[B-Greek] Mt. 7:14 Perfect participle

yancywsmith yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Wed May 31 18:07:10 EDT 2006


  I basically agree with Carl, but would suggested that the perfect  
is due to the phenomenology of path walking. When one takes a path  
through a hilly or desert region at times the same path may "become"  
narrow or broad as the case may be according to where the traveller  
is. The perfect tense reflects the "change" in path conditions. A  
path that was previously broader becomes and remains for some time  
narrowed. Such well known physical characteristics and experiences in  
eretz Israel would readily be understood and not over interpreted by  
Jesus' audience.

Yancy Smith
Y.W.Smith at tcu.edu
Brite Divinity School
Texas Christian University




On May 31, 2006, at 4:22 PM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

>
> On May 31, 2006, at 12:46 PM, Brinkley, Thomas David wrote:
>
>> I am studying Jesus' conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount and the
>> beginning of verse 14 reads
>>
>> TI (hOTI) STENH hH PULH KAI TEQLIMMENH hH hODOS
>>
>> Why does Matthew use a perfect participle here?
>>
>> In other words, how does the participle function and why is it in
>> the prefect tense?
>
> It might be argued that it's pretty much equivalent of an adjective;
> if one wants to interpret it as a real passive, I suppose one might
> argue that it has deliberately been made (by God) narrow; on the
> other hand, one might also see it as middle, "having grown narrow" or
> "having become narrow" -- like a path through the woods that isn't
> trodden much.
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
>
>
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