Beautiful to God and Ethical Datives - Ethical???

From: Wes Williams (WesWilliams@usa.net)
Date: Mon Jan 04 1999 - 01:23:37 EST


I have several questions resulting from the grammar found at Acts 7:20, that
Moses was ASTEIOS TWi QEWi.

Some translations of this expression are:
exceeding fair
no ordinary child
lovely in the sight of God
divinely beautiful

This is similar to the expression in Jonah 3:3, that Ninevah was POLIS
MEGALH TWi QEWi. ("Great to God" or "exceedingly great").

This is perhaps a Hebraism from LeElohim, as in "River of God," "Mountain of
God, etc." Applying to Moses, one application is that "in the opinion of
God," Moses was beautiful. Thus arises the superlative.

My question is that some grammars classify this is an Ethical Dative rather
than a Dative of Reference (e.g. BDF 192). Why? What is "ethical" about it?
>From whence does "ethical" come? Smyth/ Meyer is silent on this one.

Second, is distinguishing between the ethical and referential datives really
as simple as one is a person (ethical) and the other a "thing" (reference)?

Third, H.A.W. Meyer says that this expression is not a paraphrase of the
superlative, but should be taken in the literal sense (IV p.146).
Apparently, not all agree. BDF refers to Bauer (Arndt-Gingrich only) s.v.
QEOS 3gB; cf. Mlt. 104[168] for more detail on the circumlocution of the
superlative. Is this literal or a paraphrased superlative (which the LXX
apparently lost in translation)?

Sincerely,
Wes Williams

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