Re: Mark 2:2

From: Antonio Eduardo Costa Pereira (costa@ufu.br)
Date: Tue Apr 13 1999 - 23:17:09 EDT


Moon-Ryul Jung wrote:

> I asked the same question on Mark 2:2, to which Carl gave the same
> answer as he did this time.

Dear Moon-Ryul Jung.
I want to start this letter explaining that I am not a scholar in
Greek.
I have been pastor of the Third Baptist Church until 1979, when I
resigned. Now, I am a teacher of music at the MG State School of
Music.
As you can see, I am not qualified to make deep a linguistic and
textual
criticism of Greek texts. On the other hand, Carl has studied Greek
at Harvard, and is a researcher and professor of Greek litterature.
I didn't read his interpretation of Mark 2:2, but I am sure that it
is
the correct one. As for my interpretation, it is almost certainly
wrong,
if it does not match Carl's reading of the passage.

I have a working knowledge of Greek, for sure. I certainly can read
Greek,
and try to practice the spoken language whenever I meet Dr. Costa,
or his young students Philippos, Bruno, and Patricia,
or orthodox priests like Rev. Stavros Khristodoulou, or even
members of
the Greek diaspora like Dr. Tsatsakis Panayotis and his children.
The company of these people is my only oportunity to improve my
Greek and to gain some feedback... I have no contact with scholars
(there isn't a single Greek scholar in Uberlandia).

I certainly wouldn't make any comment on Mark 2:2, if I knew that
scholars like Carl had already reviwed that text. However, I am
curious
to see Carl's analysis. I would also be happy if he could be kind
enough
to tell me where I went wrong. While we wait for Carl's answer, I
have
asked some people around about their opinion.

Rev. Stavros and Dr. Costa think that there is no question about
the meaning of the expression TA PROS THN QURAN. That
expression means "courtyard" and Carl certainly will agree with
that.
When English (and Korean, due to Chinese influence) uses abstract
words, Greek prefers a very concrete expression. Therefore, instead
of saying "they told me the details of the story", Greeks would say
H)/GGEILAN W(S E(/KASTA E)GENETO (they have announced how
every thing happened). In fact, this construction is very common:

TA\ PRO\S TO\N PO\LEMON= military equipments
TA\ PERI\ TO\N QEO\N = religion
TA\ PRO\S TH\N QA\LASSAN= the littoral
O( PRO\S TH\N QU/RAN= the doorkeeper
TA\ E)PI\ TAI=S QU/RAIS TH=S (ELLA/DOS= the border with Greece
TA\ PRO\S TH\N QU/RAN = the courtyard, the porch(?)

Rev Stavros thinks that, if Carl disagrees with me, he will do so
in relation to the interpretation of MHKETI...MHDE. My translation
would be:

EI)SELQW\N PA/LIN EI)S KAFARNAU\M ... H)KOUSQH
O(/TI E)N OI)/KWi E)STI. KAI\ SUNH/XQHSAN POLLOI/,
W(/STE MHKE/TI XWREI=N MHDE\ TA\ PRO\S TH\N QU/RAN
When he came back to Capharnaum, it was heard that he was in
a house. Many came together, so that it (= the house) couldn't
contain them anymore,
nor the courtyard...

As Rev Stavros noticed the presence of OI)/KWi in the clause before
2:2 is
necessary to support the construction with the KRUPTO\N
hUPOKEI/MENON.
In that construction, a subject that would be expressed by an English
personal
pronoun,
is left unexpressed. In this case, the pronoun is "it" and refers to
"house".
To make a long story short, if the right reading is:

(1) H)KOUSQH O(/TI E)STI ( = It was heard that he was present)

then I am wrong in assigning a KRUPTO\N hUPOKEI/MENON to XWREI=N.

If the correct reading is:

(2) H)KOUSQH O(/TI E)N OI)/KWi E)STI (= It was heard that he was in a
house)

then I am right (in the opinion of Rev. Stavros, of course). In this
case, the
KRUPTO\N hUPOKEI/MENON plays the role of the subject.

Rev. Stavros suspects that reading (1) is not universally accepted,
and probably is not accepted by Carl. Rev. Stavros has shown me an
edition of the New Testament where OI)/KWi is bracketed.

Well, let's hear Carl's opinion... By the way, thanks to Carl for
bringing me
evidence that there was only one congregation in Antioch (as I told
you, in
Uberlandia there are 453 :) And thanks also to Randall Buth for
answering my
questions about the name of Jesus...

C. Navarro.

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