[B-Greek] Deponents (as 1 Pe 1:15)

Eddie Mishoe edmishoe at yahoo.com
Mon Jan 3 15:36:43 EST 2005


Dr. West:

I must admit I am mystified by your translation
(whoever denies himself) here! I.e., a reflexive
gloss, especially in light of Moulton's (and others)
contention that the Reflexive Middle is quite rare)? 

I would translate it: "whoever denies me..." But I
would not thereby substitute some Active sense here
and ignore the Middle sense of this verb. The issue
here is not that he uttered a denial, but that he must
now experience the consequences himself for his own
actions. The focus is on the subject and what befalls
him, not the utterance.

The definitions that Charles cited in an earlier post,
citing Moulton, Blass DeBrunner, ATR, etc. on the
Middle Voice, are still standard definitions with
which I find myself in agreement. 

And I'm not sure either why Charles was surprised to
find the Middle and Active closely allied, with the
Passive at the other end of the spectrum. 

What I'm struggling with is why you would even
consider an English reflexive sense for ARNEOMAI.

Eddie 

> Eddie insists on insisting that deponent verbs
> require a middle/passive 
> translation.  One example is sufficient to falsify
> this claim.  The verb 
> arneomai is a deponent verb.  Its basic meaning is
> "refuse, disdain", 
> "deny".  It is used in Mt 10:33.  In Matthew Jesus
> says "whoever denies me, 
> I will deny".  yet if Eddie, and others who insist
> on a middle or passive 
> rendering of deponents were to put hand to this
> verse, they would be 
> required, by their own preconceptions, to translate
> with "whoever denies 
> himself, I will deny myself" or "whoever is denied
> himself, I will deny 
> myself" both of which are nonsensical.
> 
> Thus, the aforementioned claim is shown to be null
> and void.
> 
> Jim
> 
> ++++++++++++++++++++
> Jim West, ThD
> 
> http://web.infoave.net/~jwest Biblical Studies
> Resources
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> Theology Weblog
> 
> 
> 
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