Lilyofthevalley

Could anyone who knows the Greek New Testament explain why this verse (Matthew 24:12 - 'And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold') might be open to some slightly different interpretation because of the Greek definite article:'the'? This positive definite article is in the Greek but is overlooked in the English translation.

To clarify: I need to know why there might be a definite article, namely the Greek for 'the', somewhere in that verse that might change the meaning slightly but significantly (and possibly isn't conveyed in English translations).

I'm wondering if the verse means, 'The love of the many will wax cold' - and then, if so, what 'the many' might mean, perhaps 'Most people'?

I'd appreciate any answers from students of the Greek NT.

Toto

Parallel translations

The love of many appears to be η αγαπη των πολλων

I am not sure what difference you see in the various translations - many people's love, the love of many people, the love of the many.

Ben C Smith

The article, which is indeed present in this verse, does not work in Greek exactly as it does in English. In this case I do not think it carries any particular force that is not conveyed in the English translations.

If the majority were the intended meaning, the author could have used πλειων (more, majority), which is the comparative degree of the actual word used, πολυς (much in the singular, many in the plural). The comparative degree is used, for example, in Matthew 11.20; Acts 27.12; 1 Corinthians 9.19; 10.5; and 15.6, in which cases a majority is clearly intended. Conversely, a simple plural πολυς with the definite article (like we find in Matthew 24.12) appears in passages such as Romans 12.5 and 1 Corinthians 10.17, in which cases many simply means, as we might expect, considerably more than one.

On the other hand, the expression the many sometimes seems to mean all or absolutely everybody, as in Romans 5.15, 19; this is sort of like using understatement, I think.

Ben.

Lilyofthevalley

Many thanks - the replies gave me what I needed to know, especially the info that the phrase in Greek does not apparently carry the sense of 'most' (or as Ben nicely phrased it, 'the majority'). Thanks!