[B-Greek] Acts 26:23

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Wed Jan 12 06:47:05 EST 2011


Mark is following BDAG in connecting EI with MARTUROMAI:

"② marker of an indirect question as content, that (Kühner-G. II 369, 8; Rob.
965. Cp. Appian, Bell. Civ. 5, 67 §283 ἀγανακτέω εἰ=be exasperated that; Sir
23:14 θελήσεις εἰ μὴ ἐγεννήθης; 2 Macc 14:28; 4 Macc 2:1; 4:7. S. on θαυμάζω
1aγ) ἐθαύμασεν εἰ ἤδη τέθνηκεν he was surprised that he was already dead Mk
15:44a. μὴ θαυμάζετε εἰ μισεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ κόσμος do not wonder that the world hates
you 1J 3:13; θαυμαζόντων … , εἰ τοσαύτη σπουδὴ ἦν τοῦ συλληφθῆναι that there was
such interest in arresting MPol 7:2; AcPlCor 2:2 (cp. Just., A II, 8, 3 οὐδὲν …
θαυμαστόν, εἰ). Sim. also (Procop. Soph., Ep. 123 χάριν ἔχειν εἰ=that)
μαρτυρόμενος … εἰ παθητὸς ὁ Χριστός testifying … that the Christ was to suffer
(s. πάσχω 3aα) Ac 26:23...."

This may or may not be inspired by the following in LSJ:

"V. after Verbs denoting wonder, delight, indignation, disappointment,
contentment, and similar emotions, εἰ c. ind. is used instead of ὅτι, to express
the object of the feeling in a hypothetical form..."

All the verbs cited in BDAG above can be grouped as expressions of wonder except
MARTUROMAI, so I would suggest that Acts 26:23 may be misplaced in BDAG.
MARTUROMAI always connects with hOTi or an infinitive with acc. as far as I know
(when it has an object clause).

There is another option for EI in LSJ:

"VI. in citing a fact as a ground of argument or appeal, as surely as, since, εἴ
ποτʼ ἔην γε if there was [as there was], i.e. as sure as there was such an one,
Il.3.180, al.; εἰ τότε κοῦρος ἔα, νῦν αὖτέ με γῆρας ὀπάζει 4.321; πολλοὺς γὰρ
οἶκε εἶναι εὐπετέστερον διαβάλλειν ἢ ἕνα, εἰ Κλεομένεα μὲν μοῦνον οὐκ οἷός τε
ἐγένετο διαβαλεῖν, τρεῖς δὲ μυριάδασ Ἀθηναίων ἐποιησε τοῦτο it seems easier to
deceive many than one, if (as was the fact, i.e. since) he was not able ..,
Hdt.5.97, cf. 1.60, al."

BDAG touches on the same possibility here:

ⓐ w. the indic.
α. in all tenses, to express a condition thought of as real or to denote
assumptions relating to what has already happened εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ if you
really are the Son of God Mt 4:3; sim. 5:29f; 6:23; 8:31; Ac 5:39. εἰ σὺ
Ἰουδαῖος ἐπονομάζῃ if you call yourself a Judean Ro 2:17. εἰ κατακαυχᾶσαι, οὐ σὺ
βαστάζεις if you do boast, (remember) you do not support 11:18 al. In Paul the
verb is freq. missing, and is to be supplied fr. the context: εἰ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν
(sc. ἐστιν), τὸ μὲν σῶμα νεκρόν (sc. ἐστιν) 8:10. εἰ τέκνα (sc. ἐστέ) if you are
children, then … vs. 17, εἰ χάριτι (γέγονεν), οὐκέτι ἐξ ἔργων 11:6 al."

In these contexts, English would use "since" rather than "if" or "that". Rom
8:10 - Since Christ (is surely) in you, 8:17 - Since (you are surely)
children... 11:6 - Since (it is surely) by grace, (it is) no longer based on
works...

It is possible to put a full stop at the end of v. 22 (contra NA):

RSV - so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but
what the
prophets and Moses said would come to pass.

This could be the end of the testimony, but it looks like Paul cannot restrain
himself from a final sentence of preaching in v. 23:

εἰ παθητὸς ὁ Χριστός, εἰ πρῶτος ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν φῶς μέλλει καταγγέλλειν τῷ
τε λαῷ καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.
EI PAQHTOS hO CRISTOS, EI PRQTOS EX ANASTASEQW NEKRWN FWS MELLEI KATAGGELLEIN
TWi TE LAWi KAI TOIS EQNESIN.

Since Christ (surely has) suffered, since he (surely is) the first to be
resurrected from the dead, he is going to proclaim light to the Jews as well as
the non-Jews.

I am not aware that the prophets or Moses said anything about Christ being the
first to resurrect, and even the suffering Messiah is hard to find in the
prophets, and certainly not in Moses. It was not a Jewish expectation that the
Messiah should die the way he did. Jesus showed his light to Paul quite
literally, and it makes sense to me that Paul attributes the light giving
function to Jesus even if he sometimes does it through people.

No translation seems to have taken this option, and I am not sure it is the
right one, but I thought it was worth considering.

Iver Larsen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Lightman" <lightmanmark at yahoo.com>
To: "Richard Smith" <rbs58 at comcast.net>; <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 12. januar 2011 05:05
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Acts 26:23


> Hi, Richard,
>
> After verbs of declaring (in this case MARTUROMAI) εἰ (EI) can mean "that,"
> pretty much the same as hOTI.   Your second translation captures the sense
> just
> fine.  There is nothing conditional about either εἰ  here.
>
> Mark L
> Φωσφορος
>
>
> FWSFOROS MARKOS
> ________________________________
> From: Richard Smith <rbs58 at comcast.net>
> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Sent: Tue, January 11, 2011 5:50:00 PM
> Subject: [B-Greek] Acts 26:23
>
> I would like to read your thoughts on how to understand the construction EI
> PAQHTOS...EI PRWTOS..., FWS MELLEI KATAGGELLEIN.
>
> If the Christ can suffer, if the first of the resurrection, (then) he is about
> to proclaim light
>
> That the Christ can suffer, that the first, (therefore) he is about to
> proclaim
>
> It seems to me that the translations are in all directions trying to convey
> the
> sense of this construction. I looked in Robertson's Word Pictures but that
> explanation did not help me understand the connection between the subordinate
> clauses and the main clause, not to mention the connection with verse 22 (hOI
> PROFHTAI ELALHSAN MELLONTWN GINESQAI).
>
> Thank you,
>
> Richard Smith




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