[B-Greek] Is this a semitism or normal Greek?

Hugh Donohoe Jr. justusjcmylord at yahoo.com
Sat Feb 9 19:32:26 EST 2008


I imagine my question could be answered by consulting
a good commentary. But alas, that option is not open
to me at the moment. So I'll take advantage of the
forum and learn from those who are more knowledgeable.
My question regards the repetition of SUMPOSIA in Mk.
6.39. I'll quote the verse here:

KAI EPETAXEN AUTOIS ANAKLINAI PANTAS SUMPOSIA SUMPOSIA
EPI TWi CHLWRWi CHORTWi

The repetition has always struck me as a semitism. I
remember coming across passages in Hebrew in which the
noun was repeated. Like 'gold, gold' for there was
much gold in the land. Or 'pits, pits' for there were
many pits in the land. The repetition of the noun
showed degree. So I just figured Mark was saying "he
had them to sit down in many groups". My Danker
Shorter Lexicon had: a group (of people eating)in
groups. So I ask of those who have more Classical and
Literary Koine under their belts, is this a proper
idiom in Greek? It seems to be a repeating of a noun
in the same case. Usually Greek idioms will repeat
nouns but one will have a different case, from what I
have seen. I know Mark's Greek is a heavily semitized
form. So I'm expecting the answer to go in that
direction. 

ex animo

Hugh


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ 




More information about the B-Greek mailing list