[B-Greek] STREPHW as a divine passive in Matthew 18:3 ?

Duncan & Shay Forbes duncanshay at gmail.com
Wed Nov 28 13:43:57 EST 2007


Thanks for the replies,
I had searched for passive examples and overlooked that all of the passive
uses I had found had a preposition with them, such as the EIS in 1 Sam 10:6.

Duncan



On 27/11/2007, Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Nov 27, 2007, at 1:17 PM, Duncan & Shay Forbes wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > I have 2 questions regarding the use of STREPHW in Matthew 18:3
> >
> > a) Is it possible that STRAPHATE from STREPHW in Matthew 18:3 is a
> > divine
> > passive. The KJV, NKJV and NAU translate it with passive force, but
> > the ESV,
> > NET, NIV do not.
>
> Text: Matt. 18:3 καὶ εἶπεν· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν,
> ἐὰν μὴ στραφῆτε καὶ γένησθε ὡς τὰ
> παιδία, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν
> βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.
> KAI EIPEN: AMHN LEGW hUMIN, EAN MH STRAFHTE KAI GENHSQE hWS TA PAIDIA,
> OU MH EISELQHTE EIS THN BASILEIAN TWN OURANWN.
>
> No. It's not really passive, except morphologically. STRAFHTE here
> functions simply as the aorist middle for STREFOMAI:
> BDAG: s.v. STREFW "5. to experience an inward change, turn, change,
> pass. in act. sense. For the better: make a turn-about, turn around"
>
> What BDAG likes to call a "passive in active sense" is really a
> middle; in later Greek forms like ESTREYAMHN took the "passive"
> inflection.
>
> > b) Could this word be used here in the same was as it is in 1 Sam
> > 10:6,
> > where it refers to an inward change rather than a change in direction?
>
> Not really. Text: 1Sam. 10:6 καὶ ἐφαλεῖται ἐπὶ
> σὲ πνεῦμα κυρίου καὶ προφητεύσεις
> μετ᾿ αὐτῶν καὶ στραφήσῃ εἰς ἄνδρα
> ἄλλον
> KAI EFALEITAI EPI SE PNEUMA KURIOU KAI PROFHTEUSEIS MET' AUTWN KAI
> STREFHSHi EIS ANDRA ALLON.
>
> That is not really quite the same. Here the sense is "you will be turn
> into a different person."
>
> STREFOMAI in the sense of "turn oneself" represents the Hebrew SHUV,
> "turn" in the sense of "return (to God)"; a better example would be
> LXX Isaiah 31:6 Is. 31:6 ἐπιστράφητε οἱ τὴν
> βαθεῖαν βουλὴν βουλευόμενοι καὶ
> ἄνομον  EPISTRAFHTE hOI THN BAQEIAN BOULHN BOULEUOMENOI KAI
> ANOMON.
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad at ioa.com or cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
>
>
>


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