Ending of γενηθήτω?

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Tim Evans
Posts: 91
Joined: July 10th, 2015, 1:40 am

Ending of γενηθήτω?

Post by Tim Evans »

By greek is only beginner level, I am troubled recognising the ending of γενηθήτω from the Lords Prayer:
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
According to duff page 169, in other moods we have λυθητι, λυθητε, and λυθηναι. I don't recall ever seeing a "θητω" anywhere. What am I missing? Accordance calls it "3S aor pass imperative" so I know I was on the right track thinking its passive imperative.
cwconrad
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Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:52 pm
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Re: Ending of γενηθήτω?

Post by cwconrad »

Tim Evans wrote:By greek is only beginner level, I am troubled recognising the ending of γενηθήτω from the Lords Prayer:
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
According to duff page 169, in other moods we have λυθητι, λυθητε, and λυθηναι. I don't recall ever seeing a "θητω" anywhere. What am I missing? Accordance calls it "3S aor pass imperative" so I know I was on the right track thinking its passive imperative.
-τω is the third-person active singular imperative ending (cf. λυέτω 3 sg. pres.act. imptv.., λυσάτω 3 sg. aor. act. imptv. One of the "curious" facts about all the θη aorist forms is that they take active endings.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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