[B-Greek] 1 Peter 1:15"

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Jan 2 17:37:34 EST 2005


At 1:46 PM -0600 1/2/05, Charles Rempel wrote:
>>2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made
>known
>>to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we became
>>eyewitnesses of His majesty.
>>
>>EPOPTAI GENHQHNTHS - aorist passive participle nm1s
>
>CWC: Odd: looks to me like EPOPTAI is plural; I don't recognize the form of
>GENHQHNTHS at all. My text (NA27) reads EPOPTAI GENHQENTES (THS EKEINOU
>MEGALEIOTHTOS)
>
>CDR: mea culpa - slip of the fingers(or was it the mind:-)
>
>CWC: I'm wondering what clue EPOPTAI in this instance offers as to; the
>voice which should be used?
>
>CDR: I quote Barclay & Wuest (maybe Wuest quoted Barclay?:-)
>
>"A technical word of the Greeks for those who attained the third degree of
>the Eleusinian mysteries. The mystery religions were all of the nature of
>passion plays, in which the story of a god who lived, suffered, died, and
>rose again was played out. It was only after a long course of instruction
>and preparation that the worshipper was finally allowed to be present at the
>passion play, and to be offered the experience of becoming one with the
>dying and rising god. When he reached this stage, he was an initiate and the
>technical word to describe him was ENPOPTHS he was a privileged eye-witness
>of the experiences of God."	Barclay & Wuest
>
>Notice the concept that they "were allowed to be present". So the passive
>sense would be a legitimate option and consisten with the passive form.

Well, I really wouldn't argue AGAINST understanding the verb GENHQENTES here in
a passive sense in the phrase EPOPTAI GENHQENTES, but on the other hand, I don't
think that GENOMENOI in AUTOPTAI GENOMENOI carries any different semantic force.
 It's certainly true that EPOPTHS is used in that special sense in the
Eleusinian mysteries. On the other hand, Luke seems to think that the AUTOPTAI
in GLk 1:2 were privileged also. My stance, after all, is that there's no real
difference between EGENOMHN and EGENHQHN and that either form may be interpreted
in given circumstances as middle or passive.

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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