[B-Greek] Heinemann on Matt. 6:10//Lk. 11:2

Bryant J. Williams III bjwvmw at com-pair.net
Fri Jan 4 21:40:56 EST 2008


Dear Jeffrey,

I refer you to read BDF, para. 337, pp. 173-174. The aorist imperative
(subjunctive) can (4) The regular use of the aorist imperative in prayers and
greetings is also complexive. All petitions in the Lord's Prayer are in the
aorist except Lk 11:3 TON ARTON...DIDOU (SD DOS, as in Mt, is spurious) hHMINTO
KAQ'hHNERAN (i.e. iterative; D SHMERON as in Mt).
Notes (page 174)
(4) The aor. imperat. is used almost exclusively in early liturgies (Mlt.
173[273]), and preponderates in class. (SchwayzerII 341). The Ptol. pap. on the
whoLe as in the NT;the aor. is regularly used in prayers (specifics petitions).
The aor. is more definite, therefore used  especiallyt in official edicts and
among equals: Mayer II 1, 145f., 148. W. Beschewliew, Der Gebrauch des Imp. aor.
and praes, im altgr. Gebet (Annuaire de l'Univ. de Sofia, Fac. hist.-philol,
XXIII 4, Sofia, 1927 shows that the pres. impera. in prayers (petitions for
extended favor or repeated response) is more frequent than was supposed.

>From what I gather from the above is that the it is expected that the aorist
(whether passive or not) is generally used for the expected petition to be
granted. I take the passive use here to indicate that the petition "Thy kingdom
come; Thy will be done," ELQETW hH BASILEIA SOU; GENHQETW TO QELHMA SOU, is a
given fact. This is indicated by the hWS EN OURANWi KAI EPI GHS; "as it is in
heaven so (KAI-now?) upon earth." With regards to the passive use, I take it to
mean that the petitioner is not involved in the actual act since it is God,
who's kingdom and will will come and be done, is the one who performs the
actions necessary. That is how I take the quote of Heinemann.

En Xristwi,

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 at comcast.net>
To: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 5:01 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Heinemann on Matt. 6:10//Lk. 11:2


> I've just finished  reading Joseph Heinemann's "The Background of Jesus'
> Prayer in the Jewish Liturgical Tradition" (pp. 81-89  in _The Lord's
> Prayer and Jewish Liturgy_, J. Petuchowski and M. Brocke, eds.) and I
> came across this statement on p. 86:
>
>
>      Similarly, K. G. Kuhn (_Achtzehngebet und Vaterunser und dem
>      Reim_ [Tubingen, 1950, pp. 21-22] emphasizes the contrast
>      between the NT passages quoted [i.e., Matt. 26:39, 42; Mark
>      14:36 and Matt. 6:9 ff] and the Jewish conception, in which
>      men "perform Thy will". This conception is found, for example,
>      in the Palestinian version of the Eighteen Benedictions. In
>      Rabbinic Judaism, the role of mankind in general, and of the
>      Jewish people in particular, is to perform the will of God,
>      whereas in the passive form used by Jesus ("May Thy will be
>      done"), no room is left for man as an active agent performing
>      God's will (p. 87).
>
> Now strikes me that H's statement that "in the passive form used by
> Jesus ("May Thy will be done"), no room is left for man as an active
> agent performing God's will" is very strange, especially in the light of
> the fact that that Matthew adds the phrase "on earth as it is in heaven"
> which seems to have in view someone other than God doing God's will as
> faithfully as it is done "in heaven".
>
> But is it true the passive form of the expression "May it be your will"
> obliterates any idea of human beings having a part in fulfilling the
> petition at Matt. 6:10//Lk. 11:2?  If it is,**why** is it true?  Are
> there counter examples in Greco Roman prayers?
>
> Jeffrey
>
> --
> Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon)
> 1500 W. Pratt Blvd.
> Chicago, Illinois
> e-mail jgibson000 at comcast.net
>
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