More Genea

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Apr 2 12:08:31 EDT 2000


At 8:58 AM -0400 4/2/00, RHutchin at aol.com wrote:
>I am still working on Matthew 24:34 and have some more questions.  If I get
>overbearing, let me know.
>
>Matthew 24:34 reads:
>
>AMHN LEGW hUMIN hOTI OU MH PARELQHi hH GENEA hAUTH hEWS AN PANTA TAUTA
>GENHTAI.
>
>Questions.
>
>1.  According to the Fribergs, PARELQHi is subjuntive, aorist, active.  Why
>would Jesus use that verb form instead of the future tense?  What idea is a
>person able  to convey by using that verb form? 

OU MH + subjunctive (usually aorist) is the strongest way to formulate an
affirmation of what must be. In older English (hardly anybody uses this
distinction even in writing nowadays), it is what was expressed using SHALL
in the second and third person as an auxiliary rather than WILL, e.g. "You
SHALL not cross this line!" or "This generation SHALL NOT pass until
everything has happened."

>2.  Would a person ever say, hAUTH hH GENEA.  I did not find the phrase in
>the NT.  Does the word order make a difference in the location of hAUTH in
>the context presented by this verse?

21 instances in the GNT: Matt. 12:45, Matt. 23:36, Matt. 24:34,  Mark 8:1,2
Mark 8:38, Mark 13:30, Luke 7:31, Luke 11:29,30, 31. 32, Luke 11:50, Luke
16:8, Luke 17:25, Luke 21:32,Acts 2:40,  Heb. 3:10. "This generation" is in
fact a very common phrase in the GNT and, as I recall (I found it in the
LXX in Psalm 11:8 and 23:6.

The only two possible word-orders are hAUTH hH GENEA and hH GENEA hAUTH;
since hAUTH is a demonstrative, it must take a predicate position with
respect to the article and noun--it can't be attributive.

>3.  Jesus could (I think) have said, hH AUTH GENEA to get the same point
>across.  What idea would a person be able to convey by using hH GENEA hAUTH
>that he might not in using hH AUTH GENEA?

hH AUTH GENEA would mean "the same generation", but if you meant to write,
hH hAUTH GENEA, that would be using hAUTH in attributive position and it
just isn't done.
-- 

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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