[B-Greek] Mark 9.33ff: topic, focus
Chet Creider
creider at uwo.ca
Sat Jun 11 08:48:10 EDT 2005
Randall Buth wrote:
>>/KAI HLQON EIS KAFARNAOUM /
>And they came into Capernaum
>
>KAI EN TH OIKIAi GENOMENOS
>and in the house coming to be
>
>EPHRWTA AUTOUS
>he was questioning them
>
>TI EN TH hODWi DIELOGIZESQE
>what in the way they debated
>
>hOI DE ESIWPWN
>and they were silent
>
>PRO ALLHLOUS GAR DIELEXQHSAN EN TH hODWi
>toward one another for they debated in the way
>
>TIS MEIZWN
>who was greater>
>
>The first EN TH ODW is a Topicalization (i.e., a contextualization,
>marking a setting a contextual point of reference).
>
>The second EN TH ODW is in a default order and is not marked
>
>while PROS ALLHLOUS becomes another contextualization for the salient
>information which is the content of the discusssion.
>
>There is no focus on EN TH ODW in my reading in either case.
Two small queries, neither of which has to do with EN THi hODWi:
Scrivener's edition of the textus receptus has the following for Jesus' question:
(1) TI EN THi hODWi PROS hEAUTOUS DIELOGIZESQE ;
instead of:
(2) TI EN THi hODWi DIELOGIZESQE ;
If (1) has any textual basis at all it is so slight as not to merit a mention in N-A
or Metzger's Textual Commentary. Can anyone tell me what the probable source for the
AV was? I ask because if it is there, it makes PROS ALLHLOUS in v34 very natural as
a contextualization topic.
Second question:
TIS MEIZWN, in final position, is clearly the focus. Although much is sometimes claimed
for final position as "emphatic" in Greek, I don't have much experience with this myself
and would like to know what kind of focus those of you who are more familiar with this
matter than I am in Greek would consider this to be. Is it marked in any way? It may
help to think of possible permutations of the phrases in this last clause:
(3) a. PROS ALLHLOUS GAR DIELEXQHSAN EN TH hODWi TIS MEIZWN
b. DIELEXQHSAN GAR PROS ALLHLOUS EN TH hODWi TIS MEIZWN
c. TIS GAR MEIZWN DIELEXQHSAN PROS ALLHLOUS EN TH hODWi
etc.
Many thanks,
Chet Creider
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