[B-Greek] Romans 7:19 Iterative Presents

Jason Hare jaihare at gmail.com
Wed Aug 23 13:49:00 EDT 2006


I have never really looked at this verse before. I like the structure. :)

ου γαρ ο θελω ποιω αγαθον, αλλα ο ου θελω κακον τουτο πρασσω.
OU GAR hO QELW POIW AGAQON, ALLA hO OU QELW KAKON TOUTO PRASSW.

I do not know if KAKON TOUTO should be taken as one noun phrase, or if
TOUTO should be understood separately as an emphatic (like EKEINOS in
the John 1:18 passage that we were discussing). My initial reading
would make put it together: "but this bad thing (anarthrous) which I
do not will, I do." If it is taken this way, then I can see Eddie's
perspective in saying that Paul was talking about a specific instance.

I do not think this is the view of most readers, though. I think it is
more generalized in their understanding, and I think this might have
been Paul's intention, because he seems to set up a rule about it in
the following verses:

Ευρισκω αρα τον νομον, τω θελοντι εμοι ποιειν το καλον, οτι εμοι το
κακον παρακειται.
hEURISKW ARA TON NOMON, TWi QELONTI EMOI POIEIN TO KALON, hOTI EMOI TO
KAKON PARAKEITAI.

This generalizing of the situation into a "rule" or a "NOMOS" surely
indicates that he was not meaning to limit his statement in verse 19
to a specific instance, and it should be taken as an iterative
present, IMO.

Jason

On 8/23/06, Eddie Mishoe <edmishoe at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Mitch:
>
> > Romans 7:19 is
> >
> > OU GAR hO QELW POIW AGAQON, ALLA hO OU QELW KAKON
> > TOUTO PRASSW
> >
> > Can these be Iterative Presents? And if so, does
> > frequency in a Present Tense imply that it happens
> > with high or low frequency/regularity?
>
> You've undoubtedly read about the Present Tense
> denoting "on-going action" or "continuous action."
> Neither of these describes the inherent aspectual
> semantics of the Present. One could argue that Paul is
> only describing ONE EVENT (note the singular pronouns)
> in this passage you cite.
>
> My own guess is that Paul is describing the struggle
> with indwelling sin, giving us ONE EXAMPLE, and
> describing his fight WHILE it is in progress. The
> Present Tense describes an event from the standpoint
> of it being 'in progress,' not for how long it remains
> in progress, or how many times (your iterative
> question) it occurs.
>
>
>
> Eddie Mishoe
> Pastor
>


-- 
Jason A. Hare
jaihare at gmail.com
Joplin, Missouri


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