Matt. 3:7

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Dec 8 08:58:13 EST 1998


At 9:17 PM -0600 12/7/98, Terence Miller wrote:
> My first question. Did the Pharisees and Saducees come "to" or "for" the
> baptism in Matthew 3:7?  The preposition is EPI with the acc. case.  Dana
> and Mantey suggest a remote meaning (p106). Zerwick and others suggest EPI
> with acc. leans towards movement. It does seem to be important to know
> whether the Pharisees came to the baptism or for baptism. English
> translations vary. Most of them translate EPI as "to."  The NASB translates
> EPI as "for."

text: IDWN DE POLLOUS TWN FARISAIWN KAI SADDOUKAIWN ERCOMENOUS EPI TO 
BAPTISMA AUTOU ...

I've just gone through Louw & Nida and find a wide variety of 
idiomatic usages of EPI + accusative in different expressions, but as 
we are dealing here with a verb of motion (ERCOMENOUS), I'm going to 
fall back upon my general sense for EPI with accusative. EPI means 
most literally "down upon" or simply "upon"; an accusative used as 
its object indicates the terminal point aimed at by the action. In 
classical Attic, my observation has been that EPI with accusative and 
a verb of motion more often than not indicates hostile intent, 
wherefore I've come to think of it as a "hawk" word indicating the 
swooping down of a bird of prey to pounce upon a victim. I know it's 
used of armies attacking. There are probably plenty of instances of 
EPI + accusative where the situation doesn't really imply hostility, 
but in the present instance in Mt 3:7, I'm inclined to think it's 
there, especially given the Baptist's polemical response to the 
Pharisees and Sadducees who have come to him.

On the other hand ...: the object of EPI here is TO BAPTISMA AUTOU, 
and the Baptist asks "who warned you to avoid the wrath ...?"; in 
view of that one might suppose that they have indeed come IN ORDER TO 
BE BAPTIZED. Yet BAGD in their long article upon EPI do cite EPI + 
accusative and this verse as an instance of "for" in the sense of 
purpose. I guess that's possible.

Upon reflection, I wonder whether there may not be a deliberate 
ambiguity in this phrasing in Matthew's version: perhaps they HAVE 
come to be baptized, but consider who they are! Perhaps they have 
come with hostile intent, as often enough in the gospel accounts we 
see Pharisees or scribes (sometimes even Scribes of Pharisees!) 
coming to spy upon the behavior of Jesus and his disciples.

Luke has (3:7) ELEGEN OUN TOIS EKPOREUOMENOIS OCLOIS BAPTISQHNAI hUP' 
AUTOU followed by the same GENNHMATA ECIDNWN speech that is usually 
deemed a Q passage, since it is identical in Mt and Lk and not 
present in Mk. Luke uses the infinitive BAPTISQHNAI evidently as a 
complementary infinitive with EKPOREUOMENOIS to express purpose.

Elsewhere in Matthew, however, the phrase GENNHMATA ECIDNWN is 
regularly used in passages of implicit condemnation:

Mt 12:34 GENNHMATA ECIDNWN, PWS DUNASQE AGAQA LALEIN PONHROI ONTES?
Mt 23:33 OFEIS, GENNHMATA ECIDNWN, PWS FUGHTE APO THS KRISEWS THS GEENNHS?

To me these passages seem to weight the interpretation of EPI TO 
BAPTISMA AUTOU in Mt 3:7 toward the notion of the Baptist's 
expectation that these Pharisees and Sadducees have come to him 
hypocritically and with hostile intent; and yet, and yet ... the 
alternative is plausible enough that it deserves consideration, 
namely, that they DID come in order to be baptized.

It was a good question. Moreover, it's another of those questions 
which raise the translator's problem: if the Greek text is really 
ambiguous, does the translator have the right to make a decision in 
favor of one of the alternatives rather than the other? I suppose 
s/he's not to be faulted if s/he honestly believes that s/he has 
chosen the more likely interpretation to translate--BUT, IMHO, it 
would be more honest to use a footnote to explain that the translator 
has chosen what s/he thinks is more plausible but that an alternative 
understanding of the Greek is also plausible.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad at yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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