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Teo Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

But unless

"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13: 2 & 3, New International Version)

What does "but unless" mean?

Thanks very much for your explanation.
  

Top answer

It's synonym to "if you don't repent".

— Pieanne

  • It's synonym to "if you don't repent".
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8 Answers
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It's synonym to "if you don't repent".
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I know 'unless' means 'if ... not,' but why use but unless? But unless is semantically odd, isn't it?
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Look at it this way:

"But you too will all perish unless you repent".
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It is a little odd. I don't quite understand where the contrast lies. I would have expected "And".

I wonder if it's intended to sound archaic.

MrP
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I see nothing at all wrong with it. Whilst, in theory, it's bad to begin a sentence with "but", in practice we all do it.

In this case "But" can be replaced by "However, ".
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Starting the sentence with "but" isn't the problem.

"But" requires contrast or opposition. If "these Gs" weren't worse sinners than "you", where does the contrast lie?

MrP
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Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

I read it as: Are these G's worse than the other G's? No, not worse, but (all the same, no matter whether it's these or those or you, no matter how bad a sinner one is), a
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Well, I'm probably being obtuse here; but I still don't understand the reason for the "but" in your version, CJ. A "so" could replace it.
Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
I read the intended meaning, in context, as:
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