential. In Greek there is only one mood which demonstrates the reality of the action—the indicative. This is the only mood you need learn presently. Remember that the indicative mood confirms the reality of the action from the viewpoint of the speaker. The three potential moods, which you will study later, are subjunctive, optative, and imperative. Ray Summers and Thomas Sawyer, Essentials of New Testament Greek, Rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 12.
The verb in 1 Corinthians 14:27 is the imperative mood—which means the action of the verb is "potential"—the action may or may not happen depending on whether the subject obeys or disobeys.
Concerning the imperative mood, Summers writes:
25.3 Function of the Imperative Mood
In Greek, as in English, the imperative mood expresses a command. One person is attempting to exert a will upon another. In English only the second person is used and the implied subject is you, as in the sentence “(You) go away!” Greek has forms for the second and third persons. No forms for the first person occur since the hortatory subjunctive expresses this idea (see 24.4.c.1). Translate the second person into the usual English command with “you” implied. In the third person you normally use the word “let” to express the idea, as in λυέσθω (Let him be loosed!).
As in the subjunctive the distinction between the present and aorist tenses is kind of action and not time. For this reason the aorist has no augment. The present imperative denotes action in progress: λῦε αὐτόν (continue loosing him!) The aorist imperative conveys action which has not yet started: λῦσον αὐτόν (Loose him!).
The main uses of the imperative are:
• The imperative is the usual way to express a command.
Example: γίνεσθε δὲ ποιηταὶ λόγου (Be doers of the word) (James 1:22).
• The imperative can also mean prohibition.
Example: μὴ γίνεσθε δοῦλοι ἀνθρώπων (Do not become slaves of men) 1 Cor. 7:23.
• Sometimes the imperative is softened to entreaty, especially when speaking to a superior or to God.
Example: πάτερ ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου … (Holy Father, perserve them in your name …) John 17:11.
• The idea of granting a permission can be stated by the imperative.
Example: ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε ([You may] be angry but do not sin.) Eph. 4:26.
• In some cases the imperative expresses a condition, and functions as a conditional sentence.
Example: λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν ([If you] destroy this temple, in three days I will raise it.) John 2:19.
Ray Summers and Thomas Sawyer, Essentials of New Testament Greek, Rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 127.
As noted above, the third person imperative is normally translated using the word "let." Hence, the command in 1 Corinthians 14:27 is translated, "and let one interpret."
Summary and conclusion
The active voice of the verb in 1 Corinthians 14:27 implies that two men are under consideration in the passage. One man is speaking and a separate man is translating (interpreting). If self-translation were authorized, the middle voice would have been used ("translate yourself"). The point to focus on is: The middle voice was not used and to change the voice of the verb to allow for self-translation would be tampering with the divine word.
