[B-Greek] hHRMOSAMHN 2COR. 11:2 middle voice

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Sun Nov 15 13:47:21 EST 2009


On Nov 14, 2009, at 3:45 AM, Carl Conrad wrote:

>
> On Nov 13, 2009, at 4:35 PM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:
>
>> 2Cor. 11:1 Ὄφελον ἀνείχεσθέ μου μικρόν
>> τι ἀφροσύνης· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνέχεσθέ
>> μου.  2 ζηλῶ γὰρ ὑμᾶς θεοῦ ζήλῳ,
>> ἡρμοσάμην γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ
>> παρθένον ἁγνὴν παραστῆσαι τῷ
>> Χριστῷ·  3 φοβοῦμαι δὲ μή πως, ὡς ὁ
>> ὄφις ἐξηπάτησεν Εὕαν ἐν τῇ
>> πανουργίᾳ αὐτοῦ, φθαρῇ τὰ νοήματα
>> ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁπλότητος [καὶ τῆς
>> ἁγνότητος] τῆς εἰς τὸν Χριστόν.
>>
>> 2COR. 11:1 OFELON ANEICESQE MOU MIKRON TI AFROSUNHS· ALLA KAI  
>> ANECESQE
>> MOU.  2 ZHLW GAR hUMAS QEOU ZHLWi, hHRMOSAMHN GAR hUMAS hENI ANDRI
>> PARQENON hAGNHN PARASTHSAI TWi CRISTWi· 3 FOBOUMAI DE MH PWS, hWS hO
>> OFIS EXHPATHSEN hEUAN EN THi PANOURGIAi AUTOU, FQARHi TA NOHMATA  
>> hUMWN
>> APO THS hAPLOTHTOS [KAI THS hAGNOTHTOS] THS EIS TON CRISTON
>> Is the choice of the middle aorist here semantically motivated? I
>> think it is. I would venture to disagree with M.Thrall [1] who states
>> that the middle here is being used "with the force of the active." I
>> would suggest that Moulton [2] has come closer to getting it right.  
>> In
>> other words, Paul is not presenting himself here as merely an agent  
>> in
>> the process but someone who is personally affected by the outcome.  
>> The
>> citation from Philo might be used as evidence to support M.Thrall's
>> position on this so I will quote it:
>
> Well, it may be; the active is normally used of someone who arranges  
> a marriage of a woman to a man, the middle of the woman who marries  
> a man. This would be somewhat like GAMOUMAI, used of the woman who  
> marries a man, whereas GAMEW is used of the man marrying the woman.
>
> LSJ s.v. hARMOZW has: "Pass., ἁρμόσθαι θυγατέρα  
> τινὸς γυναῖκα [hARMOSQAI QUGATERA TINOS GUNAIKA] have  
> her betrothed or married to one, Hdt.3.137; ὡς ἐκείνῳ  
> τῇδέ τ' ἦν ἡρμοσμένα [hWS EKEINWi THiDE T' HN  
> hHRMOSMENA] as troth was plighted between him and her, S.Ant.570."
>
> That Herodotus text looks very much like what we have in 2 Cor and  
> in the Philo passage as well, it seems to me -- and I don't think  
> it's being used as a passive; BDAG and LSJ' regularly indicate as  
> "passive with active sense" what really ought to be indicated as  
> middle.
>
> Carl W. Conrad

Thank you Carl,

What I found difficult to accept is the notion that Paul didn't know  
the standard idioms for marriage and betrothal. A linguist of the  
functional persuasion is prone to look for some sort of semantic or  
pragmatic motivation in the choice of a non-standard (marked) form  
such as a middle where we would expect an active. To simply state that  
the middle is being used for the active is not really an explanation,  
is it?

Elizabeth Kline




>
>>
>> 2 “LA”, 1.2.67.1
>> (Num. 12, 14); ὄντως γὰρ ἀναίσχυντος καὶ
>> θρασεῖα ἡ αἴσθησις, ἣ 2
>> ἐξουθενηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ
>> πατρὸς παρὰ τὸν πιστὸν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ 3
>> οἴκῳ (ibid. 7), ᾧ τὴν Αἰθιόπισσαν, τὴν
>> ἀμετάβλητον καὶ κατακορῆ 4 γνώμην,
>> αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡρμόσατο, τολμᾷ
>> καταλαλεῖν Μωυσῆ καὶ κατηγορεῖν,
>> ἐφ’ ᾧ ὤφειλεν ἐπαινεῖσθαι (ibid. 1)·
>> τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἐγκώμιον 6 αὐτοῦ
>> μέγιστον, ὅτι τὴν Αἰθιόπισσαν
>> ἔλαβε, τὴν ἄτρεπτον καὶ  
>> πεπυρωμένην
>> καὶ δόκιμον φύσιν· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν
>> ὀφθαλμῷ τὸ βλέπον μέλαν
>>
>> 2 “LA”, 1.2.67.1 (Num. 12, 14); ONTWS GAR ANAISCUNTOS KAI QRASEIA
>> hH AISQHSIS, hH 2 EXOUQENHQEISA hUPO TOU QEOU TOU PATROS PARA TON
>> PISTON EN hOLWi TWi 3 OIKWi (ibid. 7), hWi THN AIQIOPISSAN, THN
>> AMETABLHTON KAI KATAKORH 4 GNWMHN, AUTOS hO QEOS hHRMOSATO, TOLMAi
>> KATALALEIN MWUSH KAI KATHGOREIN, EF' hWi WFEILEN EPAINEISQAI (ibid.
>> 1)· TOUTO GAR ESTIN EGKWMION 6 AUTOU MEGISTON, hOTI THN AIQIOPISSAN
>> ELABE, THN ATREPTON KAI PEPURWMENHN KAI DOKIMON FUSIN· hWSPER GAR EN
>> OFQALMWi TO BLEPON MELAN
>>
>>
>> Elizabeth Kline
>>
>>
>> [1] M.Thrall 2Cor v.2 ICC p660 n.33, T&T Clark 2000
>> [2] J.H.Moulton A Grammar NT Greek, v1. Prolegomona p160
>>
>>
>









More information about the B-Greek mailing list