[B-Greek] Mood/tense of APOQNHiSKW in John 21:23

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Apr 23 10:15:49 EDT 2003


At 2:28 PM +0100 4/23/03, D Jongkind wrote:
>John 21:23
>And this word went out among the brothers
>OTI O MAQHTHS EKEINOS OUK APOQNHiSKEI
>
>Is the present indicative APOQNHiSKEI  a little bit awkward or is it just my
>perception? I keep thinking that either a future or a present subjunctive
>would be more suited.
>Is the construction as it stands permissable Attic, is it acceptable koine,
>or peculiar to John?

The use of the present tense to indicate future is not at all uncommon, in
Greek or, for that matter, in English: "I'm coming tomorrow" or "She's not
playing a role in our play."
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/


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