[B-Greek] Luke 12:4 FOBHQHTE why not an imperative?

D Jongkind dj214 at cam.ac.uk
Wed Sep 8 10:04:10 EDT 2004


Dear list, Carl,

Let me try again and be a little bit more precise. If FOBHQHTE is a 
subjunctive then it is of course an indirect command. My point is, 
however, what is there to say against taking FOBHQHTE  in Luke 12:4 as 
an imperative and therefore as a direct command (I tell you: do not 
dread those ...), just as in Luke 12:5?

Cheers,
Dirk Jongkind


Carl W. Conrad wrote:

The first FOBHQHTE is rightly accented as a subjunctive because it's an 
indirect command dependent upon the introductory LEGW hUMIN ("I tell you 
that you should NOT dread those who kill the body ..."). Of course it 
has the same force as an imperative, but the aorist subjunctive with MH 
regularly does have imperatival force. So, yes: both verbs would be 
TRANSLATED into English and perhaps most target languages as imperative, 
but the first Greek form is indeed an aorist subjunctive.




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