[B-Greek] Luke 12:4 FOBHQHTE why not an imperative?
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Sep 8 10:25:59 EDT 2004
At 3:04 PM +0100 9/8/04, D Jongkind wrote:
>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?
OK, I'll grant that the form could be interpreted as an imperative and that
the accenting is a matter of editorial choice; the NA27/UBS4 committee
evidently interpreted the form as subjunctive and therefore accented it in
the critical text with a circumflex over the eta.
>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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--
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/
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