[B-Greek] DIO + hINA, a uniquely Pauline grammatical feature?

Donald COBB docobb at orange.fr
Wed Jun 17 12:42:13 EDT 2009


Emanuel,

Looking at the the whole verse maybe gives a hint as to what Paul is trying to do. After DIO, he then inserts--almost as a parenthesis--the hINA clause: hINA ME hUPERAIRWMAI. Then, after finishing up on the main clause following from DIO, he adds two more hINA clauses, one of which is an exact repetition of what he has just said!,

ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι, hINA ME KOLAFIZHi, hINA MH hUPERAIRWMAI.

Paul is obviously insisting on God's action in order to maintain him in humility... or weakness, as he puts it. 

BTW, the last hINA clause, repeating what was already stated at the beginning of the verse seems to have been considered as clumsy by a good number of scribes, who simply omitted it (take a look at the critical apparatus). But it's that very repetition that gives the verse rhetorical force to what Paul wants to get across.

In that sense, the construction of the verse as a whole is certainly inhabitual. Is it good Greek or not? I'll leave it to others to answer that, but if the question is, Does Paul feel free to shape the language in order to get his point across?, then the answer is no doubt, Yes.

Blessings,

Donald Cobb
Aix-en-Provence, France

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Emanuel Contac 
  To: 'Donald COBB' 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 6:08 PM
  Subject: RE: [B-Greek] DIO + hINA, a uniquely Pauline grammatical feature?


  Donald,

   

  Many thanks for the insight. Indeed, it is not exceptional in the sense that it makes good sense, but I was just wondering about the usage: is it “good” Greek to have them juxtaposed like this?

   

  Emanuel Contac, Romania

   

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Donald COBB [mailto:docobb at orange.fr] 
  Sent: 17 iunie 2009 18:52
  To: Emanuel Contac; b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
  Subject: Re: [B-Greek] DIO + hINA, a uniquely Pauline grammatical feature?

   

  Emanuel,

   

  I don't think the construction is all that exceptional, even if like 

  passages can't be found; DIO actually goes with EDOQH MOI SKOLOY: 

  "Therefore... a thorn was given to me". hINA ME hUPERAIRWMAI is a separate 

  final clause, stating in advance why the thorn was given: "So that I would 

  not exalt myself". Even though the two particles are side by side, they 

  don't connect up with the same elements in the sentence.

   

  Hope that helps.

   

  Donald Cobb

  Aix-en-Provence, France

   

   

  ----- Original Message ----- 

  From: "Emanuel Contac" <vaisamar at gmail.com>

  To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>

  Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 5:00 PM

  Subject: Re: [B-Greek] DIO + hINA, a uniquely Pauline grammatical feature?

   

   

  >  I have a question about the verse in 2 Cor. 12:7, regarding the 

  > combination of two conjunctions, DIO and hINA, which seems to be unique in 

  > the NT.

  > 

  >  Does any one know any other place in the classical or Byzantine texts 

  > with the same DIO + hINA combination? The Apostolic Fathers, Philo, 

  > Josephus or LXX have none.

  > 

  > 

  > 

  > 2 Corinthians 12:7 διὸ ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι, ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, 

  > ἄγγελος σατανᾶ, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι.

  > 

  > 

  > 

  > 2 Cor. 12:7 DIO hINA ME hUPERAIRWMAI EDOQH MOI SKOLOY TH SARKI AGGELOS 

  > SATANA hINA ME KOLAFIZE hINA ME UPERAIRWMAI.

  > 

  > 

  > 

  >  Emanuel Contac

  > 

  > ---

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  > 

   

   



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