[B-Greek] Potential Opt. Acts 17:18
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 18 09:26:57 EDT 2006
BDF cites Lk 15.30 with regard to usage of hOUTOS in a disparaging sense.
hOTE DE hO hUIOS SOU hOUTOS hO KATAFAGWN SOU TON BION META PORNWN HLQEN, EQUSAS AUTWi TON SPEUTON MOSXON.
I'm not sure that as our illustrious grammarians assert it is due to its being used of a person present which makes it contemptuous. Surely the speaking regarding the younger brother in an impersonal manner is what makes it contemptuous rather than the use of hOUTOS to refer to one who is (relatively) present. The impersonal usage makes it almost seem that the elder brother doesn't even deign to mention the younger brother's name [which, of course, we aren't given since this is a parable even though Lazaras is mentioned in one parable] or that he was his brother.
george
gfsomsel
_________
----- Original Message ----
From: Elizabeth Kline <kline_dekooning at earthlink.net>
To: BG <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 2:04:21 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Potential Opt. Acts 17:18
On Oct 17, 2006, at 11:53 PM, Iver Larsen wrote:
> Do Parsons/Culy suggest that this usage is ironic?
Irony was my shorthand for a long statement. The speakers were
feigning an interest in what Paul had to say but making it clear that
they didn't expect him to say anything worth listening to.
Parsons/Culy {quote}
Potential optative; see 5:24. (Wallace: 1996,701) suggests that the
implicit protasis in this incomplete fourth class conditional is
something like: "If he could say anything that made sense!" The
optative makes it very clear that the philosophers did not think it
was likely that paul could say anything of value (Wallace: 1996,701).
When the demonstrative is used to refer to someone who is present, it
often carries a disparaging or contemptuous connotation. (see 19:26;
BDF 290.6.1; cf. also 6:13,14) Here however, the disparagement comes
more from the adjective than the demonstrative.
{end quote}
Elizabeth Kline
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