hUPARCHO and EIMI

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David McClister
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hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by David McClister »

Does anyone know of resources which discuss the semantic differences between hUPARCHO and EIMI? In particular, any studies which might shed light on why an ancient author (especially in the NT era) would use one instead of the other? I am aware that the evidence suggests significant semantic overlap between the terms by NT times, but I am wondering if anyone has discerned any finer points of nuance. Thanks.

David McClister, Florida College
Eeli Kaikkonen
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

I have wondered this too. I haven't done any research about this. You should add γινομαι to the list. A random note: Luke uses υπαρχω more than other writers. Maybe it's "stylistic", more high register. But it doesn't exclude possible semantic differences in some contexts.
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by cwconrad »

David McClister wrote:Does anyone know of resources which discuss the semantic differences between hUPARCHO and EIMI? In particular, any studies which might shed light on why an ancient author (especially in the NT era) would use one instead of the other? I am aware that the evidence suggests significant semantic overlap between the terms by NT times, but I am wondering if anyone has discerned any finer points of nuance. Thanks.

David McClister, Florida College
I remember puzzling over this question for the first time half a century ago when I first started with Greek. Here is perhaps more information than you were expecting or were prepared to digest. To simplify matters, the most common usage of the verb ὑπάρχειν is in the neuter plural participle τὰ ὑπάρχοντα = “property, possessions, belongings”; as a finite verb it is used in the existential sense of “to be” = “to exist” and also in the equative sense of “to be” to associate a qualitative characteristic with a noun. The lexical entries in BDAG (Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and other early Christian Literature) and L&N (Louw & Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT Based on Semantic Domains) deserve a careful reading.

Louw & Nida:
13.4 εἰμίb; ὑπάρχωb: to be identical with — ‘to be.’
εἰμίb: σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ‘you are the Son of God’ Mk 3:11; οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀντίχριστος ‘this one is the antichrist’ 1Jn 2:22; αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία ‘this is the promise’ 1Jn 2:25.
ὑπάρχωb: οὗτος ἄρχων τῆς συναγωγῆς ὑπῆρχεν ‘this man was the leader of the synagogue’ Lk 8:41.4

13.5 ὑπάρχωa: to be in a state, normally with the implication of a particular set of circumstances — ‘to be.’ καὶ πραθὲν ἐν τῇ σῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ὑπῆρχεν ‘after you sold it, it was under your control’ Ac 5:4; ἀκούω σχίσματα ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν ‘I hear there are divisions among you’ 1Cor 11:18; μηδενὸς αἰτίου ὑπάρχοντος ‘there being no reason’ Ac 19:40; ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις ‘being in torment’ Lk 16:23.

13.77 ὑπάρχωc: to exist, particularly in relation to ownership — ‘to exist, to belong to.’ ἐν δὲ τοῖς περὶ τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον ὑπῆρχεν χωρία τῷ πρώτῳ τῆς νήσου ὀνόματι Ποπλίῳ ‘near that place there were some fields belonging to Publius, the chief of the island’ Ac 28:7.

57.2 γίνομαιf; ὑπάρχωd: to belong to someone — ‘to belong to, to have.’4
γίνομαιf: ἐὰν γένηταί τινι ἀνθρώπῳ ἑκατὸν πρόβατα ‘if a hundred sheep belong to a man’ Mt 18:12.
ὑπάρχωd: ὑπῆρχεν χωρία τῷ πρώτῳ τῆς νήσου ‘fields which belonged to the chief of the island’ Ac 28:7.
BDAG s.v. ὑπάρχω:
ὑπάρχω impf. ὑπῆρχον; fut. ὑπάρξω LXX; 1 aor. 3 sg. ὑπῆρξεν (Hom.+) the basic idea: come into being fr. an originating point and so take place; gener. ‘inhere, be there’.
1. to really be there, exist, be present, be at one’s disposal (Pind., Aeschyl., Hdt.+) μηδενὸς αἰτίου ὑπάρχοντος since there is no good reason Ac 19:40. Cp. 27:21; 28:18; be somewhere 4:34; 10:12; 17:27; Phil 3:20; 1 Cl 61:2; EpilMosq 3 (TestAbr A p. 5, 23 [Stone p. 12] ἐν τῆ σκηνῇ; Just., A I, 29, 1 ἐν σώματι). ἀκούω σχίσματα ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν I hear that there are actually divisions among you 1 Co 11:18. εἷς Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἄλλος οὐκ ὑπάρχει there is only one Christ Jesus and no other AcPl Ha 1, 18. σιγῆς ὑπαρχούσης 7, 25 (s. σιγή). W. dat. of pers. ὑπάρχει μοί τι someth. is at my disposal, I have someth. (X., An. 2, 2, 11; PMagd 9, 2 [III BC] ὑπάρχει ἐμοὶ Ἰσιεῖον; Sir 20:16; Jos., Ant. 7, 148) χρυσίον οὐχ ὑπάρχει μοι Ac 3:6. Cp. 4:37; 28:7; 2 Pt 1:8. τὰ ὑπάρχοντά τινι what belongs to someone, someone’s property, possessions, means (SIG 646, 25 [170 BC]; very oft. in pap since PHib 94, 2; 15; 95, 12 [III BC]; Tob 4:7; TestAbr A 8 p. 86, 7 [Stone p. 20]; Jos., Ant. 4, 261) Lk 8:3; 12:15; Ac 4:32. Subst. in the same sense τὰ ὑπάρχοντά τινος (SIG 611, 14; very oft. in pap since PHib 32, 5; 84, 9; PEleph 2, 3 [III BC]; Gen 31:18; Sir 41:1; Tob 1:20 BA; TestAbr A 4 p. 81, 28 [Stone p. 10]) Mt 19:21; 24:47; 25:14; Lk 11:21; 12:33, 44; 14:33; 16:1; 19:8; 1 Cor 13:3; Hb 10:34.
2. to be in a state or circumstance, be as a widely used substitute in H. Gk. for εἶναι, but in some of the foll. pass. the sense ‘be inherently (so)’ or ‘be really’ cannot be excluded (s. 1; cp. IG XIV, 2014, 3 ἄνθρωπος ὑπάρχων=‘being mortal’) (B-D-F §414, 1; s. Rob. 1121) w. a predicate noun (OGI 383, 48 ὅπως οὗτος . . . ὑπάρχῃ καθιδρυμένος; TestAbr A 4 p. 80, 26 [Stone p. 8] ἐνδοξότερος ὑπάρχει βασιλέων; ibid. B 2 p. 105, 9 [St. p. 58] ὑπῆρχεν . . . γηραλέος πάνυ τῇ ἰδέᾳ; JosAs 7:11 cod. A [p. 48, 12 Bat.] εἰ θυγάτηρ ὑμῶν ἐστι καὶ παρθένος ὑπάρχει . . . ; SibOr 3, 267, fgm. 1, 28; Ar. 13, 6; Just., A I, 4, 1; Tat. 60, 2) οὗτος ἄρχων τῆς συναγωγῆς ὑπῆρχεν Lk 8:41. ἐγὼ λειτουργὸς ὑπάρχω τοῦ θεοῦ I am a minister of God GJs 23:1. Cp. Lk 9:48; Ac 7:55; 8:16; 16:3; 19:31 D (w. φίλος and {p. 1030} dat., the standard form, s. ins Larfeld I 500); 36; 21:20; 1 Cor 7:26; 12:22; Js 2:15; 2 Pt 3:11; 1 Cl 19:3 and oft.; MPol 6:2. Very freq. in the ptc. w. a predicate noun who is, since he is, etc. (TestSim 4:4 ἐλεήμων ὑπάρχων; Just., A II, 2, 10; Tat. 2, 2; Mel., P. 54, 396) οἱ Φαρισαῖοι φιλάργυροι ὑπάρχοντες Lk 16:14. Cp. 11:13 (v.l. ὄντες); 23:50; Ac 2:30; 3:2; 16:20, 37; 17:24, 29; 22:3; 27:12; Ro 4:19; 1 Cor 11:7; 2 Cor 8:17; 12:16; Gal 1:14; 2:14; 2 Pt 2:19; 1 Cl 1:1; 11:1, 2; 25:2; B 5:10.—ὑπ. w. a prep.: ἐν (Jer 4:14; Philo, Leg. All. 1, 62; Jos., Ant. 7, 391; Just., D. 69, 7 ἐν λώβῃ τινὶ σώματος ὑπάρχων): οἱ ἐν ἱματισμῷ ἐνδόξῳ ὑπάρχοντες Lk 7:25; cp. 16:23; Ac 5:4; 14:9 D; Phil 2:6; 1 Cl 1:3; 32:2; 56:1. τοῦτο πρὸς τῆς ὑμετέρας σωτηρίας ὑπάρχει Ac 27:34 (s. πρός 1).—Schmidt, Syn. II 538–41. DELG s.v. ἄρχω p. 121. M-M. Sv.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
David McClister
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by David McClister »

Thanks Carl. I had indeed looked at those definitions, and the discussion in LSJ was helpful as well. There seems to have been a sense of "already in existence" as well as the idea of possession (as the phrase TA hUPARCHONTA attests). When I am reading Greek I try to get a sense of why an author chose the words he did in addition to noting discourse features. I get the nagging sense that there is a nuance to hUPARCHO that I am missing (which is undoubtedly true of many other matters in ancient Greek as well!).

In Acts 16.3 the participial forms of both EIMI and hUPARCHO appear. "the Jews who were (ONTAS) in those places" ... "everyone knew that his father was (hUPERCHEN) a Greek." Is some sense of "already being" involved in the word choice here? That is, Timothy's father was, and had always been, a Greek. Does this explain the choice of uPARCHO here? Similarly, the Jews had not always been in those places, so would this explain why EIMI was the right choice for that statement?

There is a stative sense here (as both Louw-Nida and BDAG point out), but there seems to be more than that. Maybe a sense of an long-ongoing or "permanent" state (I am thinking out loud here)? Or maybe the idea of a state which is normal for a thing or person? Cf. Acts 16.20 "being Jews" and Acts 16.37 "being Roman men."

But I am also thinking about passages like Acts 8.16 and 19.36 where uPARCHO is used in a periphrastic construction.
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Should we not add ἔχω to the list? The usage of εἰμί and ἔχω overlap at the edges.

BDAG p442 §10

LS intermediate ἔχω
II. simply to be, often with Advs. of manner, εὖ ἔχει Od.; καλῶς ἔχει, κακῶς ἔχει, Lat. bene habet, male habet, it is going on well, Att.; οὕτως ἔχει so the case stands, Ar., etc.:—a gen. modi is often added, εὖ ἔχειν τινός to be well off for a thing, abound in it, Hdt.; ὡς ποδῶν εἶχον as fast as they could go, Id.; ὥς τις εὐνοίας ἢ μνήμης ἔχοι as each man felt disposed or remembered, Thuc.
Soph. OT 1189-1195

Τίς γάρ, τίς ἀνὴρ πλέον
τᾶς εὐδαιμονίας φέρει
ἢ τοσοῦτον ὅσον δοκεῖν
καὶ δόξαντ' ἀποκλῖναι;
Τὸν σόν τοι παράδειγμ' ἔχων,
τὸν σὸν δαίμονα, τὸν σόν, ὦ
τλᾶμον Οἰδιπόδα, βροτῶν
οὐδὲν μακαρίζω·
Oedipus, you are my pattern of this,
Oedipus, you and your fate.
David Grene 1942 University of Chicago
What man, what man wins more of happiness than enough to seem, and after seeming to decline? With your fate as my example, your fate, unhappy Oedipus, I say that nothing pertaining to mankind is enviable.
Lloyd-Jones LCL 1994 Harvard UP.

Louw & Nida:
13.1 εἰμίa: to possess certain characteristics, whether inherent or transitory — ‘to be.’ πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ ‘I am gentle and [p. 150] humble in spirit’ Mt 11:29; ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν ‘because he was before me’ Jn 1:15; ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη ‘in order that our joy might be complete’ 1Jn 1:4; τοῦτο γὰρ εὐάρεστόν ἐστιν ἐν κυρίῳ ‘for this is well pleasing to the Lord’ Col 3:20; μακάριοι οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι ‘truly fortunate are those servants’ Lk 12:37.3

13.2 ἔχωg; φορέωb: to be in a particular state or condition — ‘to be, to bear.’
ἔχωg: εἶπεν δὲ ὁ ἀρχιερεύς, Εἰ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει; ‘the high priest asked him, Is this really so?’ Ac 7:1; πάντας τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας ἐθεράπευσεν ‘he healed all who were sick’ Mt 8:16.
φορέωb: καθὼς ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ ‘as we are in the likeness of the earthly’ or ‘as we bear the likeness of the earthly’ 1Cor 15:49.
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Carl will probably wonder why that quote from Soph. OT. On closer inspection it isn't an example of what the lexicons are talking about.
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by cwconrad »

Stirling Bartholomew wrote:Carl will probably wonder why that quote from Soph. OT. On closer inspection it isn't an example of what the lexicons are talking about.
You have cited Sophocles frequently of late, it seems; the language as well as the mentality of Sophocles does linger long after a close reading. Your citation puts me in mind of the weary sentiment of the chorus in OC:
Μὴ φῦναι τὸν ἅπαντα νι-
κᾷ λόγον· τὸ δ', ἐπεὶ φανῇ, 1225
βῆναι κεῖθεν ὅθεν περ ἥ-
κει,
Oedipus himself puts the lie to that sentiment soon after listening to those words as he walks, as if with seeing eyes, into the grove where he meets his mysterious end, without regrets.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
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Tony Pope
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Re: hUPARCHO and EIMI

Post by Tony Pope »

Alford gives some thought to this question in his comments on Acts 16.20, which are worth considering.
Alford wrote:The distinction between ὑπάρχων and ὠν seems to be, that the former [ὑπάρχων] is used of something which the speaker or narrator wishes to put forward into notice, either as unknown to reader or hearer, or in some way to be marked by him for praise or blame: whereas the latter [ὠν] refers to facts known and recognized, and taken for granted by both. Thus, we may notice that, when the fact of Paul and Silas being Romans is announced to the jailor [16.37], it is not ἀνθ. Ῥωμαιους ὀντας, but ὑπαρχοντας; whereas here, both parties, the speakers and the addressed, being indisputably Romans, we have Ῥωμαιοις οὐσιν [16.21]. The account of this may be, that ὑπάρχω is predicated of something which the speaker informs the hearer, some prior knowledge which he possessed and now imparts,—εἰμι being predicated for the bare matter of fact. See [Acts17.27,29 21.20 (for both) 22.3; Gal 2.14 al] for ὑπάρχων: and for ὠν, [John 3.4 4.9a,b; Rom 5.10] al.
However, Alford gives a different explanation in his comments on Gal 2.14: Ἰουδαῖος ὑπάρχων "by birth, originally".

I reckon ὑπάρχειν frequently has the sense "to be inherently/really" (BDAG #2), but this has different pragmatic uses according to context.
It can be used to contradict a false impression or presupposition:
Luke 7.25 ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐν ἱματισμῷ ἐνδόξῳ καὶ τρυφῇ ὑπάρχοντες ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις εἰσίν. [In case you thought otherwise], people who wear splendid apparel and live in luxury are normally found in royal palaces!
Acts 5.4 πραθὲν ἐν τῇ σῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ὑπῆρχεν After it was sold, the money was absolutely at your disposal [No room for disputing it.]
Acts 16.37 ἀνθρώπους Ῥωμαίους ὑπάρχοντας we who are in fact Roman citizens [contrary to what the magistrates supposed, see v. 38]
Acts 17.27 καίγε οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντα and yet in fact he (God) is not far from each one of us
Acts 19.40 μηδενὸς αἰτίου ὑπάρχοντος as there is in fact no reason for (today’s disturbance) [Emphasizes the fact of the situation in contrast to the evident presumption on the part of the crowd.]

It can also be used to stress the reality of a situation:
Luke 16.23 καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις In Hades he looked up, being in torment as he was [The rich man has not been portrayed as full of pity, so presumably ὑπάρχων is intended to confirm a reality that is already presupposed.]
Acts 2.30 προφήτης οὖν ὑπάρχων … προϊδὼν as he (David) was in fact a prophet … he saw into the future [Emphasizes David’s status as a prophet as something crucial for the interpretation of the psalm that Peter has quoted.]
Acts 27.12 ἀνευθέτου δὲ τοῦ λιμένος ὑπάρχοντος πρὸς παραχειμασίαν Since the harbour was in fact unsuitable for wintering in [Perhaps this is also in contrast to what might be expected from the name Fair Havens in v. 8.]

I suggest Acts 16.3 is similar. We have already been told in v. 1 that Timothy’s father was not a Jew, and this fact is emphasized as being common knowledge because of its importance in justifying Timothy’s circumcision.
ᾔδεισαν γὰρ ἅπαντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ὅτι Ἕλλην ὑπῆρχεν. since they all knew that his father had in fact not been a Jew.
In the case of the Jews in the same verse (τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις), there is no requirement to imply anything special about their being in Lystra and Iconium, so the verb εἶναι is used. It's not in contrast with ὑπάρχειν, just the "plain vanilla" unmarked choice of vocabulary.

In Acts 8.16 μόνον δὲ βεβαπτισμένοι ὑπῆρχον εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, the verb seems to contribute to marking the condition of the disciples as merely baptized into Jesus.

In Acts 19.30 δέον ἐστὶν ὑμᾶς κατεσταλμένους ὑπάρχειν καὶ μηδὲν προπετὲς πράσσειν, it seems unlikely after two hours of the crowd shouting their slogan that the city clerk is saying you should be restrained as you inherently are (unless this is diplomatic talk). He seems to be emphasizing the attitude he recommends in contrast to what he fears may happen : it is essential that you really be restrained and do nothing rash.
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