[B-Greek] Question about Luke 19:8

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Tue Jan 22 11:29:30 EST 2008


On Jan 22, 2008, at 11:14 AM, Will Dilbeck wrote:

> Thanks for the response and sorry for not including the passage with  
> UTF-8 encoding.
>
> Would this particular use of the present tense be to emphasize  
> Zaccheus full commitment to repay?

I don't know. I guess this would fall into Wallace's category of  
"Completely Futuristic" (p. 536):

	"1.  Completely Futuristic
	"a.  Definition: The present tense may describe an event that is  
wholly subsequent to the time of speaking, although as if it were  
present.
	"b.  Key to Identification: is soon going to, is certainly going to,  
will"
>
>
> 2008/1/22 Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>:
>
> On Jan 22, 2008, at 9:35 AM, Will Dilbeck wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > This is my first post, but I was really perplexed about this.
> >
> > The verbs DIDWMI and APODIDWMI are both present active indicative.
> > However,
> > the commentators were unanimous in saying that Zaccheus was
> > demonstrating
> > repentence here, and basically saying that he was guilty, and that  
> he
> > intended to pay everyone back.  If this was the case, would the
> > verbs not be
> > in the future tense or subjunctive mood?
>
> The subjunctive would not be used in any case unless it's in a
> dependent clause that's dependent upon some other element, as, for
> example, ARA BOULHi hINA DIDWMI ... "Do you want me to give ...?"  (=
> "Do you want that i should give ... ").
>
> The present tense is not uncommonly used to indicate an intention that
> is not immediately in process. Compare the English, "I'm going to town
> today" -- which does not mean that the speaker is currently on the
> road. If you Englished the Greek of Lk 19:8 as "Hey, I'm giving half
> of my stuff to the poor, and if I've cheated anyone, I'm giving it
> back quadruple," would that not be intelligible English to express the
> intention to carry through with this assertion. This is rather like
> the administration and politicians talking about the tax rebate
> they're "putting in our hands" -- sounds like it's coming next week or
> even today, but don't look for it right away!
>
> > The verse is below and thanks in advance.
> >
> > *Luke 19:8* staqei.j de. Zakcai/oj ei=pen pro.j to.n ku,rion\ ivdou.
> > ta.
> > h`mi,sia, mou tw/n u`parco,ntwn( ku,rie( toi/j ptwcoi/j
> > di,dwmi( kai. ei;
> > tino,j ti evsukofa,nthsa avpodi,dwmi tetraplou/nÅ
>
> You pasted the text in, but didn't have the UTF-8 encoding, so it
> doesn't show up properly. This is precisely why we ask list-members to
> add a standard BG transliteration. It should be:
> Luke 19:8 σταθεὶς δὲ Ζακχαῖος εἶπεν  
> πρὸς
> τὸν κύριον· ἰδοὺ τὰ ἡμίσιά μου  
> τῶν
> ὑπαρχόντων, κύριε, τοῖς πτωχοῖς
> δίδωμι, καὶ εἴ τινός τι
> ἐσυκοφάντησα ἀποδίδωμι τετραπλοῦν.
> STAQEIS DE ZAKCAIOS EIPEN PROS TON KURION: IDOU TA hHMISIA MOU TWN
> hUPARCONTWN, KURIE, TOIS PTWCOIS DIDWMI, KAI EI TINOS ESUKOFANHTSA
> APODIDWMI TETRAPLOUN.
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>
>
>
>


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






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