[B-Greek] AGE NUN (Jas 4)

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Jan 23 15:50:26 EST 2007


On Jan 23, 2007, at 3:00 PM, Webb wrote:

> Sorry for being dense, but I don't think I asserted one or the  
> other interpretation--I intended to ask which one is right. Is it a  
> reproof, or is it just an attention-getting formula?

Sorry if I was being dense; I thought what I wrote spoke for itself.  
I take the AGE DH as an interjection and a mark of impatience. I  
don't think it's necessarily chiding or rebuking. But it certainly  
looks like it in this case. "Come on: have you ever thought seriously  
about what you're saying and its implications? ... "


>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carl W. Conrad [mailto:cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:44 AM
> To: George F Somsel
> Cc: Webb; B-Greek
> Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: [B-Greek] AGE NUN (Jas 4)
>
> Actually, in this instance Webb is certainly right on target.
>
> BDAG:
>
> "AGE present impv. of AGW, used as an interjection (since Hom., w.
> sg. or pl.; LXX; SibOr 3, 562; B-D-F §144. ἄγε μέν) come!
> ἄγε νῦν (esp. oft. in comedy) w. impv. foll. (Hom.) Js 5:1; w.
> anacoluthon foll. 4:13; AGE DH (Aeschyl. et al.) come then Dg 2:1."
>
> It's sort of like IDOU and EGEIRE and DEURO, all of which are
> interjections as much or more than they are real imperatives: "Ha!"
> or "Hey!"(Voilà!), "Up!", "Over here!"
>
> On Jan 23, 2007, at 1:04 PM, George F Somsel wrote:
>
>> Jas 4.13
>>
>> AGE NUN hOI LEGONTES, "SHMERON H AURION PROEUSOMEQA EIS THNDE THN
>> POLIN KAI POIHSOMEN EKEI ENIAUTON KAI EMPOREUSOMEQA KAI KERDHSOMEN."
>>
>> To equate this with the English expression "Come on now!" is
>> tempting, but probably wrong.  The only instance of AGW as a 2nd
>> impv I have found in either the LXX or the NT other than here is in
>> 2 Tim 4.11 which has
>>
>> LOUKAS ESTIN MONOS MET' EMOU.  MARKON ANALABWN AGE META SEAUTOU,
>> ESTING GAR MOI EUXRHSTOS EIS DIAKONIAN.
>>
>> Notably, this is a transitive usage.  It is not simply "(You) come"
>> but "bring . . ." so I don't think that one can be certain that it
>> would not have the sense of the English phrase, but I would be
>> cautious in maintaining that it does.  Perhaps Carl would know of
>> its usage outside the Biblical texts.  It sounds as though it might
>> be something that Plato would have Socrates say to one of his
>> interlocutors.
>>
>> george
>> gfsomsel
>> _________
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Webb <webb at selftest.net>
>> To: B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:36:00 PM
>> Subject: [B-Greek] AGE NUN (Jas 4)
>>
>>
>> James uses the expression AGE NUN to address worldy-minded
>> businesspeople and the rich in Jas. 4. Is there a reproving or
>> chiding tone in these words, as there would be in the English
>> expression "Come on now!" or are they simply a formula for
>> addressing a sub-group of his broad audience?
>>
>> Webb Mealy
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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