[B-Greek] KEIMENH Matt 5:14

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Mon Oct 31 16:24:48 EST 2005


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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