[B-Greek] Acts 16:34 & sentence diagramming.
Steven Lo Vullo
themelios at charter.net
Sun Dec 12 21:43:56 EST 2004
On Dec 12, 2004, at 7:06 PM, Remington186 at aol.com wrote:
> HGALLIASATO PANOIKEI PEPISTEUKWS TWi QEWi
> I'm thinking that PANOIKEI PEPISTEUKWS TWi QEWi is an adverbal clause,
> with a
> "subject," household, a "verbal," having committed, and the direct
> object,
> God. That "He," the subject of the sentence, is a part of "the
> household" is,
> unquestionable.
>
> As a verbal clause would it inevitably modify rejoiced -- or is there
> something in Greek that has it simply modifying HGALLIASATO, including
> both 'he' and
> 'rejoiced,' both subject and predicate?
Hi Remington:
Yes, the participial phrase PEPISTEUKWS TWi QEWi is adverbial,
subordinate to and modifying HGALLIASATO, probably semantically
indicating the cause of the rejoicing. And TWi QEWi does indeed
complement PEPISTEUKWS.
Participles, since they are not finite, do not have subjects. PANOIKEI
is an adverb. The question here is whether PANOIKEI modifies the main
verb HGALLIASATO or the participle PEPISTEUKWS. Translators and
commentators are divided on this. Some have concluded that it modifies
both. The NET note says this:
"The phrase 'together with his entire household' is placed at the end
of the English sentence so that it refers to both the rejoicing and the
belief. A formal equivalence translation would have 'and he rejoiced
greatly with his entire household that he had come to believe in God,'
but the reference to the entire household being baptized in v. 33
presumes that all in the household believed."
It seems to me that there may be a theological bias at work here,
though it is my theological bias as well. Personally, I have trouble
with the idea that an adverb may modify two words. In diagramming this
sentence I would give both possibilities and append a note explaining
my preference and why it is my preference.
I'm not quite sure what you mean in your second paragraph. The subject
(the jailor) is implied in the third person verb HGALLIASATO. So if one
construes PANOIKEI with HGALLIASATO, the idea is "he rejoiced with his
whole household." If, on the other hand, one construes PANOIKEI with
PEPISTEUKWS, the meaning is "having believed with his whole household."
If one construes PANOIKEI with both HGALLIASATO and PEPISTEUKWS, the
meaning is that he both rejoiced with AND believed with his whole
household. The difference may be illustrated by the following
translations:
REB - He brought them up into his house, set out a meal, and rejoiced
with his whole household in his new-found faith in God. (Here PANOIKEI
is construed with HGALLIASATO.)
NASB - And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and
rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
(Here PANOIKEI is construed with PEPISTEUKWS.)
Message - There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It
was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust
in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration. (Here PANOIKEI
seems to be construed with both HGALLIASATO and PEPISTEUKWS.)
============
Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI
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