[B-Greek] Dative Absolute? Archives

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Mon Jan 23 15:15:26 EST 2006


On Jan 23, 2006, at 2:00 PM, Eric Weiss wrote:

> "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at ioa.com> wrote:    I would take the  
> PROSEUCOMENOU MOU EN TWi hIERWi as internal to
>   the GENESQAI ME EN EKSTASEI element as a genitive absolute.
>
> I'd take the whole as "And it happened to me after I returned to
>   Jerusalem that as I was praying in the temple I entered into a
>   trance ..."
>
>
>
>   But if the subject of the genitive absolute is the same as the  
> subject of the main
>   (infinitive) clause, why is a genitive absolute construction  
> used? I thought a genitive
>   absolute was independent (hence, "absolute") of the main clause  
> and had a different
>   person or thing for its subject?

I agree that's somewhat awkward, but Luke does this elsewhere, as for  
instance in 9:42, where we have a demoniac. In verse 41 Jesus says,  
"Bring him to me." Verse 42 reads

ETI DE PROSERCOMENOU AUTOU ERRHXEN AUTON TO DAIMONION KAI SUNESPARAXEN.

We must surely understand PROSERCOMENOU AUTOU as a genitive absolute  
but it is pretty clear that the AUTOU refers to the self-same person  
aas the AUTON following ERRHXEN. I think that a writer in Classical  
Attic would have written something like

PROSERCMENON DE AUTON ERRHXEN TO DAIMONION KAI SUESPARAXEN.

But Luke is really very fond of the genitive absolute construction  
and here uses it where it could have been avoided.

Another instance in Luke 12:36 where it's a matter of servants  
waiting for their master to return to open the door for him:

KAI hUMEINS ANQRWPOIS PROSDECOMENOIS TON KURION hEAUTWN POTE ANALUSHi  
EK TWN GAMWN, hINA ELQONTOS KAI KROUSANTOS EUQEWS ANOIXWSIN AUTWi.

Here I think we must understand ELTONTOS KAI KROUSANTOS with an  
implicit but unexpressed TOU KURIOU as a genitive absolute, and yet  
we have AUTWi with the main verb of this subordinate clause  
ANOIXWSIN. I think we ought to have expected something like:

hINA ELQONTI KAI KROUSANTI EUQEWS ANOIXWSIN AUTWi.

In sum, Luke is very, very fond of the genitive absolute, so much so  
that he sometimes uses it less than elegantly.

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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