[B-Greek] ACTS 18:18 TOIS ADELFOIS

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Dec 21 05:12:06 EST 2006


Obviously there are two possibilities here, and I certainly wouldn't want to
assert my preference dogmatically. But (a) I'm not really impressed by
the significance of the position of TOIS ADELFOIS in Acts 18:18 preceding
the participle APOTAXAMENOS (the other GNT instances show the verb
APOTASSOMAI at the beginning of its clause or verbal phrase); and 
(b) I note in BDAG as a second meaning of PROSMENW, "to stay on at a 
place beyond some point of time, remain longer, further" and Acts 18:18 is
cited as an instance. I guess the prefix PROS- here used with the root
MEN- can yield either of two senses: "stay close by" or "stay additionally."
I continue therefore to prefer taking APOTAXAMENOS with TOIS ADELFOIS.

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/

 
On Thursday, December 21, 2006, at 01:04AM, "Iver Larsen" <iver_larsen at sil.org> wrote:
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
>To: "Elizabeth Kline" <kline_dekooning at earthlink.net>
>>
>> On Dec 20, 2006, at 1:04 PM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:
>>
>>> ACTS 18:18 hO DE PAULOS ETI PROSMEINAS hHMERAS hIKANAS TOIS ADELFOIS
>>> APOTAXAMENOS EXEPLEI EIS THN SURIAN, KAI SUN AUTWi PRISKILLA KAI
>>> AKULAS, KEIRAMENOS EN KEGCREAIS THN KEFALHN, EICEN GAR EUCHN.
>>>
>>> Parsons & Culy take TOIS ADELFOIS with PROSMEINAS hHMERAS hIKANAS.
>>> Bruce (NICNT Acts 2nd ed) joins TOIS ADELFOIS with APOTAXAMENOS.
>>> APOTASSW frequently takes a dative argument, see  Danker's 3rd page
>>> 123 under APOTASSW.
>>
>>[CC:]  I'd take APOTAXAMENOS with TOIS ADELFOIS.
>>
>> Mk 6:46 KAI APOTAXAMENOS AUTOIS APHLQEN EIS TO OROS PROSEUXASQAI.
>>
>> 2 Cor 2:13 ... U, ALLA APOTAXAMENOS AUTOIS EXHLQON EIS MAKEDONIAN.
>>
>> Seems to me that the parallels with these instances of the ptc. of
>> ANATAXASQAI with datives of person followed by verbs of departure is
>> pretty close. The verb really should have a middle lemma and has the
>> standard sense, "say farewell (to)."
>
>PROSMENW is used 7 times in the NT, and in each instance it is followed (never preceded) by a dative 
>complement. It appears that if you stay with someone or something, you need to specify who or what 
>that is.
>
>APOTASSW is used 6 times in the NT, and in four of these it is followed (not preceded) by a dative, 
>two of these in Luke - although not participles -  the other two listed above. In Acts, it only 
>occurs here in v. 18 and in 18:21: ALLA APOTAXAMENOS KAI EIPWN [speech] ANHCQH APO THS EFESOU.
>
>The verse in 21 is very parallel to 18 and very close, and it has no explicit dative object. It is, 
>of course, understood from context who he is saying good-bye to.
>
>I don't have means to do a thorough search outside the NT, but it seems to me that both verbs could 
>easily be construed with the dative and normally require a dative object. Because of the examples 
>above, but mainly because of the word order, I am fairly confident that TOIS ADELFOIS should be 
>connected with PROSMENW. There is no good reason to front it before APOTASSW. On the other hand, 
>once the "brothers" are identified as those he stayed with, it is naturally carried forward to also 
>be the implied object of APOTASSW, and there is no reason to repeat it or have an explicit object 
>for APOTASSW.
>
>The tradition in English versions is based on KJV (and its predecessors?) which took the brothers 
>with APOTASSW, and that is why the majority of translations have followed that tradition, but a few 
>like TEV and NCV break with tradition and take it with PROSMENW.
>
>As an aside, the SIL computer program and database I use has the option of showing or not showing an 
>interlinear gloss. When I do look at the interlinear for various reasons I have ample opportunity to 
>disagree with it. It inserted a comma in v. 18, effectively associating "brothers" with APOTASSW. 
>That is an interpretive decision that I happen to disagree with.
>
>Iver Larsen 
>
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