Lk 1:26 APESTALH APO/hUPO TOU QEOU

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Aug 28 09:39:10 EDT 2002


At 7:18 PM +1000 8/28/02, Frank Gee wrote:
>In response to Carl Conrad's:
>>the eighth of the questions concerned with distinctive
>> readings of Codex Bezae in the text of Luke's gospel.
>>
>> Lk 1:26 NA27/USB4: APESTALH hO AGGELOS APO TOU QEOU; D05: ... hUPO TOU
>QEOU
>>
>> Is there a significant difference between APESTALH APO TOU QEOU and
>> APESTALH hUPO TOU QEOU? It has been suggested that the distinction between
>> APO + gen. and hUPO + gen. may have weakened with time, so that one may
>> have been substituted for the other. What do list-members think?
>
>My vestigial knowledge of classical Greek has suffered with the passing of
>time, but my very intuitive impression is that in earlier times APO was an
>indicator of source rather than agency, while hUPO prevailed through time as
>an indicator (solely) of agency.  But this is all very tentative.  So,
>feeling my inadequacy for any serious contribution on this topic from a
>diachronic perspective, my efforts have to be limited to some concordance
>searching, and a little
>inquiry from Louw and Nida, with the following results:
>
>APO with the genitive is characterised by Louw and Nida as " a marker of
>agent which may also be regarded as a source - 'by, from.'
>A straightforward instance of the former (agentive) function which they cite
>is in  Acts 4:36 - IWSHF DE hO EPIKLHQEIS BARNABAS APO TWN APOSTOLWN
>('Joseph, who was called Barnabas by the apostles'.   Nothing remarkable so
>far.
>What is more interesting is their analysis of 1 Thessalonians 2:6 -
>OUTE ZHTOUNTES EX ANQRWPWN DOXAN, OUTE AF' hUMWN OUTE AP' ALLWN,  'neither
>seeking to be honored by people, neither by you nor by others' or 'neither
>seeking glory from people, neither from you nor from others'  -  on which
>they comment:   "The expression ZHTOUNTES DOXAN in 1 Thes. 2:6  clearly
>indicates an event of 'seeking to be honored' or 'seeking to be given glory.
>' In such an instance,  APO + gen. serves to mark not only the agent but
>also a source."
>
>Now from the diachronic perspective which our question seems to presuppose,
>I would have probably put the emphasis in L & N's last sentence in reverse:
>that APO marks not only source but also agent.
>
>There are plenty of examples in the GNT where APO + gen. is used for source
>with NO idea of agency, for example:  TREIS ANDRES . . . APESTALMENOI APO
>(from) KAISAREIAS (Acts 11:11).   Such examples are unremarkable, in the
>light of the likely history of the earliest function of APO + gen.  (if, of
>course, my intuitive account above is correct!!)
>It seems to me that the only way Carl's question can be answered within the
>scope of the GNT is to observe that both functions of APO + gen. are found
>quite extensively, such that APO could by NT times be substituted for hUPO;
>but that substitution is not reciprocal (ie UPO is not substituted for an
>APO of source).
>
>What really aroused my interest in this question is a parallel with another
>Greek preposition with genitive, namely PARA.  My thoughts immediately went
>to the phrase in John 1:6 -
>. . . ANQRWPOS, APESTALMENOS PARA QEOU.   Here is another ambipollent
>preposition, leaving me wondering whether the writer here has source or
>agency more strongly in mind.  Is John sent FROM (the presence of) God, or
>BY him?   For a couple of reasons, I think agency is the stronger
>possibility here, as I think is probably also the case in Matthew 18:19,
>though the sense of source does not seem to have been entirely lost in that
>verse:  ... GENHSETAI AUTOIS PARA TOU PATROS MOU TOU EN OURANOIS.
>
>It would seem that we have an almost exclusively  agentive use of PARA in
>Luke 1:45 :
>(TA LELALHMENA) AUTHi  PARA KURIOU  -  though one could argue that the words
>to Mary were actually spoken by the angel, whereas the Lord was their
>source!
>
>All this leads me to finish up with some further questions about
>prepositions with the genitive:
>1.    Can we find in the GNT instances of the use of PARA + gen. which have
>an EXCLUSIVELY agentive function?
>
>2.    A preliminary look through the Gospel of  John seems to indicate that,
>while John uses APO + gen. to indicate source, whether local or personal, he
>NEVER uses APO to indicate agency.
>Why is it so?
>3.    More oddly, it seems that John never uses UPO with the genitive
>either.  Is there some reason for this?  (This does not seem to be a form of
>absence that can simply be explained on stylistic grounds.)

My sense is that PARA + genitive isn't ever really QUITE an equivalent of
hUPO + genitive to indicate the agent of an action but that there's always
a notion of originating personal SOURCE from which the action, message, or
gift issues; granted that's pretty close, but it seems to me there's a
nuance.

BDAG s.v. PARA:

A. w/ gen. 2. marker of one who originates or directs, from (Appian, Bell.
Civ. 4, 100 §420 PARA TWN QEWN; TestJob 38:8  PARA QEOU] PARA KURIOU
EGENETO hAUTH this was the Lord's doing Mt 21:42; Mk 12:11 (both Ps
117:23). W. a double negative: OUK ADUNATHSEI PARA TOU QEOU PAN hRHMA (s.
ADUNATEW) Lk 1:37. TA LALALHMENA AUTHi PARA KURIOU what was said to her (by
the angel) at the Lord's command vs. 45. APESTALMENOS PARA QEOU v John the
Baptist was not, like Jesus, sent out fr. the very presence of God, but one
whose coming was brought about by God J 1:6 (cp. 2 Macc 11:17). PAR'
hEAUTHS FEREI KARPON KAI PARA THS PTELEAS ß it (i.e. the vine) bears fruit
which comes both from itself and from the elm Hs 2:3. On 2 Pt 2:11 s.
KRISIS 1bb.

L&N:

90.14 PARAd (with the genitive): a marker of the agentive source of an
activity, though often remote and indirect - 'from, by, of.' CARIS ELEOS
EIRHNH PARA QEOU PATROS 'grace, mercy, peace from God the Father' 2Jn 3;
hINA PARA TWN GEWRGWN LABHi APO TWN KARPWN TOU AMPELWNOS 'in order to
receive from the farmers some of the fruit of the vineyard' Mk 12:2; PWS SU
IOUDAIOS WN PAR' EMOU PEIN AITEIS GUNAIKOS SAMARITIDOS OUSHS; 'how is it
that you being a Jew ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?' Jn 4:9;
TOU AITEIN ELHMOSUNHN PARA TWN EISPOREUOMENWN EIS TO hIERON 'to ask alms of
those who were going into the Temple' Ac 3:2.
-- 

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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