Jude 7 APERCOMAI + OPISW

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Dec 2 20:37:31 EST 2001


At 11:43 AM -0800 12/2/01, c stirling bartholomew wrote:
>In Jude 7 we have APERCOMAI + OPISW (APELQOUSAI OPISW) which is treated by
>many as an idiom similar to well attested LXX idiom POREUOMAI OPISW.
>
>I am not sure that this is a good equation.  APERCOMAI + OPISW gets used in
>contexts where there are two distinct notions of movement. Movement away
>from something and movement towards something else. (see Mk 1:20, Lk 21:8).
>POREUOMAI OPISW only has the second notion of movement towards.
>
>Jude's treatment of the AGGELOUS in the preceding verse focuses on the first
>kind of movement, movement away from something. The rest of the AGGELWV
>story which is found in 1Enoch's treatment of Gen. 6 is left unstated but
>should be considered as an active "Frame" in Jude's discourse. In other
>words, Jude tells us what the ANGELLOI moved away from and we are to supply
>what the ANGELLOI moved towards.
>
>Looking at APERCOMAI in BDAG it is clear that the APO prefix may have little
>impact on the meaning of the word in some contexts. However,  in Jude 7 the
>idiom APERCOMAI + OPISW probably includes both the notion of leaving
>something and going towards something else.

Just for what it's worth, Clay, I might note that APO- in compounding
SOMETIMES has the force not of "away" but  rather of "straight at"; thus
(in classical Attic, at least) APOBLEPW doesn't mean "look away" but "look
directly at" (as if focusing upon something in the distance?). Rather
curious. Nevertheless, I doubt that's involved here and I rather suspect
this is a Semitism. I note that L&N have a separate entry for this
particular verse & usage of APERCOMAI OPISW.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
Most months: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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