[B-Greek] middle voice
Doug Hoxworth
dhoxworth at charter.net
Mon Sep 15 10:49:04 EDT 2003
><Mitch>
>In my other first year Greek Grammar book, it seems to say something slightly different than what this Grammar book says about the Middle Voice. I was under the strong impression that the middle voice IS used to show action performed 'TO oneself' by oneself.
<doug>
from what i understand there is consideralbe debate on the
exact "meaning" of the middle voice among scholars. i, for
one, appreciate mounce's approach. if you can read his (or
wallace) treatment on the middle voice it might be of some
help. the grammars list the translation (gloss) as for
example "I loose myself", etc. for simplicity or to
differentiate it from the active and passive (or perhaps
because this is the "traditional" way to represent it) but
from what i understand the middle is much more dynamic
than this. in other words, there is not just one way to
understand it.
the gist of mounce's approach is that the middle voice in
koine is sometimes no different than the active voice (by
this period it has weakened its force). the middle voice
in and of itself is not reflexive or action 'TO oneself'
by oneself. this is something that is either supplied by
the meaning/usage of the word and/or the context not by
the fact that the verb is middle voice. in other words, a
translation would be 'TO oneself' by oneself not just
because the verb is middle voice but would depend in large
part on the word used and the context.
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