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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