[B-Greek] Acts 26:23
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Thu Jan 13 01:43:50 EST 2011
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Pope" <borikayaama_tekiri at sil.org>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: <iver_larsen at sil.org>
Sent: 13. januar 2011 01:48
Subject: [B-Greek] Acts 26:23
> Iver, might you be confusing MARTUROUMAI (from MARTUREW) and MARTUROMAI
> (separate entry in BDAG and LSJ)? Surely MARTUROMAI doesn't occur often
> enough to make generalizations about possible constructions?
I was talking about MARTUROMAI, not MARTUROUMAI, which is the passive of
MARTUREW. It is true that it is not very common in the NT, 5 times to be exact,
compared to 76 instances of MARTUREW. It would be helpful to look at Hellenistic
Greek, but I don't have resources to do that. The word is apparently only used
once in the LXX with the more Classical sense of "call to witness" (Judith
7:28).
There is an interesting interplay between MARTUREW, which only occurs in the
active and passive in the NT, while MARTUROMAI only occurs in the middle, and is
therefore declared to be deponent.
MARTUREW appears to objective, to "bear witness" to something you have seen,
heard or know about. Sometimes it is restricted to a positive sense, and then it
is often used in the passive about someone who has a good reputation, he is
"talked well about".
According to LSJ MARTUROMAI in Classical Greek is constructed with an accusative
in the sense of "call to witness, invoke". You are asking someone to come to
your aid and bear witness for you. It can have other meanings, including
"protest" (LSJ 3) and "to give testimony" (LSJ 5), but it is more emotional,
personal and to use Carl's term subject-intensive than MARTUREW.
That seems to have changed a bit in the NT times. At least it seems to be
connected with a dative rather than accusative. Paul is the only one in the NT
who uses the word. The meaning is something like "solemnly declare" in Gal 5:3
and "implore" or "urge" in Eph 4:17 and 1 Th 2:12. For the last two BDAG
suggests: "to urge someth. as a matter of great importance."
The two instances in Acts are complex, because although it is Paul speaking, the
words come to us through Luke.
In both cases, Paul is not urging somebody else to do anything, except listen to
him.
In Acts 20:26, the sense of "solemnly declare (on my life)" fits well. It is
followed by a hOTI clause.
Acts 26:23 does not have a content clause following, unless you take the EI
sentence as such:
ἕστηκα μαρτυρόμενος μικρῷ τε καὶ μεγάλῳ οὐδὲν ἐκτὸς λέγων ὧν τε οἱ προφῆται
ἐλάλησαν μελλόντων γίνεσθαι καὶ Μωϋσῆς
hESTHKA MARTUROMENOS MIKRWi TE KAI MEGALWi OUDEN EKTOS LEGWN hWN TE hOI PROFHTAI
ELALHSAN MELLONTWN GINESQAI KAI MWUSHS
I am standing here solemnly declaring/affirming (my innonence) to both small and
great while saying nothing beyond what both the prophets and Moses said was
going to happen.
For this verse, BDAG suggests: "to affirm someth. with solemnity."
> I suspect that MARTUROMAI (the verb in Acts 26.22) is more emotional than
> you allow. (It is not only verbs of wonder that can take this EI, see the
> example with AGANAKTEW in BDAG.) Something like "protest" or "insist" seems
> more appropriate as a translation. Most English versions make no distinction
> from MARTUREW, but Weymouth has "solemnly exhorted".
I certainly agree that MARTUROMAI is more emotional than MARTUREW, but I don't
see that "protest" or "insist" can fit the context, and that is not what BDAG
suggest either. I did not intend to say that the word was not emotional, but
that it does not express "wonder." I am happy to extend to a wish as in Sir
23:14 or exasperation, vexation (AGANAKTEW) about something that is not the way
you wish it would be. All of these have some hypothetical or questionable
element implied. Acts 26:23 sticks out like a sore thumb in those references
under EI in BDAG.
BDAG makes reference to Robertson p. 965, but he only says as follows:
"Verbs of emotion in classical Greek sometimes used εἰ (conceived as an
hypothesis) rather than ὅτι (a direct reason). The N. T. shows examples of
θαυμάζω εἰ in this sense (Mk. 15:44; 1 Jo. 3:13), though θαυμάζω ὅτι is found
also (Lu. 11:38; Gal. 1:6)."
Iver Larsen
> ----------------------
> Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org wrote on Wed Jan 12 06:47:05 EST 2011
>
> 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).
>
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