Ephesians 4:26

Maurice A. O'Sullivan mauros at iol.ie
Thu Apr 13 08:02:26 EDT 2000


At 05:01 13/04/00, Harold R. Holmyard III wrote:
>I do not know about a permissive imperative other than that such seems
>to be the usage in the Septuagint of Psalm 4, from which Paul quotes in Eph
>4:26.

Harold:
The term "permissive imperative" is used in:
Daniel B. Wallace
Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics :An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament
[ This was published in 1996 by Zondervan, but I am using the version on 
CD-ROM ]

In his introduction to the Imperative, Wallace writes:
 >>The imperative mood is the mood of intention. It is the mood furthest 
removed from certainty. (Those who have strong-willed children understand 
this!) Ontologically, as one of the potential or oblique moods, the 
imperative moves in the realm of volition (involving the imposition of 
one's will upon another) and possibility.
There are many exceptions to this twofold "flavor" of the imperative in 
actual usage, although in almost every instance the rhetorical power of the 
imperative is still felt. Thus, when Paul says, "If the unbeliever departs, 
let him depart (XWRIZESQW_" (1 Cor 7:15), the permissive imperative is more 
strongly addressed to the heart than if he had said, "If the unbeliever 
departs, that is OK!" In Jas 4:7 the conditional imperative has not lost 
its injunctive flavor: "If you resist (ANTISTHTE) the devil-and you 
should!-he will flee from you." Technically, then, it is not best to call 
this the mood of command because it may be used for other than a command. 
But that volitional force is nevertheless still lurking beneath the 
surface, even when the speaker is not barking orders. <<

He further says:
 >>4. Permissive Imperative (Imperative of Toleration)
a. Definition
The imperative is rarely used to connote permission or, better, toleration. 
This usage does not normally imply that some deed is optional or approved. 
It often views the act as a fait accompli. In such instances, the mood 
could almost be called "an imperative of resignation." Overall, it is best 
to treat this as a statement of permission, allowance, or toleration. The 
connotations of "permission" are usually too positive to convey adequately 
the nuances involved in this type of imperative.>>

>The Greek verb ORGIZOMAI translates the Hebrew verb RFGAZ, which in
>the Qal can mean: "be agitated, quiver, quake, be perturbed, be excited."

Just a small point; the verb is R-G-Z, and ORGIZEIN is only one of a dozen 
equivalent verbs listed in:
Muraoka, Takamitsu. Hebrew/Aramaic Index to the Septuagint. Keyed to to the 
Hatch-Redpath Concordance. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.

(along with several others which he encloses in double square brackets to 
indicate his disagreement with the equivalence indicated in Hatch and Redpath )

Regards
Maurice

Maurice A. O'Sullivan  [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie






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