Phil. 3:8 - two questions
Mark Wilson
emory2oo2 at hotmail.com
Fri Jan 12 10:09:53 EST 2001
Kimmo:
You wrote
------
>The passive deponent seems to work fine with KOINH, but in Classical
>Greek the verb occurs in all three voices. Active meaning is to inflict
>loss (or to fine). The passive voice seems to me more suitable for Phil.
>3:8 than the middle, because Paul is not inflicting any loss on himself,
>but rather expressing willingness to receive any (passive) for a greater
>purpose. If there is something anomalous with this use of passive, it
>seems to have more to do with the volitional element, not why the middle
>is not used.
-----
I wonder if this "out of the box" thought is suitable for helping me
distinguish the Middle and Passive senses.
Could we understand the Middle as we understand a "purpose clause" and
understand the Passive as a "result clause." That way, the Middle reflects
the subject's "volitional choice" while the Passive reflects a "completely
passive" concept. Hence,
As Middle (purpose), Paul chose or purposed to suffer loss
As Passive (result), (as a result of his decision) Paul received loss
This would also include "awareness." As a Middle (purpose), Paul was
cognizant of the implications of his decision. As a Passive (result), the
results would befall Paul, even to the extent that he would be unaware of
the implications of his past choice.
Any thoughts...in or out of the box :o )
Mark Wilson
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