The grammar in Heb 9:27
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Aug 29 08:20:14 EDT 1999
At 4:19 PM -0700 8/28/99, C. E. Core wrote:
>Can anyone tell me will the grammar in Heb 9:27 tell us if apokeitai
>refers to "apooanein" as in when to die, apax apooanein, as in how often,
>or/and "krisis".
>
>Heb 9:27 kai kao oson apokeitai tois anorwpois apax apooanein meta de
>touto krisis
a. ASCII transcription: It appears that you have "copied and pasted" this
text from a word-processor, or more likely, from a Bible Study program,
directly into your e-mail; although it's not that hard to make an
intelligent guess at this, you should realize that the Greek font will
appear in the e-mail only for those persons who have the same Greek font
installed in their computer's system; personally I was thrown briefly by
the "o" appearing both for Omicron and Theta. In the most conventional
transcription scheme that we use on B-Greek, this text would be:
Heb 9:27 KAI KAQ' hOSON APOKEITAI TOIS ANQRWPOIS hAPAX APOQANEIN, META DE
TOUTO KRISIS,
The transcription schemes commonly used on B-Greek are explained and
illustrated in the BG-FAQ that was sent out to all new subscribers, and it
is accessible at the B-Greek web site:
http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek/faq.txt , although it's probably easier to
see how the ASCII transcription compares to the ordinary printed Greek
charcters in Jonathan's little diagram right there smack in the middle of
the B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
b. Yes, hAPAX APOQANEIN functions as the subject of the impersonal verb
APOKEITAI, a verb which is easier to understand than to convey in another
language. I think that I'd render it in English as "lies in store" or "is
destined/appointed." Hence: "And inasmuch as to die once is destined for
humanity, and after that judgment ..."
I personally think that it helps one understand the usage of the forms of
KEIMAI and its compounds to realize that this verb functions as the perfect
passive of TIQHMI and its compounds. So, if TIQHMI means "put down" or
"deposit" or "lay down" or "establish" (NOMON TIQESQAI is the regular idiom
for" establish/make a law"), then KEITAI will mean "has been put
down/deposited/laid down/established." We see APOTIQHMI or rather the
middle APOTIQEMAI regularly in the GNT in the sense of "put away ..." or
"rid oneself of ...", but APOKEITAI is more like a perfect passive of a use
of APOTIQEMAI that doesn't appear in the GNT: "establish/set (as a
rule/law." Here's Louw & Nida on APOKEIMAI in general and with specific
reference to Heb 9:27:
=================
13.73 KEIMAI; EPIKEIMAI; APOKEIMAI: to exist, with the implication of
having been established and thus having continuity and purpose - 'to exist,
to exist for, to be set.'
71.37 APOKEIMAI: to be necessary in view of something being inevitable -
'to be necessary, must.' APOKEITAI TOIS ANQRWPOIS hAPAX APOQANEIN 'everyone
must die once' He 9:27.
85.53 APOKEIMAI: to put something away for safekeeping - 'to store, to put
away in a place.' hH MNA SOU hHN EICON APOKEIMENHN EN SOUDARIWi 'your mina
which I put away for safekeeping in a napkin' Lk 19:20.
================
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
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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