[B-Greek] Left order prominence and construction -- Acts 5.18
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Fri Dec 29 12:15:51 EST 2006
While, as someone on the list said earlier, I hesitate to criticise my betters, if it seems that they are wrong, so be it. Forget for the moment that the lexicographers have classified DHMIOSIAi in this verse as being an adjective. If we are simply to rely on what others have said without question, then we might as well put down our GNT and pick up an English Bible where all the work has been done for us. The fact remains that this word is used ONLY by this author in this book in the NT. It is always used in the same form, and in the other three cases always is used adverbially. This is a matter of the author's style. It is not the case of some possibility that there might be a noun hanging around in the vicinity to which it could be attached. I remember when Pere Henri Casalles was a guest lecturer at Claremont Graduate School while I was there. Being a Frenchman, he would constantly insert "n'est pas?" into his sentences. That was his style. The use of DHMIOSIAi
as an adverb is Luke's style.
The question then becomes "What does this say regarding your theory of left-order prominence?"
george
gfsomsel
_________
----- Original Message ----
From: Iver Larsen <iver_larsen at sil.org>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 1:38:30 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Left order prominence and construction -- Acts 5.18
OK, I can now see your implicit assumption behind the original question.
However, the dictionaries list DHMOSIOS as an adjective, and it didn't cross my mind that someone
could consider it an adverb in 5:18. When we have the dative DHMOSIAi without an explicit head noun
we can assume an underlying feminine place word (maybe hODOS?). So, I would say that DHMOSIAi is
still an adjective with an implicit head noun so that it functions like an adverb in the other 3
places without properly speaking being an adverb. In 5:18 it is a simple and common adjective.
There are not many of these dative adjectives used as adverbs. In the NT I only found LAQRAi and
IDIAi. An assumed underlying adjective *LAQROS (?), possibly derived from LANQANEIN (?) or LAQRAIOS
(?) has apparently gone out of use.
Iver Larsen
----- Original Message -----
From: "George F Somsel" <gfsomsel at yahoo.com>
Is it really? Acts is the only book of the NT where this appears, and it is always in the dative.
In the three other usages (Acts 16.37, 18.28, 20.20) it is adverbial. I'm inclined to think that it
might be adverbial here as well. If we add to that fact that when the apostles are reported to
appear in the temple the following morning they are once again brought before the council. At this
time it is specified HGEN AUTOUS OU META BIAS, EFOBOUNTO GAR TON LAON MH LIQASQWSIN. It would seem
that they first (arrested them and put them in custody) PUBLICLY, but later were a bit more
circumspect in their handling of the apostles.
george
gfsomsel
_________
----- Original Message ----
From: Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
To: George F Somsel <gfsomsel at yahoo.com>
Cc: Iver Larsen <iver_larsen at sil.org>; b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 11:55:13 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Left order prominence and construction -- Acts 5.18
Am I missing something here? In the one passage (Acts 5:18) DHMOSIAi is an adjective in agreement
with THRHSEI; in the other (Acts 16:37) it is adverbial. I've understood that THRHSEI DHMOSIAi is
"the city jail"; I don't know if there's an equivalent THRHSEI IDIAi that would be like "house
arrest." But "public jail" just isn't English. I suspect "city jail" is what I ver meant.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (ret)
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