[B-Greek] HGGIKEN + EPI

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Tue Feb 5 01:51:45 EST 2008


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Oun Kwon" <kwonbbl at gmail.com>

>> > ② to draw near in a temporal sense, draw near, come near, approach
<snip>
>> > Esp. of the approaching Reign of God: ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία
>> > τῶν οὐρανῶν (or τοῦ θεοῦ) [HGGIKEN hH BASILEIA
>> > TWN OURANWN (or TOU QEOU)] Mt 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Mk 1:15; Lk 10:9, 11

>>
> I am a little confused:

> When I checked BDAG it says p. 270 (right column) under
>
> 1 (with circle around)  to move in space and so draw clore to a reference
> point, ....
>   β. w. prep.: W. εις .....
>                    W. ἐπὶ, τινα Lk 10:9 ....
>
> Oun Kwon

Are you wondering why Lk 10:9 is listed both under "draw near in space" and "draw near in time"?

It looks like a carry-over from BAGD, where this entry is divided into five sections based on 
syntax, and only number 2 and 5 are explicitly treated semantically:
1. w. dat. of the person
2. w. EIS, only with indications of place
3. w. EPI TINA Lk 10:9
4. MECRI...
5. Abs. a. approaching in space
           b. approaching in time....... Lk 10:9,11
......................
The listing of Lk 10:9 under 5b is a mistake, since it occurs with EPI hUMAS and is listed under 3.
Since I don't have a copy of BDAG I am not sure what happened, but it looks like they dropped the 
division based on syntax and reworked the 5 sections into 2 based on semantics (space vs. time)
Although it is not explicit in BAGD, the intention may have been that numbers 1 and 3 like number 2 
are only used in the sense of "draw near in space". This applies to all the NT examples, including 
Lk 10:9. Number 4 is obviously "draw near in time" and that is why number 4 has been incorporated in 
BDAG number 2. I assume BAGD numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5a have been incorporated under BDAG 1.

At times it is not clear whether the nearness is in terms of space or time, so BAGD/BDAG obviously 
made some theological and/or contextual interpretations. This includes the 6 instances where the 
subject is "the Kingdom of God". In Lk 10:9 it is probably in terms of space and my take is that the 
other five instances listed under "time" in BAGD/BAGD properly belong under "space", because the 
nearness of the Kingdom of God is represented by Jesus and the disicples who embody and express the 
power of that kingdom. It is therefore a matter of nearness in space rather than time. (Cf. Jesus 
saying that the Kingdom is not visible, but it is still "among you". People could reach out and 
embrace it if they wanted to.) The expression only occurs in the synoptic gospels.

Don't expect these dictionaries to be "the gospel truth" or 100% correct.

Iver Larsen




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