[B-Greek] Acts 26:28

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Wed May 11 09:30:44 EDT 2011


On May 11, 2011, at 7:52 AM, A. J. Birch wrote:

> 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?'

I really don't think that the text as it stands in either NA27/UBS4 or in the MT will yield that sense: the case-forms and verb-forms don't quite cohere to yield that sense. "Do you think" would seem to depend on reading the middle (πείθῃ PEIQHi) rather than the active (πείθεις PEIQEIS). In fact, however, the middle form ordinarily means "trust" or "obey", not "believe (about yourself)." 

Metzger's note (cited below) indicates that some have endeavored to read the text the way you're suggesting. I guess a Greek text this difficult tempts some to cut the Gordian knot.

	Metzger re Acts 26:28 "The difficulty of capturing the nuances intended in this verse is notorious. Without entering into the lexical problems (e.g. does ἐν ὀλίγῳ mean “in a short time” or “with little effort”?), from the standpoint of textual criticism the reading that is supported by P74vid ℵ B 33 81 syrhmg copbo al seems to account best for the other readings, which appear to be attempts at smoothing the meaning. Thus, instead of πείθεις codex Alexandrinus reads πείθῃ (“you trust [or, think] that you can make me a Christian”), which is adopted by Lachmann, Alford, A. C. Clark, though the verb seems to have been suggested by πείθομαι of ver. 26. The reading γενέσθαι of the Byzantine text (E P Ψ 049 most minuscules, followed by the Textus Receptus) appears to have come from the following verse. Hort, who suspected some primitive corruption in the text, suggested that possibly πέποιθας should be read for με πείθεις."

I think that πέποιθας PEPOIQAS would be far more appropriate as a verb form for the sense you're urging. Or, if we're looking for appropriate forms that are NOT found in the text, it could be πεπεισμένος εἶ PEPEISMENOS EI. This old, old verb has a perfect active form with the same sense as the middle πείθομαι PEIQOMAI. That is to say, I think that "be confident (of something), I think, really calls for the perfect tense of PEIQOMAI.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)

> 
> ----- 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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