[B-Greek] Acts 2:7

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Feb 28 09:12:40 EST 2006


On Feb 28, 2006, at 10:54 AM, Richard Lindeman wrote:

> Dr. Conrad:
>
> Perhaps part of the difficulty also is my understanding of IDOU.   
> When I encounter it I have a tendency to see IDOU as "BEHOLD"  
> rather than "look". But if the particle is not so strong as I  
> imagine, then what are other options the author may have for  
> startling me?

I think that IDOU began its linguistic life as an imperative in the  
middle voice, which is interesting in itself, perhaps something like  
"Have a look-see for yourself!" Certainly it regularly translates the  
Hebrew HiNe -- but it becomes precisely that word to wake up the  
reader. French does that with "Voilà," English with "Listen!" or  
"Hey!" I still think that the Greek of Acts 2:7 has the near- 
colloquial force of "But hey, all these guys who are talking from  
Galilee, aren't they?" And I do think it's colloquial.

> You wrote...
> "I'm also a bit surprised by the form OUC before a word beginning  
> with  a smooth breathing.BDF §14 has a note on this which may  
> perhaps point in the right direction."
>
> I don't have BDF and so will need to take my best guess.  Luke is  
> reputed to be a learned scribe and so it is unlikely that he is  
> speaking yokel. However, it would not surprise me that a variation  
> between OUK and OUC may be a matter of regional preference at times?

What the note implies is that aspiration is sometimes added to a non- 
aspirated word because one has used an aspirated form of what  
precedes. But I rather wonder whether the aspiration was really  
pronounced in the Koine words and phrases: EF' hOUS has an EF that's  
not really an aspirated P but a fricative that's actually more like  
our "F." I'm not sure what is actually involved here -- it's just  
that I was surprised to see the Chi before the smooth breathing on IDOU.

>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl W. Conrad"  
> <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
> To: "Richard Lindeman" <oblchurch at msn.com>
> Cc: "B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 2:33 AM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Acts 2:7
>
>
>
> On Feb 27, 2006, at 10:58 PM, Richard Lindeman wrote:
>
>> Acts 2:7 OUX IDOU hAPANTES hOUTOI EISIN hOI LALOUNTES GALILAIOI;
>>
>> "Not (are) behold all of these who are speaking Galileans?"
>>
>> My natural inclination is to translate the above "Are not all of   
>> these who
>> are speaking Galileans?"
>
> And your natural inclination is quite right.
>
>> Does the placement of OUX before IDOU mean that IDOU is also part   
>> of what is
>> being negated?
>>
>> What are the rules for OUX (and other similar particles?) that   
>> determine its
>> placement within a clause or sentence?
>>
>> Does its placement within a sentence indicate in any way the   
>> portion of the
>> sentence that is actually being negated?
>
> The apparent difficulty here has to do with the placement of IDOU
> between OUC and the main clause. BDAG's entry for IDOU has under
> 1.b.delta: " in the middle of a statement, and at the same time
> enlivening it Mt 23:34; Ac 2:7; 13:11; 20:22, 25."
>
> The force of the sequence is perhaps something like, "But isn't it
> so? -- hey! -- everyone who's talking is a Galilean!"
>
> I'm also a bit surprised by the form OUC before a word beginning with
> a smooth breathing.BDF §14 has a note on this which may perhaps point
> in the right direction.
>
> 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/


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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