Lk 1:27 EMNHSTEUMENHN/MEMNHSMENHN

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Aug 25 16:35:36 EDT 2002


I hereby resubmit the nintgh of the questions concerned with distinctive
readings of Codex Bezae in the text of Luke's gospel.

Lk 1:27 NA27/USB4: EMNHSTEUMENHN ANDRI hWi ONOMA IWSHF; D05: MEMNHSMENHN
instead of EMNHSTEUMENHN

If MEMNHMENHN in this verse in D05  derives from the ancient Greek verb
MNAOMAI and is really a perfect passive participle, then Mary was simply
"courted"; the other MSS  echo the term from Deuteronomy and indicate that
she was "officially engaged."

While there was initially a puzzlement over the participle in D05 and a
thought that it must derive from MIMNHSKW, it was discovered that MIMNHSKW
and MNAOMAI do in fact both derive from the root MNA/MNH "mindful/be
mindful" and that MNAOMAI is an older Homeric verb for courtship.

I shall not review the thread so much as state what seem to me to be the
key points raised: (1) BDAG recognizes the variant MEMNHSMENHN in D05 of
the verse as a legitimate pf. passive ptc. of MNAOMAI; (2) D05 does show
EMNHSTEUMENH used of  Mary in Lk 2:5 and thus is not consistent, although
how that's to be interpreted remains an open question; (3) I have
questioned whether MNAOMAI still held this same sense of "court" in the
Hellenistic era (as it clearly has in Homer), and I have also questioned
whether MEMNHSMENHN is an appropriate passive form for a verb that is
essentially middle (MNAOMAI). I don't say that a middle-voice ("deponent")
verb could NOT have a passive participle, but I'd be more readily convinced
if I were shown other instances of this verb in this sense in the passive.
-- 

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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