[B-Greek] Acts 10:48 (Was B-Greek Question)

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Apr 21 14:16:45 EDT 2006


On Apr 21, 2006, at 1:44 PM, Harold Holmyard wrote:

> Dear Randall,
>
>> Culturally, the person "baptising someone else" is functioning as a
>> witness and a teacher. Contrary to endless debates, they did not dunk
>> or pour (or sprinkle). The person being baptised went down with their
>> own motor skills while the teacher was a witness. Now many people on
>> the list will read Acts 8:35ff as putting Phillip in the water  
>> itself,
>> but that is not a necessary reading if one starts with the cultural
>> pictures just described. As for the Greek here, the PAQHTIKH
>> experiencer/passive would be naturally read as MESH middle.
>>
>>
>
> HH: Do I assume correctly that this implies an idea like: "And he
> ordered them to get baptized . . . "?

Better: "get themselves baptized" (text: PROSETAXEN DE AUTOUS EN TWi  
ONOMATI IHSOU CRISTOU BAPTISQHNAI), understanding BAPTISQHNAI in an  
aorist MIDDLE sense. That is, as Randall explained it, they were to  
perform the acts for themselves.

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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