Mark 6:7b

George Young gwyoung at morgan.ucs.mun.ca
Mon Jul 31 13:13:05 EDT 2000


George Young wrote:

>>>Dear List Members:
>>>
>>>A question concerning translation.  How would list members translate the
>>>phrase in Mark 6:7b?  I'm concerned principally about how to translate
the
>>>genitives following the accusative EXOUSIAN TWN PNEUMATWN TWN AKAQARTWN?
>>>Would not a literal rendering be something like "he gave to them the
>>>authority of unclean spirits?"
>>>
Jim West wrote:

>>I take it as a genitive of separation- thus necessitating something like
>>"power OVER unclean spirits".

Carl W. Conrad wrote:

>A question of categories, perhaps. I'd agree that it's power "over" unclean
>spirits, but I'd not understand this as ablatival but rather as a standard
>adnominal genitive (of the so-called "objective" sort), EXOUSIA being
>tantamount to a verb that would take TA PNEUMATA TA AKAQARTA as a genitive
>direct object. Verbs of authority like ARCW, KRATEW, KURIEUW, and indeed
>EXOUSIAZW, regularly take the genitive direct object. cf. Luke 22:25, 1 Cor
>6:12, and 1 Cor 7:4 for instances of EXOUSIAZW with genitive direct object.

George Young replies:

I find Jim West's suggestion of "a genitive of separation" intriguing yet
somehow unsatisfactory.  As for Carl Conrad's suggestion of an "adnominal
gentive" more satisfying, but his explanation, and examples, presume a
genitival construction as the object of a VERB.  This is not the case in
Mark 6:7b.  What about an appositive genitive? (see BAG section 167.)    It
is interesting that in the par. Luke reworks the grammar to include EPI, and
Matt. follows up Mark's syntax with a longer clarifying phrase beginning
with hWSTE.  Do any list members suppose that Matt. and Luke might be trying
to smooth out a potentially dangerous or embarrassing text in Mark?

George Young
Queen's College
email: gwyoung at morgan.ucs.mun.ca






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