[B-Greek] Acts 13:32-33
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Wed Sep 5 11:40:24 EDT 2007
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Runge" <srunge at logos.com>
> Iver,
>
> I will take a shot at addressing the pronoun question. I would agree that
> it makes sense to understand hHMIN as part of the participial clause
> rather than as an appositive.
>
> If it were the primary indirect object of the main verb, one expect it to
> find it immediately following the verb.
>
> If these two phrases were in apposition, I would have expected hHMIN to be
> the primary IO, with TOIS TEKNOIS (AUTWN) as the thematic appositive, not
> the other way around. Semantically redundant appositives often
> recharacterize the referent in a specific way that is salient in the
> context.
>
> Alternatively, if the pronoun were indeed intended to function as an
> appositive to TOIS TEKNOIS (AUTWN) as the primary IO, the addition of an
> ascensive KAI would be the most likely way of unambiguously marking this
> ('even TO US').
This is also how I understand it, but you express it better.
>
> I did a search in OpenText's syntax database, based on how they analyzed
> things, to look for similar structures. They construe hHMIN as
> appositional, so I looked for other places where a pronoun played a
> similar role. Thus the following list should be viewed as representative
> rather than exhaustive.
>
> Searching for NPs that have a similar structure with a pronominal modifier
> following an adjectival modifier of some kind, there are only 8 in the
> GNT: Lk 15:30, 32; 19:27; Acts 8:22; 13:33; Rom 7:24; 1 Cor 8:9; and 1
> Pet 5:10. With the exceptions of Acts 13:33 and 1 Pet 5:10, the
> pronominal appositives/modifiers are all demonstratives. This would make
> sense, as the demonstrative helps to highlight the thematic salience of
> the NP. In 1 Pet 5:10, the pronoun AUTOS is used as an intensive pronoun,
> accomplishing a similar task to the demonstrative.
IL:
For those with the demonstrative, I would say that the demonstrative is not
an apposition, but functions as a modifier within the noun phrase. So none
of these are comparable to Acts 13:33, nor is 1 Pet 5:10.
I found it hard to search for similar structures since I don't have a
database with apposition tagged.
The most similar I could find in the GNT were:
Luk 11:42,3 OUAI hUMIN TOIS FARISAIOIS
where the pronoun precedes the noun.
I cannot imagine the pronoun following the noun.
Even in English, all translations change the order to: "us, their children"
rather than "their children, us", but that is not much of an argument.
> As Act 13:33 is written, I would say that the function of hHMIN is
> technically ambiguous, but I would cast my vote against it being read as
> an appositive in favor of your reading, based on usage elsewhere I could
> find.
>
> FWIW,
Nice to know that we agree on this one.
Iver Larsen
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