[B-Greek] John 15, true vine

Jim West jwest at highland.net
Wed Jan 5 17:34:54 EST 2005


At 05:25 PM 1/5/2005, you wrote:

>In English, 'you' is often used to refer to an
>imaginary or ideal person rather than those addressed:
>"If you see a dragon, you are crazy"

But if you see a dragon you ARE crazy!  ;-)  Anyway, I still don't see how 
its possible to use "you" without speaking to someone directly.

>Smyth says
>"The second person singular is used to designate an
>imaginary person, as in proverbs: YUCHS EPIMELOU THS
>SEAUTOU 'care for thy own soul'

But how is that addressed to an "imaginary" person?  It makes perfect sense 
to tell someone to "mind yourself!".

>Thus it is not at all impossible for the second
>singular to have a general or ideal reference beyond
>the specific person addressed.

I agree it may indeed reference others besides the original adressee, but 
there of course must be a "specific person addressed".

Best,

Jim

++++++++++++++++++++
Jim West, ThD

http://web.infoave.net/~jwest Biblical Studies Resources
http://biblical-studies.blogspot.com Biblical Theology Weblog






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