Importunity

Word Study:  Importunity  found in  Luke 11:8  

I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity(G3588 – G335 & (LN92.24 & LN66.12) he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.^[1]

Importunity | Definition of Importunity by Merriam-Webster

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/importunity

Seen and Heard. What made you want to look up importunity? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Importunity | Define Importunity at Dictionary.com

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/importunity

Importunity definition, the state or quality of being importunate; persistence in solicitation. See more.

By looking up the word in the dictionary one can get the idea of what the English word means that was used in the 1611 KJV.

Problem, we don’t frequently look up the word(s) and try and get the sense of the word by the sentence that it is used in.

Looking at other translations can greatly assist – note several of these below:

Here is the strip showing the Greek word and the dictionary id in Strongs and Low Nida identification scheme.

Ho – G3588 – 3588 ὁ [ho, he /ho/] article. In all their inflections, the definite article; GK 3836; 543 occurrences; AV translates as “which” 413 times, “who” 79 times, “the things” 11 times, “the son” eight times, and translated miscellaneously 32 times.^[2]

Ho – LN92.24

92.24 ὁ, ἡ, τό (pl. οἱ, αἱ, τά): a reference to an entity, event, or state, clearly identified by the linguistic or non-linguistic context of the utterance—‘the, he, she, it.’ τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν ‘for we are also his offspring’ Ac 17:28; τὸ γὰρ ἅγιον πνεῦμα διδάξει ὑμᾶς ‘for the Holy Spirit will teach you’ Lk 12:12; παντὸς ἀκούοντος τὸν λόγον τῆς βασιλείας ‘everyone who hears the message about the kingdom’ Mt 13:19.^[3]

Anaidela G335 –

G335 ἀναίδεια [anaideia /an·ah·ee·die·ah/] n f. From a compound of 1 (as a negative particle [cf 427]) and 127; GK 357; AV translates as “importunity” once. 1 shamelessness, impudence.

LN 66.12

LN 66.12 ἀναίδεια, ας f: a lack of sensitivity to what is proper—‘insolence, audacity, impudence, shamelessness.’ διά γε τὴν ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ ἐγερθεὶς δώσει αὐτῷ ὅσων χρῄζει ‘but he will get up and give what he needs because of his insolence (in keeping on asking)’ or ‘… because he lacks a sense of what is proper’ Lk 11:8.

Luke 11:8 (NASB77)
⁸  “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Does the translated word  “persistence” was used here cover the complete meaning of the Greek word?  There is no indication of  “shamelessness” in the word “persistence”,

Luke 11:8 (ESV)
⁸  I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

The word “impudence” is closer to the Greek word in meaning:

The English word “impudence” is define as being ‘bold’ and ‘offensively bold’

Impudence – definition of impudence by The Free Dictionary

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/impudence

im·pu·dence (ĭm′pyə-dəns) also im·pu·den·cy (-dən-sē) n. 1. The quality of being offensively bold. 2. Offensively bold

Luke 11:8 (NKJV)
⁸  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

The word “persistence” has the dictionary meaning of:

firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition: companies must have patience and persistence, but the rewards are there

synonyms: persistence, tenacity, determination, staying power, indefatigability, steadfastly…

The English word used means being “patience and persistence”  –  Using a synonym one could use ‘tenacity’ – ‘staying power’ – etc.
HOWEVER:  still they do not convey the meaning of the Greek word used as  Low Nida #LN66.12  states it to be:  –“‘insolence, audacity, impudence, shamelessness..”

Or Strong G335 giving meaning to be:  “shamelessness, impudence.”

Luke 11:8 (NLT)  (New Living Translation)
⁸  But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
This translation uses extra words in order to convey a greater meaning incorporating the words:  “not giving up” and explain that behavior to the point of ‘shameless persistence” .

Question:  What conclusion (decision) might you come up with in view of the different translations?  Do we lock ourselves into a word-for-word translation of the Bible?  For the translation team to maintain the ‘word for word’ translation hinder us from knowing what the Greek Word(s) were intended to reveal by their language?  Using such criteria may make it difficult to convey the meaning as the Greek language intended it to be conveyed as there isn’t a single word in the English dictionary that carries such a meaning?

Thus, the value of looking up verses in different translations as a cross-reference to aid in understanding the Greek word meaning.  Of course, one can have the LN and Strong’s dictionary handy and use it regularly for a greater depth of our understanding of scripture.

The ROOT of this Greek word Is modest & shamelessness; impudence

Lemma Definition:

I could only find that this Greek word was only once used in our text of Luke 11:8.

^[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 11:8). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[2] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

^[3] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 815). New York: United Bible Societies.