[B-Greek] Mark 11:22-24

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Jul 25 15:39:53 EDT 2007


On Jul 25, 2007, at 2:50 PM, Ted Clore wrote:

> Considering the context of the verses and that "whosoever" is a  
> Relative Pronoun, is there any reason to take the "whosoever"  
> outside of the context of the Disciples and apply it to anyone on  
> earth.
>
>
> And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily  
> I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be  
> thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in  
> his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall  
> come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say  
> unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that  
> ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mar 11:22-24 KJV)
>
> I would see os as referring to the Disciples limiting the audience  
> of the comment and any reading that would apply this to someone  
> else would be a philosophical preferrence read into the text.

Our focus here is on the Greek text, not upon the KJV.

Mark 11:22 καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς  
λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἔχετε πίστιν θεοῦ.   
23 ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ὃς ἂν εἴπῃ  
τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ· ἄρθητι καὶ βλήθητι  
εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ μὴ διακριθῇ  
ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ πιστεύῃ  
ὅτι ὃ λαλεῖ γίνεται, ἔσται αὐτῷ.  24  
διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν, πάντα ὅσα  
προσεύχεσθε καὶ αἰτεῖσθε,  
πιστεύετε ὅτι ἐλάβετε, καὶ ἔσται  
ὑμῖν.

22 KAI APOKRIQEIS hO IHSOUS LEGEI AUTOIS: ECETE PISTIN QEOU. 23 AMHN  
LEGW hUMIN hOTI hOS AN EIPHi TWi AREI TOUTWi : ARQHTI KAI BLHQHTI EIS  
THN QALASSAN, KAI MH DIAKRIQHi EN THi KARDIAi AUTOU ALL PISTEUHi hOTI  
hO LALEI GINETAI, ESTAI AUTWi. 24 DIA TOUTO LEGW hUMIN, PANTA hOSA  
PROSEUCESQE KAI AITEISQE, PISTEUETE hOTI ELABETE, KAI ESTAI hUMIN.

The disciples as Jesus' audience are addressed directly with  
imperatives and indicatives in the second person plural in verses 22  
(ECETE) and 24 (PROSEUCESQE, AITEISQE, ELABETE and in the second- 
person plural dative hUMIN. But the entire proposition set forth in  
verse 23 is formulated in the third-person singular and cast as a  
generalizing condition. It is hOS AN (anyone at all who ever ...),  
not simply hOS (the one who ... ). I would think, therefore, that in  
verses 22 and 24 Jesus is addressing the disciples and exhorting them  
specifically, but that in verse 23 he is setting forth a universal  
proposition that is applicable to anybody at all.

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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