Syntax of Heb.12:15

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Jun 14 06:31:40 EDT 1999


At 6:34 PM -0400 6/13/99, Dmitriy Reznik wrote:
>Will you please help me to understand syntax of Heb.12:15? I am specially
>intrested in the frase MH TIS hUSTERWN... (Lest anybody fail...) hUSTERWN
>is a participle.I wonder why there is no predicate with TIS. How to
>translate this passage literally and correctly?

Others might explain this differently, but I'd say there's an implicit verb
"to be" here, probably a subjunctive Hi that would correspond to ENOCLHI
and MIANQWSIN in the latter half of the verse. Often enough the verb EINAI
is omitted, and I think this may be particularly true with this kind of EI
TIS clause. You might compare the sequence in Phil. 4:8 where there is an
initial relative clause, hOSA ESTIN ALHQH, then hOSA EUFHMA, but then EI
TIS ARETH KAI EI TIS EPAINOS, where ESTIN isn't simply carried forward (I
think) from the hOSA clauses but is simply omitted because it is understood.

I'd understand the sense of Heb 12:15 as "... that there not be anyone
falling short ..." EPISKOPOUNTES MH TIS (Hi) hUSTERWN APO THS CARITOS TOU
QEOU.



Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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