[B-Greek] Ezek 8:6 [was Ezek 6:6]

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Sat Mar 8 12:22:56 EST 2008


You have caused a small amount of confusion by your subject heading of "Ezek 6:6" when it is actually 8.6.  I have adjusted it accordingly.

καὶ εἶπεν πρός με Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, ἑώρακας τί οὗτοι ποιοῦσιν; ἀνομίας μεγάλας ποιοῦσιν ὧδε τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μου, καὶ ἔτι ὄψει ἀνομίας μείζονας. 


KAI EIPEN PROS ME, "hUIE ANQRWPOU, hEWRAKAS TI hOUTOI POIOUSIN?  ANOMIAS MEGALAS POIOUSIN hWDE TOU APEXESQAI APO TWN hAGIWN MOU, OYEI ANOMIAS MEIZONAS."
 
While the LXX must ultimately be understood on its own, it is sometimes helpful to take a look at the Hebrew upon which it is based.  While the text here referenced is translated from the Hebrew largely as "to drive me from", which would seem to be the piel form.  The verb here in its basic form (qal), which is generally indicated, is simply "to be distant."  In the piel form it becomes "to send away."  Since the verb is what is known in Hebrew grammar as a II gutteral or `ayin gutteral, which means that the second radical is a gutteral, it is conceivable that it could be a piel form since the gutteral rejects the dagesh which is one of the distinguishing marks of the piel.  

The Greek seems not to have a causative connotation.  The genitive of the articular infinitive which we see in τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι [TOU APEXESQAI] would indicate a final or causative event.  The μου [MOU] must most reasonably be construed with τῶν ἁγίων [TWN hAGIWN], which is another problem with the LXX of this verse since it is singular in Hebrew, but this seems to not be uncommon in the LXX.  I would think that it would better have been translated as "my Holy Place" and to understand τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι [TOU APEXESQAI] in a causative sense supplying με [ME] which is not specified in the Greek as the object of the phrase.  Thus understood, the LXX reading would yield much the same as the traditional reading of the MT.

george
gfsomsel

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defend the truth till death.


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----- Original Message ----
From: Bucur <bogabu at yahoo.com>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Saturday, March 8, 2008 10:27:37 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] Ezek 6:6

NETS translates the central passage in Ezek 8:6 as
"they are committing great acts of lawlessness here by
keeping themselves far from my holy things" (hWDE TOU
APECESQAI APO TWN hAGIWN MOU). Given  the context --
God is about to leave the temple -- I think, this does
not make sense. Is there some pressing grammatical
reason for changing "so that I [that is, God] should
keep away ..." into what the NETS version offers? 

Bogdan Bucur


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