[B-Greek] Matthew 16:18 - two questions
Eric S. Weiss
papaweiss1 at yahoo.com
Sun Jul 20 14:51:03 EDT 2008
> 1. Since AUTHS is fem it cannot reference PETROS and therefore
> must either be PETRA or EKKLHSIA. As the nearer referent
> EKKLHSIA would seem to be preferable. I would concur that
> PETROS (Peter, a rock) and PETRA (bedrock) are two different
> things.
>
> 2. OU KATAISXUSOUSIN AUTHS would seem to eliminate the church
> as the attacker. It is not that the attack would NOT BE able
> to be withstood, but rather that it WOULD BE withstood.
Thanks for your response. My comments:
1. Preferable, but not assured, I would guess. I can't find anything in BDF or Smyth or
Robertson that discusses pronoun referents or antecedents re: how often the referent
is or must be the nearest one when two or more are possible.
2. I think it may also depend on the meaning (probably idiomatic) of "gates of hades."
Gates are generally defensive mechanisms, not offensive ones. For the "gates of hades"
to be the attacker is to ascribe to "gates" a different meaning and function than gates
usually have, hence my question.
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list