[B-Greek] Luke 17:16 simple conditional statement???

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Tue Jun 30 13:49:58 EDT 2009


Carl,


On Jun 30, 2009, at 9:10 AM, Carl Conrad wrote:

> On Jun 30, 2009, at 8:42 AM, Travis Schuler wrote:
>
>> Luke 17:6  εἶπεν δὲ ὁ κύριος εἰ ἔχετε
>> πίστιν ὡς κόκκον σινάπεως ἐλέγετε
>> ἂν
>> τῇ συκαμίνῳ ταύτῃ ἐκριζώθητι καὶ
>> φυτεύθητι ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ καὶ
>> ὑπήκουσεν
>> ἂν ὑμῖν.
>
> Our B-Greek protocol requires that IF you cite the Greek text using
> Unicode UTF-8 Greek, you MUST ALSO give the text in transliterated  
> form:
>
> EIPEN DE hO KURIOS, EI ECETE PISTIN hWS KOKKON SINAPEWS, ELEGETE AN
> THi SUKAMINWi TAUTHi, EKRIZWQHTI KAI FUTEUQHTE EN THi QALASSHi KAI
> hUPHKOUSEN AN hUMIN.
>>
>> Is this a simple conditional statement??? the use of the indicative
>> in the protasis seems to indicate it is, but I understand simple
>> conditionals are rather rare. Also, the theological interpretations
>> I have encountered seem to treat this verse as a general conditional
>> statement. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
>
> This is actually a mixed condition,

Which raises the question, what is at fault here? The language of the  
author or the system of categories for conditionals? In light of our  
recent discussion of the genitive case, I wonder what the categories  
accomplish for us. When a question like this is raised, I assume the  
student is preparing an exegesis paper or getting ready for an exam. I  
read the text in Luke without any question about what it was saying.  
So my training in Koine must be defective somehow since I should have  
stopped and asked, what is wrong here, this construction doesn't fit  
into the canonical paradigms for Greek conditionals.

> but in its fundamental structure,
> it is closer to a present counterfactual co;ndition; we would really
> expect the protasis to be in the indicative imperfect, since the
> apodoses are ELEGETE AN and hUPHKOUSEN AN, which are appropriate to
> present and past counterfactual result-clauses.. The present tense of
> ECETE is odd; the more appropriate imperfect form EICETE. is less to
> be noted among textual variants than EAN ECHTE, which is not at all
> appropriate.





Elizabeth Kline







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