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Ephesians 6:2 -- The
first command with a promise?
Editor's Note: This
response answers a reader's question concerning the ISV's rendering of
Ephesians 6:2, which is:
"Honor your father and
mother." This is a very important commandment with a promise...
It is common for English
translations to render this "the first
commandment with a promise," which is, I think, accurate; no prior
commandment (in Exodus 20, at least) includes a promise, and accurate also
in the sense that prote commonly has the sense of "first." I'm
just curious why "very important" is the rendering here.
Because prote can
carry the connotation of importance; i.e., first in priority. The COT
decided to connote the concept of importance to the command, not first
command with a promise. We do admit that this reading is a bit subjective,
but on the other hand, we aren't aware of any other modern translation
that reflects the nuance of importance that is carried in the Gk word
prote.
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