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Matthew 26:64 English Standard Version

Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible

"You have said it," Jesus told him. "But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power [τῆς δυνάμεως] and coming on the clouds of heaven."

In https://biblehub.com/matthew/26-64.htm, only 5 out of 24 of the translations use the article in translating τῆς δυνάμεως. Is it important to include the article in the English translation in this case?

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  • In Greek, it is common, albeit not mandatory, to have the noun in the genitive preceded by an article. In Hebrew it is mandatory. Something similar also happens in Romanian, where at least one of the two nouns has to be articulated. – Lucian Jul 27 '20 at 20:09
  • @Lucian - I think that comment could be usefully expanded (only slightly) into an answer. – Dottard Jul 27 '20 at 23:18
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τῆς δυνάμεως—“the power,” is a circumlocution1 for the Tetragrammaton. It is not referring to merely abstract power, but using the epithet τῆς δυνάμεως as a synecdoche.2

On the Hebrew word גְּבוּרָה (“power”), Marcus Jastrow wrote,3

Jastrow, Marcus. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature. Vol. 1. p. 205. Hebrew גְּבוּרָה

Also, Johann Buxtorff wrote,4

Buxtorf, Johann. Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum et Rabbinicum. Vol. 1. p. 201. Hebrew גְּבוּרָה

According to Buxtorf, גְּבוּרָה was reckoned by [Alexander] Ross and the Cabbalists among the epithets of God for signifying the powerful God Himself.

Footnotes

        1 Hebrew כִּנּוּי (kinnui)
        2 Lausberg, § 574, p. 261: “Epithets...are often to be viewed as a synecdoche.”
        3 Jastrow, Vol. 1, p. 205
        4 Buxtorf, Vol. 1, p. 201

References

Buxtorf, Johann. Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum et Rabbinicum. Ed. Fischer, Bernard. Vol. 1. Leipzig: Schaefer, 1869.

Jastrow, Marcus. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Putnam, 1903.

Lausberg, Heinrich. Handbook of Literary Rhetoric: A Foundation for Literary Study. Trans. Bliss, Matthew T.; Jansen, Annemiek; Orton, David E. Ed. Anderson, R. Dean; Orton, David E. Leiden: Brill, 1998.

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    Thanks, @DerÜbermensch - typically excellent answer. +1. – Dottard Jul 27 '20 at 23:18
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Darby Luke 1:35 And the angel answering said to her, [The] Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of [the] Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God.

καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου
and power Highest

Here the articles are not there to signify the power itself.

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