[B-Greek] Matt 18:28 time and the imperfect
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Fri Feb 26 06:29:29 EST 2010
On Feb 26, 2010, at 5:58 AM, Jay Adkins wrote:
> Matt 18:28 EXELQWN DE O DOULOS EKEINOS EUREN ENA TWN SUNDOULWN AUTOU, OS
> WFEILEN AUTW EKATON DHNARIA, KAI KRATHSAS AUTON EPVIGEN LEYWN APODOS EI TI
> OFEILEIS.
>
> Matt 18:28 (NASU) "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow
> slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and [began] to
> choke [him], saying, `Pay back what you owe.'
> Matt 18:28 (ESV) But when that same servant went out, he found one of his
> fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to
> choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.'
> Matt 18:28 (NIV) "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow
> servants who owed him a hundred denarii. {[28] That is, a few dollars}He
> grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
>
>
> Checking various translations I noticed several that added a time reference
> to the act of choking in this verse. While many did not, my question is why
> would anyone add such a reference. Is the change from aorist to imperf. in
> the narrative due to the desire to avoid monotony, as suggested by A. T.
> Robertson, page 883? Or is this the cause to the time reference?
>
> KRATHSAS (to seize) Aorist, Active, Participle, Masculine, Singular,
> Nominative
> EPNIGEN (to choke) Third Person, Singular, Imperfect, Active, Indicative
>
> Thank you all once again for responding to my query.
Well, I think if the verb were EPNIXEN, the fellow would have died and the creditor would never have gotten a red cent out of him.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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