Codex Bezae (D05) Reading #9

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Aug 23 08:16:36 EDT 2002


Further reflections: I still think that this reading in D05 is an error for
EMNHSTEUMENHN, but as I pondered the matter I recollected there's a Homeric
verb MNAOMAI for "court, woo" from which MNHSTHS (e.g. those wretched
"suitors" upon whom Odysseus so horribly--and justly--takes vengeance) and
MNHSTEUOMAI derive. Upon checking BDAG this morning, I find this entry:

MNAOMAI (from MIMNHSKW in the sense 'woo' [so DELG and Frisk s.v. the
latter, and LfgrE s.v. MNAOMAI] via special development of the primary
sense of MNAOMAI 'be mindful of', which does not appear in our lit.; for
other derivations s. lit. cited in Frisk II 240f and LfgrE III 232; cp.
Hom. MNHSTHR 'suitor'; since Hom., also Philo) woo, court for one's bride
pf. ptc. MEMNHSMENH of the woman engaged, betrothed Lk 1:27 D.

The surprise to me here is that this verb is in fact derived from the root
MNA/MNH "remember" and is a special extended usage of that root.
Nevertheless two factors still seem to me to make this reading in D05
problematic: (1) why the perfect passive of a verb that only appears in the
middle voice and that is used of the man courting a woman? and (2)
according to LSJ-G (s.v. MNAOMAI II. 2), after Homer, the verb is used in
the sense, "sue for, solicit a favor, office, etc."

At 9:01 PM -0400 8/22/02, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>>9 - Lk 1:27 NA27/USB4: EMNHSTEUMENHN ANDRI hWi ONOMA IWSHF; D05:
>>MEMNHSMENHN instead of EMNHSTEUMENHN
>>Selon D05 Marie était simplement "promise en mariage" ; selon les autres
>>manuscrits qui reprennent le terme du Dt, elle était "officiellement
>>fiancée" . Quelles conséquences dégager du choix de l'un ou de l'autre
>>terme? Autre question: pourquoi le parfait? ["According to D05 Mary was
>>simply 'promised in marriage'; according to the other MSS which echo the
>>term from Deuteronomy, she was 'officially engaged.' What follows from the
>>choice of the one over the other term? Another question: Why the perfect
>>tense?"]
>
>I don't understand how MEMNHSMENHN can be understood as "promise en
>mariage" or "promised in marriage." This perfect MP participle can only be
>derived from MIMNHSKOMAI which is regularly middle in later Greek and ought
>to be understood as middle in this form: "remembering" (or "having
>remembered"). While the form doesn't normally have that -S- in the stem,
>the -S- is often enough added to vowel-stems before non-thematic endings.
>This really looks to me like an error for EMNHSTEUMENHN.
-- 

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/



More information about the B-Greek mailing list