[B-Greek] EIS THN TRWiADA, 2 Cor 2:12

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Tue Feb 19 19:25:25 EST 2008


On Feb 19, 2008, at 6:17 PM, Paul Toseland wrote:

> ELQWN DE EIS THN TRWiADA EIS TO eUAGGELION TOU CRISTOU KAI QURAS MOI
> ANEWiGMENHS EN KURIWi ...
>
> The article in the phrase is puzzling. BDAG says that, being a place
> name, TRWiAS almost always lacks the article; in the only exception  
> they
> cite, Acts 20:6, the article is anaphoric.
>
> Now the Troad was part of the Province of Asia (though the city of  
> Troas
> was self-governing, I believe); so I wonder, could the article here  
> also
> be anaphoric, referring back to 1:8,
>
> OU GAR QELOMEN hUMAS AGNOEIN, ADELFOI, hUPER THS QLIYEWS hHMWN THS EN
> THi ASIAi ...
>
> Much could said in terms of the exegetical evaluation of this
> suggestion, but my question relates simply to the Greek language:  
> would
> such an anaphoric use of the article be 'normal' Greek usage? A more
> specific reference referring back to a more general prior reference to
> the same thing?

As I read the note in BDAG, Danker understands the form with the  
article as referring to the region rather than the city. It's  
originally an adjectival form in the feminine with GH as the  
understood noun (as is the case, I think, with hH ERHMOS {GH}). I  
think there's a similar usage with hH ARGOLIS (GH) for the area around  
the Peloponnesian city of Argos (not in the GNT, of course) -- one  
speaks of "the Argolid." My impression is that Danker is understanding  
the usage with the article as referring to the area, without the  
article as referring to the city.

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






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