[B-Greek] Jn 10:38 hINA GNWTE KAI GINWSKHTE
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at ioa.com
Mon Feb 13 17:37:04 EST 2006
On Feb 13, 2006, at 5:06 PM, RRedden604 at aol.com wrote:
> Perhaps I was looking for more than there is in the text. It
> seems to me
> that the two forms occur because neither alone would emphasize
> what Jesus
> meant. There is no such thing as a perfect subjunctive in Greek.
> Only the
> present and aorist tenses are used in the subjunctive mood. I
> suppose the future
> tense could have worked here, but it is rare following hINA in the
> NT.
I'm not quite sure why you say this; there are 10 instances of the
subjunctive of OIDA:
Mt 9:6; Mk 2:10; Lk 5:24; 1 Cor 2:12, 13:2, 14:11; Eph 6:21; 1 Tim
3:15; 1 Jn 2:29, 5:13.
Now, it may be argued that OIDA is not really perfect tense but
semantically present, but it IS technically speaking, a perfect tense.
> It is clear that the aorist subjunctive is the dominant mood and
> tense
> following hINA by a three to one margin (Check out Turner, Syntax,
> p. 101). A
> lopsidedness is found in John as well. Whenever the present tense
> is used there
> seems to be an emphasis upon Aktionsart. "The distinction between
> the
> present and the aorist concerns merely the manner in which the
> action is regarded.
> The aorist subjunctive refers to the action without saying
> anything about
> its continuance or repetition, while the present subjunctive
> refers to it as
> continuing or as being repeated" (Machen, 131).
>
> We also need to recall that "there is absolutely no distinction of
> time"
> between the aorist subjunctive and present subjunctive; the
> distinction between
> the two "concerns merely the manner in which the action is regarded."
> Distinction in time is found only in the indicative mood. "There
> is but one mood
> which has essential temporal relations; viz., the indicative" (DM
> 167).
>
> I am inclined to view the two subjunctives serving to indicate the
> beginning
> and the continuation of the same thing. "... so that you may come
> to know
> and realize (a linear verb) that the Father is in Me and I in the
> Father."
> "Understand" for the present subjunctive works just about as well
> for me, but
> not exactly. It seems to carry with it a possible "punctiliar"
> sense whereas
> "realize" doesn't.
>
> The TEV and NJB, as noted by the UBS Translators Handbook, combine
> the two
> verbs into one and add adverbial expressions: "that you may know
> once and for
> all," and "then you will know for certain." NLT simplifies it:
> "then you
> will realize..." These seem to capture the intent of the two verbs.
>
> Any further observations would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Rob Redden
> Church of Christ
> Grover Beach, CA
> ---
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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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