[B-Greek] Rom 4:1

Yancy Smith yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Mon Jul 20 17:34:46 EDT 2009


Oun,

Following your reading of the text, ABRAAM would be the "subject" of the infinitive or, in theta role parlance, he is agent or 'actor' of the verbal noun phrase. I think there might be other ways to construe the text, depending upon the textual decision and how the sentence might be grammatically construed. We might see the textual confusion as arising from the general ambiguity of the sentence.

1. What shall we say we have found? [Is] Abraham our forefather according to the flesh? [i.e. in a way limited only to the flesh, i.e. through circumcision and/or lineage?]
=a question followed by a question, with implied EINAI. hEUREKENAI before ABRAAM
1a. "What shall we say we have found?" [Answer of interlocutor:] "Abraham is our forefather according to the flesh."
=a question followed by a statement from an interlocutor with implied EINAI. hEUREKENAI before ABRAAM
2. What shall we say Abraham our forefather according to the flesh found? [your reading, I think]
=one long question, hEUREKENAI at the end.
2a. What shall we say he found--that is, Abraham our forefather according to the flesh?
=One long question with a clarification of the subject of hEUREKENAI. hEUREKENAI before ABRAAM.
3. What shall we say, then? Have we found Abraham to be [only] our forefather according to the flesh?
=like 1., but with "the forefather of us" in an exclusive sense.
3a What shall we say, then? We have found Abraham to be our forefather [only] according to the flesh.
=like 1, but with "according to the flesh" in a negative and exclusive sense.

As can be seen, the possibilities could be multiplied. We are dealing with a fairly ambiguous sentence. Isn't it so often the case that Paul is most ambiguous when he is making his most important points?

Yancy

-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Oun Kwon
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 3:25 PM
To: greek B-Greek
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Rom 4:1

On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 3:33 PM, Elizabeth
Kline<kline_dekooning at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> On Jul 20, 2009, at 11:51 AM, Yancy Smith wrote:
>
>> His reading is not so peculiar to him.
>
> Also Lenski (see L.Morris Romans 1988) Moo (Rom. NICNT) cites Hays to
> disagree with him. I would also disagree with Hays, Lenski, the very
> next verse implies that Abraham is the the subject who is "finding" in
> v1. Should note that the textual support for hEURHKENAI in v.1 isn't
> decisively favorable.
>
> Rom. 4:1
>
> εἰ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη,
> ἔχει καύχημα, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ πρὸς θεόν.
>
> EI GAR ABRAAM EX ERGWN EDIKAIWQH, ECEI KAUCHMA, ALL᾿ OU PROS QEON.
>
>
>
> Elizabeth Kline
>
>

Hi, Elizabeth. That must be v. 2.

I'm curios here.

I take ABRAAM and TON PROPATORA hHMWN KATA SARKA  as appositive.

Doesn't this accusative case simply tell it's the agent of the verb EURHKENAI?

I am reading mss variant
     "ABRAAM TON PROPATORA hHMWN KATA SARKAh EURHKENAI".
Should the location of the verb make me change my opinion, when it
comes at the start of this clause?

Oun Kwon.
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[Yancy Smith] 



Yancy Smith
Yancy W. Smith, PhD
World Bible Translation Center
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