Romans 10:20: Are all English translations in error?
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Nov 26 16:27:15 EST 2002
At 8:29 AM -0500 11/26/02, R. van den Hengel wrote:
>> >
>> > Romans 10:20 says:'hEUREQHN TOIS EME MH ZHTOUSIN; EMFANHS EGENOMHN
>>TOIS EME
>> > MH EPERWTWSIN'.
>> <snip>
>> >
\>> The passive of hEURISKW is never followed by hUPO in the GNT. However it is
>> followed by the dative a few times, as in:
>>
>> Rom 7:10 KAI hEUREQH MOI hH ENTOLH hH EIS ZWHN, hAUTH EIS QANATON
>> 2 Cor 12:20 KAGW hEUREQW hUMIN
>>
>
>I agree the passive of hEURISKW is never followed by hUPW in the GNT. The
>passive of hEURISKW almost never tells by whom someone or something is
>found. That doesn't surprise me, for the passive mode is normally used to
>avoid mentioning who acts.
>Therefore the English translations seem improbable to me. Why would Paul
>use a passive mode, if he would mention the actor?
This doesn't have much to do with the original question, but you make an
assertion here which I would question because I think it involves a serious
misunderstanding: you say, " ... the passive mode is normally used to
avoid mentioning who acts." While it may be used for that reason sometimes,
I don't think it is used for that reason "normally." Rather, I think it is
used more fundamentally to emphasize the SUBJECT of the passive verb.
Moreover, I think that gets to the point you raise in the last question
cited above: certainly Paul chooses this construction deliberately. It
might even be argued that hEUREQHN in Rom 10:20 should be understood as a
middle rather than a
passive. BDAG includes under hEURISKW this note: "Pass. hEUREQHN TOIS EME
MH ZHTOUSIN I have let myself be found by those who did not seek me Ro
10:20 (Is 65:1)." Certainly there's a close and deliberate parallel between
hEUREQHN and EMFANHS EGENOMHN as between the two clauses generally.
So also in Rom 7:10 what is emphasized by hEUREQH is the subject hH ENTOLH
hH EIS ZWHN--or at any rate the paradox is underscored by the word order,
such that I would English it as, "and what I found out was that ..."
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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