[B-Greek] KAQWS

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Sat Jun 11 08:11:00 EDT 2005


On Jun 10, 2005, at 9:22 PM, Richard Richmond wrote:

> Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 17:46:38 -0700 (PDT)
> Forwarded for: Richard Richmond <rickr2889 at yahoo.com>
>
> ARCH TOU EUAGGELIOU IHSOU CRISTOU hUIOU QEOU  KAQWS GEGRAPTAI EN  
> TWi HSA TWi PROFHTHi IDOU APOSTELLW TON AGGELON MOU PRO PROSWPOU  
> SOU hOS KATASKEUASEI THN hODON SOU
>
> Most translators present the text as though KAQWS were intended to  
> introducea quotation. My position is that it is not so intended but  
> rather compares the good news about Jesus Christ Son of God with  
> the good news found in the prophesy of Isaiah.

This may be true of translations: I haven't looked so much at them as  
at the Greek text itself, but NA27/UBS4 punctuates as follows (where  
":" represents the raised dot which may serve the function of either  
a semicolon or a colon in English usage):

1 ARCH TOU EUAGGELIOU IHSOU CRISTOU [hUIOU QEOU].
2 KAQWS GEGRAPTAI EN TWi HSAIAi TWi PROFHTHi:
IDOU APOSTELLW TON AGGELON MOU PRO PROSWPOU SOU,
hOS KATASKEUASEI THN hODON SOU:
3 FWNH BOWNTOS EN THi ERHMWi:
hETOIMASATE THN hODON KURIOU,
EUQEIAS POIEITE TAS TRIBOUS AUTOU,
4 EGENETO IWANNHS [hO] BAPTIZWN EN THi ERHMWi KAI KHRUSSWN BAPTISMA  
METANOIAS EIS AFESIN hAMARTIWN.

The punctuation is, of course, the editors' indication of how they  
understand the phrasing to be articulated; it isn't in the MSS  
themselves. And certainly the articulation of these opening verses of  
Mark presents some difficulties I myself would prefer to insert a  
raised dot rather than a period at the end of verse 1. The apparatus  
in UBS4 shows that some editors have placed a colon at this point,  
others a comma, still others no punctuation at all. As I noted above,  
I would prefer to understand this segment, "Beginning of the gospel- 
message of jesus Christ, God's son:" as pointing forward to the  
entire sequence beginning with verse 2 and extending through verse 4.

I would agree with Richard that KAQWS is NOT properly used to  
introduce the citation from Malachi/Isaiah; I agree with Iver Larsen  
that KAQWS is here used in its normal sense, the very sense that  
Richard says it ought to have: introducing a clause or phrase that  
has its logical parallel in another. Now it doesn't really matter  
whether the comparative clause introduced by KAQWS comes first in the  
sequence of clauses or comes later: it may be: "Just as X, (so also)  
Y" -- or it may be "Y, just as X."

I would understand the articulation of the text such that verses 2  
and 3 (KAQWS GEGRAPTAI - TAS TRIBOUS AUTOU) set forth the oracular  
text from Malachi/Isaiah that finds fulffillment in the event  
narrated in verse 4 (EGENETO IWANNHS ... BAPTIZWN ... KAI KHRUSSWN).  
The prophetic texts, are set forth as announcement of what took place  
in the activity of John. And the linking phrase that appears in the  
oracular text and finds its key parallel in the narration of verse 4  
is the phrase, EN THi ERHMWi "in the wilderness." The one who is to  
'prepare the way of the Lord' is the one who shouts as a herald 'IN  
THE WILDERNESS' -- and that figure indicated in the prophecy appears  
on the historical stage in verse 4, "proclaiming/heralding" a baptism  
of repentance for forgiveness of sins and baptizing.

As for translations, the NRSV does indicate the relationship between  
verses 2-3 and 4, thus:
.
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
     "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
     who will prepare your way;
3  the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
     'Prepare the way of the Lord,
     make his paths straight,' "
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism  
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (I'd prefer to omit the  
hO, to understand IWANNHS as the subject and both BAPTIZWN and  
KHRUSSWN as participles constituting a periphrastic aorist with  
EGENETO).

The German version _Die gute Nachricht: die Bibel im heutigen  
Deutsch_ seems to understand the text as I have articulated it,  
although it too understands IWANNHS hO BAPTIZWN as a subject phrase):

1 In diesem Buch steht, wie die Gute Nachricht von Jesus Christus,  
dem Sohn Gottes, ihren Anfang nahm.
2 Es begann, wie es im Buch des Propheten Jesaja steht: " 'Ich sende  
meinen Boten vor dir her', sagt Gott, 'damit er den Weg fuer dich  
bahnt' 3 In der Wueste ruft einer: 'Macht den Weg bereit, auf dem der  
Herr kommt! Baut ihm eine gute Strasse!' "
4 Das geschah, als der Taeufer Johannes in der Wueste auftrat und zu  
den Menschen sagte: "Lasst euch taufen und fangt ein neues Leben an,  
dann wird Gott euch eure Schuld vergeben!"

The same understanding of this articulation of verses 1-4 is neatly  
captured by Daryl Schmidt in his Jesus Seminar English version of Mark:

1 The good news of Jesus the Anointed begins 2 with what Isaiah the  
prophet wrote: "Here is my messenger, whom I send on ahead of you to  
prepare your way! 3 A voice of one in the wilderness shouting: 'Make  
ready the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' " 4 So, John the  
Baptizer appeared in the wilderness calling for baptism and a change  
of heart that leads to forgiveness of sins.

In sum then, I do not think we need to understand the KAQWS other  
than as it is usually understood as indicating a correspondence  
between phrases or clauses. In this case the "Just as ... " clause  
comes first, and then in verse 4 the corresponding clause that could  
have been highlighted with some form of "even so" (hOUTWS OUN or the  
like)  but doesn't need to be so highlighted.

One thing seems sure: the articulation of Mk 1;1-4 is something less  
than elegant -- which may have something to do with Mark's (bad)  
reputation as a stylist. The deliberate use of the linking phrase EN  
THi ERHMWi, I might add, is not my own idea; I may misremember, but i  
think i first saw that in a little book on Mark by James G. Robinson.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




More information about the B-Greek mailing list