Does Mark 8:7 use an imperative infinitive' ?

Jay Adkins JAdkins264 at aol.com
Sun May 9 08:02:35 EDT 1999


Dear Mr. Carl W. Conrad:
Please forgive my ignorance, but I am unsure I understand your response.  
You said;
<<The only problem I see is in transcription: the infinitive is PARATIQENAI 
(AI, not IA).>>
Sorry for the typo.
<<Here EIPEN must be understood to have the sense EKELEUSEN, "he 
bade/ordered (them) to serve these also." In English we can use "tell" this 
way, but Greek does not that commonly use LEGW in the sense of "order" with 
an infinitive.>>
I had noticed that the other major translations seem to also agree that "he 
bade/ordered (them) to serve these also."

7 They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered 
these to be served as well.  (NASB)
7  They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told 
the disciples to distribute them.  (NIV)
 7  And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set 
them also before [them].  (KJS)

The fact that none of the 18 translations I checked translated that last 
clause the way I did was the reason for the question in the first place.  
While I translate for myself first, my lack of confidence in my skills is 
such that I always check it against what others have done to see if there 
is any agreement at all.  In this case I found no agreement with what I had 
written, but still do not understand why not.  Most of the time when there 
is not agreement from someone else's work, I am able to understand my 
mistake.

So if I change from;
8:7 They also had a few small fish, having blessed them, He said, "Now 
serve these."
To;
8:7 They also had a few small fish, having blessed them, He commanded them, 
"Now serve these."
Would that fix the problem?

Also let me ask one more question. Why "EIPEN must be understood to have 
the sense EKELEUSEN"?  I do not question you are correct, I just want to 
understand why you are correct.  Why not 'He instructed them' for example?

I had considered asking this off the list so as not to further embarrass 
myself, but decided to put it on the list so as to encourage others like 
myself to be bold.  It often helps me when I read others' questions that 
may seem simply to many of the scholars on the list.  I feel there are more 
‘Little Greeks' like me who are often hesitant to ask questions, even when 
they fail after doing all the research they are capable of.

Jay Adkins,
Little Greek



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