Use of MH
Stephen Ferguson
stphnfer01 at hotmail.com
Tue Nov 27 14:45:34 EST 2001
>Hi Stephen:
>
>The idea that MH with the present imperative NECESSARILY indicates a
>command to STOP doing something rather than AVOID doing it is one of
>those longstanding myths that still plagues grammars and commentaries.
>This construction MAY indicate a command to stop an action, but only if
>the contextual conditions are right. But this is an affected meaning or
>specific usage, and to insist that this is the essential idea is not
>correct. The basic force of the present in commands/prohibitions is that
>it views the action internally, as open-ended. The idea in James 4.11
>seems to be to HABITUALLY refrain from speaking evil against one
>another, as the general tone of the remainder of the sentence indicates.
Thank you to those who replied, I appreciate the clarification.
Stephen Ferguson
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