[B-Greek] Deponents Was Re: KEIMENH Matt 5:14
Lorinda Hoover and Jim Mossman
hoovmoss at iowatelecom.net
Wed Nov 2 07:45:15 EST 2005
I realize I'm behind the times in responding to this, but it the question
around deponents in this thread reminded me of an discussion I had several
times with another pastor with whom I used to translate Greek and Hebrew.
It always seemed to me that the the category of "deponent verbs" was
designed to help English speakers understand verbs that were passive in
Greek but whose meaning was expressed in active voice in English. This
discussion arose in part because my friend tended to treat deponent verbs as
a voice distinct from passive, active, or middle. I've always assumed that
"native" Koine Greek speakers wouldn't have made a conscious distinction
between a "deponent" passive and a "true" passive. Am I correct in this
assumption?
on 10/31/05 3:24 PM, Carl W. Conrad at cwconrad at ioa.com wrote:
>
> On Oct 31, 2005, at 3:37 PM, kgraham0938 at comcast.net wrote:
>
>> Just double checking myself, I was talking to a friend about OU
>> DUNATAI POLIS KRUBHNAI EPANW OPOUS KEIMENH of Matt 5:14.
>>
>> He wanted to argue that KEIMAI here is passive, I told him that
>> KEIMAI here is deponent because it is intransitive therefore it
>> could not be a passive. But rather pointed to location, "a city
>> located on a hill..."
>>
>> The only reason we were discussing this is because he wants to make
>> the passive mean something in his sermon to the effect of God
>> planting us etc. Anyway, way I correct? Is KEIMAI here deponent?
>
> It's traditionally categorized as a deponent, but that tradition is,
> as I have repeatedly urged, not worth retaining. KEIMAI is a verb
> that only appears in the middle voice; it means "lie" or "rest" --
> but it serves idiomatically as a perfect passive of TIQHMI, so that
> KEIMENH in the passage here means "lying upon" with the implication
> that it has been deliberatedly situated upon the hill.
>
> 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/
>
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