DEIGMA in Jude 7: Nominative or Accusative?

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Dec 5 16:31:06 EST 2001


At 3:54 PM -0500 12/5/01, Randy Leedy  wrote:
>>>>Carl Conrad wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>And here I will offer what can only be viewed as an outrageous
>proposal:
>that PROKEINTAI be understood to have a sort of middle force:
>"display
>themselves as an example" = "constitute an outstanding example as
>they
>undergo the punishment of everlasting fire"--in which case of
>course,
>DEIGMA will be accusative after all.
><<<
>
>Carl, I like your idea that these cities "constitute an outstanding
>example"; it doesn't strike me as so outrageous. Perhaps I'm missing
>something. But it still looks to me as though it would be nominative
>unless we feel the need to supply EAUTAS (or EAUTOUS, depending on
>whether the concord is to be grammatical or physical). At first blush
>I don't see a need for that ellipsis.
>
>So my two questions are, Where are you seeing outrage? (in the
>meaning you're suggesting for the verb or in something grammatical?)
>and What need for the accusative are you seeing?

Well, it's customary to call KEIMAI and it's cognates a "deponent" verb; to
be sure it's often said (especially with regard to classical Attic) that
KEIMAI and its compounds are functional passives to TIQHMI and its
compounds, so that PROKEIMAI might be envisioned as a functional
middle-passive of PROTIQHMI and take DEIGMA as an accusative OBJECT:
translating as a middle most literally it would be: "have set themselves
forth as an example [have put on display their monstrous example],
undergoing punishment of eternal fire."

So the "outrage" lies in seeing PROKEINTAI as a middle that can take a
direct object. and the accusative is DEIGMA as direct object of PROKEINTAI
(if one is willing to accept the "outrage").
-- 

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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