[B-Greek] LXX use of SUNAGW, Josh 10:6
bgreek at ntresources.com
bgreek at ntresources.com
Wed Mar 5 16:58:07 EST 2003
Josh 10:6, BOHQHSAN hHMIN, hOTI SUNHGHMENOI EISIN hHMAS PANTES hOI BASILEIS
TWN AMORRAIWN
"... help us, because all the kings of the Amorites have _____ us"
SUNAGW usually means "to gather, assemble" (at least in NT), but as I was
reading Josh 10 I noticed that BDAG also lists "to advance, move" (#5). This
is an intransitive use and the NT refs that are cited are of a positive
nature, but there is a note that it is used in a hostile sense in Theocritus
and Polybius.
In the context of Josh 10, I began to wonder if the message of the
Gibeonites pleading for help from Joshua might not be a reference to the
military advance of the Amorite troops, and perhaps to the beginning of the
battle rather than to the fact that the Gibeonites were surrounded. (The
difference is perhaps not great since an advance could entail surrounding
the city.) The LXX lexicon by Lust does not list such an option. L&S,
however, do note a number of instances of SUNAGW being used in a hostile
sense of military action (1691.I.3), particularly to *join* battle or to
*begin* the battle-strife. Other contextual factors include the fact that
the Gibeonites are able to get a message out of the city (more likely if not
surrounded), and that the Amorites have attempted (note the imperfect verb,
which fits a tendential context) to force them to surrender (v 5) but have
not yet succeeded in doing so. I'd understand the periphrastic here to
describe "the predicament we're in" (stative)--their troops are advancing,
and we need help."
Is this a legitimate way to understand v 6, esp. SUNAGW, or am I reading too
much into this word?
(And perhaps SUNAGW EF' hHMAS needed require their being surrounded anyway,
but I think that's one way to take it.)
====================================================
Rodney J. Decker, Th.D., Associate Prof/NT
Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, PA,USA
NTResources.com PURL: purl.oclc.org/NT_Resources/
Email: <rdecker> at <NTResources.com>
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