[B-Greek] Gal 5:16 OU MH TELESHTE, 5:17 hINA MH hA EAN QELHTE TAUTA POIHTE

Ann Nyland accuratebibles at ozemail.com.au
Wed Mar 17 18:14:00 EST 2004


Hi Jonathan,
I guess I misread your initial post, so sorry to have confused the issue. I
thought you were expressing surprise that the subjunctive could be used as
an imperative (in general, not specifically relating to Gal. 5:16), that's
why I noted that it was the case for classical Greek, not quite so in the
Koine as the use had become rather sloppy. I also said that by then the
subjunctive nevertheless was still a way of expressing prohibitions. (Yes, I
also realise what you are saying about distinctions, it certainly can be
very nit-picky, but that doesn't change the actual "rule" for classical
Greek. It isn't my idea, you will find it in any grammar.) I should have
made my post more clear - I wasn't arguing for any particular interpretation
for Galatians 5:16, simply pointing out the subjunctive can well indicate a
prohibition, with those rules in classical Greek, but not adhering to those
rules in the Koine, nevertheless it commonly did express a prohibition.
Sure, OU MH + aorist subjunctive expresses an emphatic negative future. That
is the way it is generally taken in Gal. 5:16 - I was, however, stating that
the subjunctive commonly expresses a prohibition in the Koine. If anyone
would like, I can post a list of papers on the imperative thru the (Greek)
ages.

Ann Nyland
P.S. - Re: PERIPATEW - there have been numerous discussions on the B-Trans
list about this word.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Robie" <jonathan.robie at datadirect.com>
To: "Ann Nyland" <accuratebibles at ozemail.com.au>
Cc: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 1:23 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Gal 5:16 OU MH TELESHTE, 5:17 hINA MH hA EAN QELHTE
TAUTA POIHTE


> Ann Nyland wrote:
>
> > The subjunctive is commonly used for particular prohibitions, that is,
> > negative imperatives.
> >
> > GENERAL commands
> > MH + Present imperative
> > eg. never do those things, do not kill (in general)
> >
> > but for PARTICULAR commands, it is the subjunctive
> > MH + Aorist subjunctive
> > don't do that (now)
> > don't kill that person (now)
> >
> > At any rate, that's the case for classical Greek, got a bit more sloppy
by
> > NT times, but still the subjunctive is a common way of expressing a
> > prohibition.
> >
> > Btw, as for "walk" translating PERIPATEW, sure it's part of its semantic
> > range, but so is "behave", "act", "live one's life".
>
> But wouldn't TELESHTE in OU MH TELESHTE be a general command? Wouldn't
> POIHTE in hINA MH hA EAN QELHTE TAUTA POIHTE be a general command? I'm
> not sure I'm making these distinctions correctly, but if you told me,
> "fulfill the desires of the flesh RIGHT NOW", or "do these things RIGHT
> NOW", I wouldn't know what to do.
>
> Jonathan
>




More information about the B-Greek mailing list