Mt.24:31 ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν adj. or subs.?

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Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Mt.24:31 ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν adj. or subs.?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Matthew 24:31 Βυζ. 2005 wrote:Καὶ ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος φωνῆς μεγάλης, καὶ ἐπισυνάξουσιν τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων, ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν ἕως ἄκρων αὐτῶν.
Matthew 24:31 NA-UBS wrote:Καὶ ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος φωνῆς μεγάλης, καὶ ἐπισυνάξουσιν τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων, ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν ἕως [τῶν] ἄκρων αὐτῶν.
It seems that in other places in the New Testament, ἄκρον is most probably the neuter substantive, but in Matthew 24:31, it is syntactically unclear in the first phrase. Without the article, the phrase ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν could either be, adjectival "from the furthest heavens", or substantive "from the furthest limits of the heavens".

I'm asking because I don't understand the article well enough to know whether the inclusion or omission of the τῶν in the textual variants has any effects. I don't think it does. Either, "from the furthest heavens to their extremities", or "from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities" both seem feasible.

Did the adjectival use of ἄκρος, α, ον, drop out of use between the classical and Koine periods? I mean like would taking ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν as an adjectival construction be anachronistic?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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