[B-Greek] EPI + the genitive (related to a person/event)

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sun Apr 27 05:31:00 EDT 2008


On Apr 26, 2008, at 11:16 PM, Oun Kwon wrote:

> 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
>>
>>
> <clipped>
>>
>>
>> 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.

There is a legitimate question here concerning Greek grammatical usage  
of the genitive with the preposition EPI, but the problem is  
complicated by efforts to ascertain, affirm or deny the historical  
accuracy of the phrase in question. Our focus in BG list-discussion is  
upon understanding the Greek of the text, not on resolving  
hermeneutical questions.

I would urge list-members please not to bring arguments about  
hermeneutics (inerrancy, in this case) into BG discussion. List- 
members span a great range of perspectives on how the Biblical text is  
to be interpreted in relationship to known historical facts, inner  
consistency or lack of consistency of its texts, etc. This is what our  
FAQ says quite clearly:

""B-Greek is not a forum for general Bible issues, except insofar as  
they may bear specifically upon interpretation of a particular Greek  
text, Neither is it a forum for general or specific hermeneutical or  
theological issues."
>
>
> 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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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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