MEQUW in John 2:10

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Dec 10 06:44:22 EST 2001


At 11:25 PM -0600 12/9/01, justin rogers wrote:
>What is the significance of MEQUW in John 2:10. Is the word more
>properly >translated "drink freely," "well drunk," or "become drunk?" How
>can we know this?

Text (it's customary to cite the text you are discussing or asking a
question about): KAI LEGEI AUTWi: PAS ANQRWPOS PRWTON TON KALON OINON
TIQHSIN KAI hOTAN MEQUSQWSIN TON ELASSW; SU TETHRHKAS TON KALON OINON hEWS
ARTI.

I think the context makes it clear enough--and the fact that MEQUSQWSIN is
an aorist--that the guests in question--or most of them--must have become
sufficiently intoxicated to be no longer able to discern the taste
differential between good wine and inferior wine. I'd English it then as
"have gotten tipsy."
-- 

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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