Lk 1:79 FWS (Codex Bezae 05)

Glendon M. Gross gross at xinetd.ath.cx
Tue Sep 10 15:18:01 EDT 2002


I have a question to ask regarding this passage.  In my Greek NT it appears
in
Boldface, implying that the NT writer is quoting the LXX here.  Would it be
appropriate
to look at the word order in the LXX to determine the appropriate
grammatical function
in Luke, or would that be outside of the legitimate scope of the translator
in
understanding this passage?

One of the reasons I ask this is that my footnote to Luke 1:78-79 points to
Isaiah 9:2, which reads

"hO LAOS hO POREUOMENOS EN SKOTEI, IDETE FWS MEGA. hOI KATOIKOUNTES EN XWRA
SXIA QANATOU, FWS LAMPSEI EPH h'UMAS."
Isn't it interesting that the word FWS appears twice in this verse?  If I am
not mistaken, it is the direct object
of IDETE in the first phrase, and the subject of LAMPSEI in the second.  If
in fact the NT writer was quoting
this verse from the LXX, wouldn't it make sense to consider that he could be
paraphrasing the first phrase?
If so, then possibly this verse would support your option (2), that FWS is
direct object of a transitive EPIFANAI.
Nevertheless, the verb used here is LAMPSEI as opposed to EPIFANAI.  I am
curious to know your
opinion on this, and whether you think that the author of Codex Bezae might
have been cognizant of the
text that the author of Luke was quoting.

Regards,

Glendon Gross
Amateur Greek Student

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl W. Conrad [mailto:cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 5:39 AM
To: Biblical Greek
Subject: [b-greek] Lk 1:79 FWS (Codex Bezae 05)


I hereby submit the twelfth of the questions concerned with distinctive
readings of Codex Bezae in chapter 1 of the text of Luke's gospel.

Lk 1:78-79
NA27/USB4: ... EN hOIS EPISKEYETAI hHMAS ANATOLH EX hUYOUS, (79) EPIFANAI
TOIS EN SKOTEI KAI SKIAi QANATOU KAQHMENOIS, ... ;
D05: ... EN hOIS EPESKYATO hHMAS ANATOLH EX hUYOUS (79) EPIFANAI FWS TOIS
EN SKOTEI KAI SKIAi QANATOU KAQHMENOIS ...

FWS does not appear in the critical text but only in Codex Bezae. Should it
there be deemed as (1) an attribute of ANATOLH and subject of an
intransitive EPIFANAI (which might be either transitive or intransitive
here--cf. citation from BDAG below): "a light to shine (upon)" or as (2)
direct object of a transitive EPIFANAI: "to make a light shine (upon).

How is this phrase in Codex Bezae best rendered, in view of the fact that
ANATOLH might seem in Codex Bezae to allude to the "face of the Lord in
1:76 (PRO PROSWPOU KURIOU in D05 where ENWPION KURIOU is the reading of the
critical text: PROPOREUSHi gar ENWPION (or PRO PROSWPOU KURIOU) hETOIMASAI
hODOUS AUTOU. On the other hand, I think it might reasonably be argued that
PRO PROSWPOU with KURIOU is strictly idiomatic and means simply "ahead of"
or "preceding" as in the texts cited regularly with accounts of the
appearance of John the Baptist as "the messenger sent ahead of the Lord";
if that is so, then PRO PROSWPOU KURIOU is hardly different in meaning from
ENWPION KURIOU.

BDAG: APOFAINW
	2. to provide illumination, give light to, act., ext. of mng. 1: Lk
1:79. There is a slight diff. between this apparently intr. use and the
next, which is clearly trans. (On the theme of divine consideration in
providing light in darkness s. X. Mem. 4, 3, 4.)
	3. to make one's presence known, become apparent, act., ext. of
mng. 1 (Theocr. 2, 11 of stars; Polyb. 5, 6, 6 of daylight; Dt 33:2; Ps
117:27) of sun and stars Ac 27:20. Cp. 2 above.
--

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/

---
B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [gross at xinetd.ath.cx]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to
$subst('Email.Unsub')
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek at franklin.oit.unc.edu





More information about the B-Greek mailing list