[B-Greek] Potential Opt. Acts 17:18
Elizabeth Kline
kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Tue Oct 17 15:01:28 EDT 2006
Potential Opt. Acts 17:18
ACTS 17:18 TINES DE KAI TWN EPIKOUREIWN KAI STOIKWN FILOSOFWN
SUNEBALLON AUTWi, KAI TINES ELEGON: TI AN QELOI hO SPERMOLOGOS hOUTOS
LEGEIN; hOI DE: XENWN DAIMONIWN DOKEI KATAGGELEUS EINAI, hOTI TON
IHSOUN KAI THN ANASTASIN EUHGGELIZETO.
Parsons/Culy suggest that the potential optative TI AN QELOI (BDF
385.1) indicates that the speakers do not expect Paul to say
anything worth hearing. While the potential optative can be used
ironically it does not always indicate irony (Smyth 1826). The main
indicator of irony in this question is hO SPERMOLOGOS hOUTOS. Both
the meaning of SPERMOLOGOS and the use of the demonstrative hOUTOS
would serve to trigger an ironic reading of the question. In light of
these factors the optative TI AN QELOI would also be read as ironic.
But IMO stressing the ironic tone of TI AN QELOI as if it were
independent of hO SPERMOLOGOS hOUTOS is somewhat misleading since the
semantic contribution of the optative in this passage is low by
comparison to hO SPERMOLOGOS hOUTOS.
Elizabeth Kline
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