[B-Greek] 1 Peter 1:15
Timrake at aol.com
Timrake at aol.com
Mon Jan 3 08:43:20 EST 2005
In a message dated 1/3/05 1:36:23 PM, gfsomsel at juno.com writes:
<< > Titus 3:7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made
> heirs
> according to the hope of eternal life.
>
> GENHQOMEN - aorist passive subjunctive 1p
>
> I would suggest, in response to a previous comment, that the subject
> here is
> very personal and this appears to be the most obviously passive so
> far.
> Unless someone questions it, I will leave this one without further
> comment.
>
> Charles D. Rempel
> 30 year student
> Without Portfolio
_______________
>?Question. So now what do you have to say? I think that rather than "be
>made" this is simply "become."
>george
>gfsomsel >>
But, George, the mere change of wording does not avoid the basic semantic
thought or sense here, namely, that the subject is caused to become this. Yes,
the subject is "being" or undergoing a state of being. ("I became/was made a
captain." The subject performs the action and does the "being.") But statives
rely heavily on context and here, as in my example, the state of being is not
brought about by the subject but by the action of another.
Strictly, a passive is when the subject is being acted upon. Where the verb
represents something being done to the subject, something he suffers, or
experiences. And while strictly the subject here, in respect to the verb per se, is
performing the action -- he is "being" this (or "becoming") and not another
-- the sense is not the exactly the same as what is properly denoted by the
active voice since the subject's state of being is induced or effected by another.
Grammatically, the subject is performing the action of the verb -- no one
else is being made or becoming an heir. But semantically, I think something of
Charles' point must also be recognized. And this may be unique to stative verbs,
especially this one and EIMI.
Pr. Tim Rake
Praise Lutheran Church
Maryville, TN
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