amhn legw humin
Darrell Jachim-Moore
dkmcto at ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Mon Jul 17 14:33:16 EDT 2000
B-Greekers,
I'm currently researching the use of the Hebrew root 'mn for a thesis. Beyond the Hebrew scriptures, I'm also carrying my work into the NT. Of course, in the NT (in addition to pist- and aleth- stem Greek words) we continue to see the responsorial 'amen' especially in Paul. However, the gospels use it in a unique fashion in that on the lips of Jesus it serves as a pre-positive or introductory particle "amhn legw humin". Even more pronounced is John's double amhn, amhn in similar constructions.
After some brief review of the related texts (approx. 130 occurrences of amen in the NT over approx. 100 verses), I'm wondering if a case could be made for viewing this formulation as a unique and emphatic discourse marker such that one might suggest that its use serves to indicate that what follows in the text was especially important to the gospel writers (perhaps even more important than other texts where this formulation was not particularly utilized). I know that various cases have been made for how the use of amen as an introductory formula occurred (e.g., conventions from the use of hH mHn, nai, etc.), yet it seems that this is somewhat less important than the fact that it is being used to express emphasis regardless of how it came about.
I'd appreciate any insights from those who are more experienced on these types of issues. Can the case be made for this formulation as an emphatic particle, therefore offering a particular highlight to the importance of the material being introduced? Are there other similar introductory formulations (e.g. use of alhthws legw humin, etc.) that I ought to consider (or not ignore)? Is there any potential correlation between the Hebrew use of 'thus says YHWH' and this formulation? Finally, any known resources to help me better get at this issue?
Many thanx in advance for your thoughts.
darrell
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/attachments/20000717/c75d14e0/attachment.html
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list