Barnabas 2:2-3
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Feb 22 12:14:07 EST 2000
At 11:32 AM -0500 2/22/00, Bart Ehrman wrote:
> The first couple of chapters of the epistle of Barabas are full of
>tough nuts. Here's one that I'm scratching my head over, from Barn. 2:2-3
>
>2 Reverential awe and endurance are the helpers of our faith, and patience
>and self-restraint do battle on our side; 3 TOUTWN OUN MENONTWN TA PROS
>KURION hAGNWS SUNEUFRAINONTAI AUTOIS SOFIA SUNESIS EPISTHMH GNWSIS.
>
> The Greek of v. 3 is usually punctuated with a comma after hAGNWS, so
>that MENONTWN (genitive absolute) is taken as transitive with TA PROS
>KURION as some kind of object or accusative of respect (while these things
>await the matters that pertain to the Lord in a holy way, or while these
>things persist with respect to the matters that pertain to the Lord in a
>holy way). But I'm not sure what either of these options actually *means*
>(i.e., what the sense is).
>
> I suppose one could punctuate it differently so that the TA PROS KURION
>is the subject of the SUNEUFRAINONTAI, and then the four nominatives at
>the end are appositional ("while these continue, the things that relate to
>the Lord -- wisdom, understanding, perception, and knowledge -- are
>gladdened together with them in a holy way). But I'm not sure that's much
>better.
>
> Anyone want to throw in their two cents?
Just about exactly that--and 2c used to be worth a lot more than it is now!
LSJ at Perseus for SUNEUFRAINOMAI gives: suneuphrainomai, Pass., rejoice
together, D.H.Rh.2.5, Ph.1.405; meta gunaikos LXX Pr.5.18; tini with one,
Dem. 18.217, Hdn.2.8.9.
(1) I don't see how MENW could be transitive with TA PROS KURION hAGNWS to
convey the sense that you suggest; MENW ought to mean "endure" or
"withstand the frontal assault of" in the military context of your
metaphor, in which case that neuter plural phrase seems out of place; I
rather agree with you that it would make more sense to take TA PROS KURION
hAGNWS with what follows, the more so in that the adverb hAGNWS seems very
curiously positioned after TA PROS KURION but very naturally just before
SUNEUFRAINONTAI.
(2) The alternative punctuation yields better sense, I think--and perhaps
we could take TA PROS KURION and hAGNWS as adverbial with SUNEUFRAINONTAI,
yielding something like: "And with respect to the Lord wisdom,
understanding, knowledge, and recognition share reverently in joy with them
(i.e. w/ patience and self-restraint)." Your other suggestion, taking the
four nominatives as appositional to TA PROS KURION, is another possibility,
but it seems to me that adverbial accusatives of the sort represented by TA
PROS KURION are not uncommon in Hellenistic Greek (remember Mark 2:2 KAI
SUNHCQHSAN POLLOI hWSTE MHKETI CWREIN MHDE TA PROS THN QURAN--which I
understand to mean "and many were gathered together so that there was no
room left, not even near the door.") IF this two-cent thought has any
validity, the sense would be that while the good fight of faith is being
sustained--while patience and self-restraint hold steadfast (MENONTWN), the
higher spiritual sisters of these somatic soldiers, there in their own
Lord-ward realm, share the satisfaction of these somatic soldiers at the
successful resistance being offered against the foe. It all sounds very
much like John Bunyan to me, and I'm not sure that my thoughts are even
worth the tuppence.
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
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