[B-Greek] Matt 4:3//Lk. 4:3

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Wed Apr 30 16:25:26 EDT 2008


On Apr 30, 2008, at 2:48 PM, Jeffrey B. Gibson wrote:

> What evidence may be put forward to support the claim that GENWNTAI in
> Matt. 4:3//Lk. 4:3 means 'be made', not 'become', and  that the hINA
> found there  is "ecbatic" or eventual?
>
>
> Has any commentator/grammarian ever argued that these words are to be
> taken this way in Matt. 4:3//Lk. 4:3?

I can't tell you a thing about what commentators say, but it seems to  
me that this is really pretty straightforward:

Mt 4:3 καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν  
αὐτῷ· εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰπὲ  
ἵνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται.  
[KAI PROSELQWN hO PEIRAZWN EIPEN AUTWi: EI hUIOS EI TOU QEOU, EIPE  
hINA hOI LIQOI hOUTOI ARTOI GENWNTAI]
Lk 4:3 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ διάβολος· εἰ  
υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰπὲ τῷ λίθῳ  
τούτῳ ἵνα γένηται ἄρτος. [EIPEN DE AUTWi hO  
DIABOLOS: EI hUIOS EI TOU QEOU, EIPE TWI LIQWi TOUTWi hINA GENHTAI  
ARTOS]

I'd argue that the imperative EIPE in both sentences has the sense of  
"give the order" and that the hINA clauses are in both sentences to be  
understood as substantive clauses with hINA GENWNTAI/GENHTAI more or  
less equivalent to infinitive: "Tell these stones to turn into loaves  
of bread" and "Tell this stone to turn into a loaf of bread."

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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