[B-Greek] PAR' AUTOU in Luke 18:9-14

Yancy Smith yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Thu Jul 16 19:15:42 EDT 2009


I didn't check to see whether this was part of the thread, but here goes:

Conrad EGRAPSE:
-Snip-
 (3) With regard to the expressions, DIKAIWSAS hEAUTON and  
DEDIKAIWMENOS (which I've said I think equivalent to DIKAIWQEIS), I  
really do not think that they are semantically equivalent. The active  
participle with the reflexive pronominal object clearly indicates  
deliberate intent on the part of the subject to demonstrate his own  
right/righteous status vis-à-vis another or others, i.e. to vindicate  
himself, while the middle-passive participle, in my judgment, does not  
involve intent on the part of the subject but achievement of  
vindication. So far as I can tell, the reflexive with the active verb  
DIKAIOW is found only in Luke in the GNT (10:29, 16:1); middle-passive  
verbs do not commonly express a direct reflexive notion.
-Snip-
[Yancy Smith] 

I want to register my agreement with Conrad's assessment here about the DIK- verbs in this passage and suggest that Luke's quotation of Jesus' parable end on a less that "once for all note." That may well be because of the way Luke is handling his source. The statement that κατέβη οὗτος δεδικαιωμένος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ παρ᾽ ἐκεῖνον· KATEBH HOUTOS DEDIKAIOMENOS EIS TON OIKON AUTOU PAR' EKEINON could and probably should be Englished, "this man went down to his house more justified than the other." I understand that BDAG recommends the exclusive righteousness idea, "instead of" rather than the comparative "more than". However, the idea of comparative righteousness in surprising situations is an echo of Gen. 38:26, Δεδικαίωται Θαμαρ ἢ ἐγώ DEDIKAWTAI QAMAR H EGW. The delicious irony of the Luke's parable, however, is that the good Pharisee's good works may well be the impetus that provokes the humble reaction of the Tax Collector. A case of transferred merit, as it were! We know the Pharisee compares himself with the tax collector. Are we to assume the Tax Collector compares himself with the righteous Pharisee? If both men compare themselves with one another, God sees the more humble man as the more righteous. Read in this way, it becomes a trap of a parable, indicting any sort of self exalting pride. As far as I can see, the only reason for choosing the exclusive meaning of PAR'AUTOU rather than the comparative is the assumption that a Pharisee (qua Pharisee) cannot possibly be a righteous person. The brilliant parable then becomes a ham-fisted polemic against Pharisees. I can see how Luke is complicit in our reading the parable this way, but as Jesus would have said it, in the first context, it works better as a comparative. A great discussion of this is found in the popular book by Amy Jill-Levine, _The Misunderstood Jew_.


Yancy Smith
Yancy W. Smith, PhD
World Bible Translation Center
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Be kinder than necessary for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.








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