[B-Greek] Acts 26:28

A. J. Birch AJB1212 at ono.com
Wed May 11 07:52:24 EDT 2011


Thanks so much for such a thorough and helpful reply. I take your points, but still wonder whether it could be rendered, 'Do you think you can make me a Christian in such a short time?'

Thanks again,

Andrew J. Birch
Palma de Mallorca, Spain


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Iver Larsen 
To: A. J. Birch ; B-Greek 
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Acts 26:28


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. J. Birch" <AJB1212 at ono.com>
To: "B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 10. maj 2011 16:43
Subject: [B-Greek] Acts 26:28


> "O DE AGRIPPAS PROS TON PAULON, EN OLIGWi ME PEIQEIS CRISTIANON POIHSAI" (Acts 
> 26:28).
>
> My question is, what are the reasons for reading (and punctuating) this as a 
> statement, as opposed to a question? As I read it again just now, both 
> Agrippa's words to Paul and the context seemed to suggest to me the 
> possibility of a question. Could "EN OLIGWi" mean something like "so soon"?
>
> Thankyou,
>
> Andrew J. Birch
> Palma de Mallorca, Spain

That is a difficult question to address EN OLIGWi, and I am sure there will be 
no agreement.

First, there is the textual question of the last word. The Majority text has 
GENESQAI (to become a Christian), and this is reflected in the KJV: "Almost thou 
persuadest me to be a Christian." This is also the word used in the response in 
the following verse. The two words indicate a different focus. With POIHSAI, the 
focus is on Paul as the agent: "You causing me to become a Christian", while 
with GENESQAI the focus is on Agrippa as the semantic Patient, the one who 
becomes a Christian. (BDAG suggests an idiom "play a Christian", but that makes 
no sense to me.)

Paul has just had a long speech which is his personal testimony. The speech does 
not include an appeal to any of the hearers to become a Christian. Festus cut 
him off as soon as he mentioned the resurrection from the dead, since that to 
Festus was insanity. In verses 26-27 Paul addresses Agrippa and expresses his 
belief that Agrippa not only knows the prophets but believes them. This may well 
refer to the Messianic prophetic statements that were well-known among the Jews. 
Agrippa must have sided with the Pharisees rather than the Sadducees, since he 
does not object to the resurrection and believes the Prophetic books.

Coming to v. 28, the words EN OLIGWi have the most prominent and emphatic 
position in the beginning of the sentence. They refer to a relatively small 
quantity of something, probably time. If this was a question, I cannot see the 
function of EN OLIGWi. Paul has already spoken at length. A question like "Are 
you (trying to) persuade me to become a Christian?" would make sense to me, but 
not with EN OLIGWi.

It has also been suggested that if it is a statement, then it is ironic. RSV 
seems to have taken that path when they say: "In a short time you think to make 
me a Christian!" Now, Relevance Theory has investigated irony at great length, 
and one of the results of that is that for a statement to be irony, it must echo 
something that has already been said or can be deduced to be in the minds of the 
hearers. I cannot detect such echoing in this passage, and therefore the irony 
option is unlikely.

Another feature of the RSV, NIV and many other translations is the use of the 
word "think". RSV replaced PEIQEIS with think, while NIV and others who have 
taken the question option have added "think" to the text. This is probably a way 
of explicating the irony interpretation. If Paul was thinking that, then an 
echoing could be postulated. This would be based on v. 27. It is not impossible, 
but I think the simple statement option is overall more likely, mainly because 
of EN OLIGWi.

Now, if we take the straightforward non-ironic statement option, then EN OLIGWi 
makes better sense. The present tense of PEIQEIS indicates an ongoing process. 
The time phrase could then indicate the end of the process which would result in 
Paul making Agrippa a Christian. In a short while you would have won me over to 
make me a Christian. OLIGON when combined with an imperfective aspect verb form 
may mean "nearly, almost" as seen in KJV and the following quote from BDAG: 
"(cp. Jos., Vi. 151 πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐπείθοντο=‘they were nearly persuaded’).

Paul's response  with "not only you" in v. 29 suggests to me that he took 
Agrippa's words positively, since he says in my paraphrase: "I hope and pray to 
God that not only you, but everyone else here would become Christians, no matter 
whether it takes a short or long time."

Iver Larsen


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