Re: hOTI clause Acts 17:18

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Wed May 26 1999 - 06:39:57 EDT


At 6:13 PM -0700 5/25/99, clayton stirling bartholomew wrote:
>Thanks to Mary, Maurice, and Carl for their comments.
>
>Mary wrote:
>
>>
>> I'm away from my books so I can't look at the commentaries, but I think
>> you're right. One reason for taking the hOTI clause as belonging to the
>> narrator and not to hOI DE is the tense: The imperfect EUHGGELIZETO,is
>> possible after the present DOKEI, but seems to me less likely than if it
>> explains why the Athenians made their comments.
>
>Mary,
>
>Permit me to be a little dense. I am not sure why the imperfect aspect
>would impact this question. I am not arguing with you and Carl agrees
>with you but I simply "don't get it." Could you explain in some more
>detail?

I can't speak for Mary but I think I see quite why she thinks EUHGGELIZETO
as imperfect is possible as part of the direct quotation, but we agree
that it's unlikely. My reasoning is this: The text reads: TINES DE ...
SUNEBALLON AUTWi, KAI TINES ELEGON, TI AN QELOI hO SPERMOLOGOS hOUTOS
LEGEIN? hOI DE, XENWN DAIMONIWN DOKEI KATAGGGELEUS EINAI, hOTI TON IHSOUN
KAI THN ANASTASIN EUHGGELIZETO.

As I read this, we have three parallel clauses in the narrative, (a) TINES
DE .. SUNEBALLON AUTWi, (b) KAI TINES ELEGON, followed by a direct quote
(with one of the rare GNT instances of a pure Attic potential optative
construction), then (c) hOI DE, presumably with the verb in ellipsis
carried forward from ELEGON in (b), which gives another direct quote (XENWN
... DOKEI EINAI); Then follows the hOTI that is our concern with its verb
in the imperfect (EUHGGELIZETO); here, I think, is what Mary is talking
about: the quotation COULD be read as: "He appears to be a proclaimer of
foreign divinities, since he was preaching Jesus and Resurrection." So,yes,
I guess that shift in tense is possible. But it reads more smoothly to me
if understood as: "'He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities;"
that was because he had been proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection' (here
I'm translating hOTI as "that was because" and EUHGGELIZETO as a pluperfect
progressive, which is an infrequent but, I think, legitimate way of
understanding the imperfect).

Of course, it makes a big difference in how one understands 'TON IHSOUN KAI
THN ANASTASIN': IF this clause is part of the last direct citation, then
TON IHSOUN and THN ANASTASIN probably SHOULD be understood as names of
masculine and feminine deities; but IF, on the other hand, it is Luke's
parenthetical comment, it is rather an explanation of how the audience
might possibly have gotten the idea that Paul was proclaiming novel alien
deities.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

---
B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:28 EDT