[B-Greek] ELQH in 2Th 1.10

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Nov 20 07:13:58 EST 2003


At 10:48 PM -0600 11/19/03, Curtis Hinson wrote:
>GEIA SAS SUNELLINOFILOI,
>
>Can someone fill me in on the syntax and use of the aorist active
>subjunctive ELQH in 2Th 1.10?  It doesn't seem to fit the kinds of syntax I
>would normally look for with subjunctive.  What is its relation to the
>aorist passive infinitive ENDOXASQHNAI?  I suppose to answer that the syntax
>of ENDOXASQHNAI must also be addressed.  Is the idea one of purpose, as in
>"Whenever he comes so that he can be glorified"?  Or might it be more
>temporal (going along with hOTAN), as in "Whenever he comes to be
>glorified"?  My feeling is that a conditional sense just wouldn't work in
>the context, "Whenever he might come to be glorified".  I will appreciate
>some broader perspective on how this verse works.

Text: Text: 7 ... EN THi APOKALUYEI TOU KURIOU IHSOU AP' OURANOU MET'
AGGELWN DUNAMEWS AUTOU 8 EN PURI FLOGOS, DIDONTOS EKDIKHSIN TOIS MH EIDOSIN
QEON KAI TOIS MH hUPAKOUOUSIN TWi EUAGGELIWi TOU KURIOU hHMWN IHSOU,
hOITINES DIKHN TISOUSIN OLEQRON AIWNION APO PROSWPOU TU KURIOU KAI APO THS
DOXHS THS ISCUOS AUTOU, 10 hOTAN ELQHi ENDOXASQHNAI EN TOIS hAGIOIS AUTOU
KAI QAUMASQHNAI EN PASIN TOIS PISTEUSASIN, hOTI EPISTEUQH TO MARTURION
hHMWN EF' hUMAS, EN THi hHMERAi EKEINHi.

As this is one of those passages of loosely-linked sequential clauses that
one finds especially in letters whose authenticity has been challenged by
some, I think it's necessary to see a larger context here in order to get a
clear perspective on the temporal setting of the hOTAN clause. I think I
would refer the hOTAN clause all the way back to verse 7 and the phrase EN
THi APOKALUYEI TOU KURIOU IHSOU AP' OURANOU MET' AGGELWN DUNAMEWS AUTOU
...; so that the point of reference is the time of "the revelation of the
Lord Jesus from heaven." Then there's mention of the punishment of those
who know not God and who pay no heed to the gospel--they are further
characterized in a relative clause in the future indicative, hOITINES DIKHN
TISOUSIN OLEQRON AIWNION ... I think that's the clause to which we must
most directly associate our hOTAN clause: "who will undergo the penalty of
everlasting ruin." The hOTAN clause (in effect) repeats the temporal
indication of the earlier EN THi APOKALUYEI TOU KURIOU IHSOU AP' OURANOU
but with more direct relevance to the future clause just preceding it; that
being the case, we should identify it as a future-more-vivid condition that
normally has hOTAN or something equivalent in the protasis and a future
indicative verb in the apodosis: hOTAN ELQHi ... DIKHN TISOUSIN (hOI MH
EIDOTES TON QEON KAI hOI MH hUPAKOUONTES TWi EUAGGELIWi ...).

The two infinitives ENDOXASQHNAI and QAUMASQHNAI must indeed be understood
as expressing purpose; it's not uncommon for an infinitive to function thus
with forms of ERCOMAI or even other verbs of locomotion; perhaps more
remarkable is the use of EN + dative to express agent of a passive verb in
the two phrases EN TOIS hAGIOIS AUTOU and EN PASIN TOIS PISTEUOUSIN. The
more I've come to realize how extensive is the range of usage of EN +
dative in Hellenistic Koine, the more astounded I have been at the
flexibility of the Greek language.
-- 

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/



More information about the B-Greek mailing list