[B-Greek] TARASSW/TARASSOMAI subject-agent affected
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Fri Feb 22 20:03:33 EST 2008
On Feb 22, 2008, at 12:43 PM, Iver Larsen wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Carl Conrad" <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
> To: "Elizabeth Kline" <kline_dekooning at earthlink.net>
> Cc: "greek B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: 22. februar 2008 14:30
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] TARASSW/TARASSOMAI subject-agent affected
>
>
>> My own impression is that this reflexive usage of TARASSEIN hEAUTON
>> is
>> exceptional, although perfectly intelligible: the middle is the
>> normal
>> usage. Of 17 instances of the verb in John's gospel, 6 are active ,
>> the remaining 11 are middle-passive. Of the 6 active forms all but
>> that in John 11:33 have external objects.
>
> I would prefer to look at this from a semantic viewpoint.
>
> TARASSW is basically a divalent verb with an agent or cause as
> subject and a patient as object.
> Somebody or something stirs/upsets somebody or something. If the
> subject is a person, I would call
> it agent, but if it is an event, I would call it cause. In most
> cases in the NT the patient is a
> person (or the heart/spirit of a person), but in John 5:4 and 5:7 it
> is water.
I'm not surprised to see this view of the matter expressed by Iver; I
continue to believe that TARASSOMAI is the basic form and that it is
intransitive, not passive, and furthermore that TARASSW, the active
form, is a secondary transitive causative form of TARASSOMAI. I don't
understand why, when Jesus says, (John 12:27) Νῦν ἡ ψυχή
μου τετάρακται, ... (NUN hH YUCH MOU TETARAKTAI ... ), we
are supposed to imagine that Jesus in his reaction here is made to
react by some external agent. I suppose that FOBEOMAI would be treated
the same way; I certainly consider it a middle intransitive -- or
transitive when it takes an accusative object of the fear, while FOBEW
is the far less common causative active form meaning "frighten."
Greek uses the middle voice in numerous instances of events indicated
in English by simple intransitive verbs, e.g. "fly" (Greek
πέτομαι PETOMAI), "roll" κυλίνδομαι KULINDOMAI, NT
κυλίομαι KULIOMAI). As we look forward to the baseball season
ahead, we envision the smack of the bat on the ball; the ball
"flies" (PETETAI) through the air; it may land in the mitt of an alert
outfielder, or it may quickly fall to the ground and
"roll" (KULIESQAI). The flight of the ball and its rolling on the
ground, even if set in motion by the hitter, are not passive. Even if
the scientific linguist knows very well that a baseball does not fly
or roll of its own volition, Greek envisions it as self-affected. And
when Jesus says (John 14:1) Μὴ ταρασσέσθω ὑμῶν ἡ
καρδία (MH TARASSESQW hUMWN hH KARDIA), he seems to expect the
disciples to be able to exercise some control over their heart(s). But
I would guess that we're never going to see eye-to-eye on this matter.
> As Carl meant to say, of the 17 instances in the NT, 6 are active (7
> if you count John 5:4 in the
> Byzantine texts). The remaining 11 are IMO passive rather than
> middle, because in each case, it is
> the patient that is placed in the subject slot and the agent or
> cause is implicit.
I did say what I meant to say, that those 11 forms are middle-passive,
meaning that the forms all express the same semantic force; Iver sees
that force as passive, I see it as middle.
> I agree that John 11:33 is unusual in that the agent and patient is
> co-referential and therefore it
> is a reflexive form that is semantically close to a middle. Jesus
> upsets or stirs up himself or his
> own heart/spirit. By NOT saying ETARACQH as in John 13:21, the
> author manages to imply that there
> is no external cause for being upset, but rather an internal agent.
> Jesus is the one who upsets or
> stirs up himself. This is a small nuance that is lost in English
> Bible translations.
Others may find that explanation convincing; I do not. I am more
inclined to think that the writer "miswrote."
>
> ---------------------------
>>
>> In the LXX there are 114 instances of TARASSW/TARASSOMAI, of which 23
>> are active (causative) and 91 are middle-passive (intransitive). The
>> active forms in the LXX all have external objects. Clearly the middle
>> (intransitive) form is standard, while the active is regularly used
>> only in a transitive causative sense. The usage in John 11:33 with
>> transitive active verb combined with a reflexive seems altogether
>> exceptional in that subject-affectedness is clearly indicated, but
>> not
>> in the normal manner. This is something different from the usage of
>> EGEIRE/EGEIRETE in the intransitive sense of "rise" (16x in the GNT)
>> while the other 42 instances of the active EGEIRW all are transitive
>> causative with an external object; the standard form of this verb is
>> middle-intransitive (86x).
>>
>> On Feb 21, 2008, at 5:53 PM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:
>>
>>> Looking for TARASSW where the subject is the agent and is also
>>> affected. The active being *unmarked* for subject affectedness can
>>> function like the middle voice.
>>>
>>> John 11:33 Ἰησοῦς οὖν ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὴν
>>> κλαίουσαν καὶ τοὺς συνελθόντας
>>> αὐτῇ Ἰουδαίους κλαίοντας,
>>> ἐνεβριμήσατο τῷ πνεύματι καὶ
>>> ἐτάραξεν ἑαυτὸν
>>>
>>> JN 11:33 IHSOUS OUN hWS EIDEN AUTHN KLAIOUSAN KAI TOUS SUNELQONTAS
>>> AUTHi IOUDAIOUS KLAIONTAS, ENEBRIMHSATO TWi PNEUMATI KAI ETARAXEN
>>> hEAUTON
>>>
>>>
>>> In Jn. 11:33 ETARAXEN hEAUTON, IHSOUS is the subject/agent of
>>> ETARAXEN and IHSOUS is also affected hEAUTON.
>>>
>>> Soph.Ant.
>>>
>>> 1095 {ΚΡ.}
>>> Ἔγνωκα καὐτὸς καὶ ταράσσομαι
>>> φρένας·
>>>
>>> 1095 KR.
>>> EGNWKA KAUTOS KAI TARASSOMAI FRENAS:
>>>
>>> In Soph.Ant. 1095b Creon is the subject/agent of TARASSOMAI and
>>> Creon
>>> is also affected FRENAS.
>>>
>>>
>>> The middle voice in Soph.Ant. 1095b makes subject affectedness
>>> explicit whereas in Jn. 11:33 hEAUTON makes subject affectedness
>>> explicit.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Elizabeth Kline
>
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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