[B-Greek] EPI + the genitive (related to a person/event)
Oun Kwon
kwonbbl at gmail.com
Sat Apr 26 23:16:59 EDT 2008
2008/3/1 George F Somsel <gfsomsel at yahoo.com>:
> Since no one has responded, I will try to answer your question.
>
> You appear to have fallen prey to a common misconception that a word is used in only one manner. This is not true in English, nor is there any reason to believe that it does in Greek or any other language.
>
> Mt 1.11
> Ἰωσίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰεχονίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος
>
>
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>
>
> Mk 2.25-26
>
> 25 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν καὶ ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ, 26 πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως
> 25 KAI LEGEI AUTOIS, "OUDEPOTE ANEGNWTE TI EPOIHSEN DAUID hOTE XREIAN ESXEN KAI EPEINASEN AUTOS KAI hOI MET' AUTOU 26 PWS EISHLQEN EIS TON OIKON TOU QEOU EPI ABIAQAR ARXIEREWS
>
> There is a problem here since Abiathar was not the High Priest when David is reported to have eaten the sacred bread at the sanctuary at Nob. The priest at the time was said to have been Ahimelech who was reported as having been killed by Saul when what had happened was reported. At this time Abiathar fled to David and took the Ephod with him. It was later when the Jerusalemites were apparently unable to find any blind or lame to defend the city (See 2 Sam 5.6) that Abiathar appears to have shared the priesthood with Zadok. Again, it would seem that ἐπὶ [EPI] is used to indicate an approximate time for an event.
>
<clipped>
Hope this helps. Concerning the text in Mk. This was one of the
example people usually cite against inerrancy of the Bible. The phrase
EPI ABIAQAR can be understood straightforward if rendered as 'in the
(scripture) passage of', not as in a temporal sense. NWT among all
seems the only translation doing a correct job.
Let me quote first the entry under Abiathar in "Aid to Bible
Understanding" (WBTS 1971) p. 15
... At Mk 2:26 most versions have Jesus saying that David went into
the house of God and ate the show-bread "when Abiathar was high
priest." Since Abiathar's father, Ahimelech, was the high priest when
that event took place, such translation would result in a historical
error. It is noteworthy that a number of early textual authorities
omit the above phrase, and it is not found in the corresponding
passages at Mt 12:4 and Lk 6:4. However, a similar Greek structure
occurs at Mk 12:26 and Lk 20:37 and here many translations use the
phrase "in the passage about." (RS; AT; JB) So, it appears that Mk
2:26 properly allows for the translation given in the NWT, which
reads: "How he entered into the house of God, in the account about
Abiathar the high priest." Since the account of the first exploits of
Abiathar begins immediately following the record of David's entering
the house of God to eat the showbread, and since Abiathar did later
become Israel's high priest in David's reign, this translation
maintains the historical accuracy of the record.
Actually I did not realize NWT has this rendering until after I read a
footnote in a delightful commentary. I am quoting here.
Ref: DE Nineham: The Gospel of Mark – The Pelican New Testament
Commentaries (Penguin Books 1963). On a footnote to Mk 12:26 (on p.
322) it reads:
v. 26 in the passage about the bush: Greek literally: 'at "the Bush"'
– a customary way of referring to a particular passage at a time when
the only division of the Old Testament was into paragraphs, each with
a title derived from its subject-matter. Cf. Rm 11:2 where the Greek
has 'in Elijah', i.e. 'in the passage about Elijah'.
Nineham, however, does not use his own argument to clarify the
discrepancies in this particular text of Mk 2:26. Curious. It must be
an oversight.
Oun
P.S.
By the way, this series of commentary on the four Gospels (pocketbook
format) are delightful to read and to find a plenty of gems. I kept
reading and rereading them. Bought in 1970's in Massachusetts Bible
Society bookstore in Boston downtown, my hangout when I was working in
the city. I always dreaming about completing the whole (I didn't have
Luke). Now, my wish comes true. With some reservation, I got on search
on the web last week to find a used one from Alibris at $1.99 with
S.H. costing 3 times of the book price ;-). I just cannot wait until
it arrives, like a kid waiting for his birthday.
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