[B-Greek] Dr. Wallace on Acts 13.48

Mitch Larramore mitchlarramore at yahoo.com
Sat Aug 1 21:56:31 EDT 2009


AKOUONTA DE TA EQNH ECAIRON KAI EDOXOZON TON LOGON TOU KURIOU, KAI EPISTEUSAN hOSOI HSAN TETAGMENOI EIS ZWHN AIWNION

I think Dr. Daniel Wallace, at least to me, may be the first grammarian to produce a grammar book from a distinctly theological viewpoint, namely, Calvinism. Even though Dr. Wallace is not known as a Theological scholar, he does indirectly speak to these issues through his grammar works. Here are some of his comments on Acts 13.48 taken from bible.org (which are pretty close to his treatment of this passage in GGBB):

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Acts 13:48 is indeed a strong verse on God's sovereign choice of those who would be saved. The verb TETAGMENOI does not occur in Acts 20:13, but the aorist form of it does occur in Acts 29:23. There, the middle voice is indeed used and is translated like an active verb. However, the aorist has a distinct middle form that is different from the passive form. The perfect tense, found in Acts 13:48, does not. Context, lexeme, and usage are key. In 1 Cor 16:15, an active voice verb is used. So, neither of these texts offers a real parallel to Acts 13:48. The problem with taking the verb in Acts 13:48 as a middle is that it would have to be a direct middle (the idea would be 'they appointed themselves'), which is nonsense in this context and is extremely rare of a usage overall. I know of no linguistic ground for overturning the traditional translation here.
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Dr. Wallace, no doubt a very good grammarian, neglects to see all the options here, and I am wondering if this has to do again with his Calvinistic lens through which he sees a text.

What other observations can be made of KAI EPISTEUSAN hOSOI HSAN TETAGMENOI and how else could it this clause be translated? 

Mitch Larramore
Augusta, GA


      



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