[B-Greek] Mt 1:18 hEUREQH EN GASTRI ECOUSA

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Wed Feb 1 19:24:37 EST 2006


On Feb 1, 2006, at 4:16 PM, Harold Holmyard wrote:

> Dear Carl,
>
>> My contention is that hEUREQH in Mt 1:18 is not
>> passive but is middle; it is somewhat like EGENETO, but EGENETO seems
>> more neutral in indication of event; hEUREQH has more the force of
>> becoming evident, much like EFANH (which is not passive but the
>> aorist middle of FAINOMAI), and like FAINOMAI, hEURISKOMAI in this
>> sense is a personal verb taking a nominative complement. Or so I  
>> think.
>>
>>
>
> HH: The genitives in the earlier part of the verse seems to favor your
> view. Then what about: "She found herself pregnant through the Holy
> Spirit." She had been told that this would happen, and now she was
> pregnant, so she had to conclude that the prophecy had been fulfilled.
> "Find oneself" is quite idiomatic English.

In the right context it is, but I find myself reluctant to suppose  
that "found herself pregnant" is very good English; I'd prefer  
something like "realized she was pregnant." But if we want to retain  
anything distinctive from the root sense of hEURISKOMAI, I think "she  
proved to be pregnant." Simplest of all, "she had conceived a child."


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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