[b-greek] Re: DEIGMA in Jude 7: Nominative or Accusative?

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Wed Dec 05 2001 - 15:31:23 EST


At 12:42 PM -0500 12/5/01, Randy Leedy wrote:
>This a somewhat arcane question of purely grammatical interest. What
>do you think about DEIGMA in Jude 7? The two versions of the GRAMCORD
>data that I have both parse it as accusative, as do the BibleWorks and
>Friberg databases. But it looks nominative to me, a predicate renaming
>the nominative subjects of of PROKEINTAI, which could perhaps be taken
>either passively or intransitively. I don't see any grammatical reason
>to assume that a switch to the accusative case has taken place at this
>point in the sentence. In a quick pass through 16 NT & LXX occurences
>of PROKEIMAI I found no instances with a predicate to compare with
>this one. BDAG cites an instance from Josephus, but there, too, the
>predicate is neuter and hence ambiguous as to its case. I haven't
>checked the indices to my Grammars yet, but I assume if a consensus
>appeared in them that such a construction should be nominative, then
>the databases would show nominative. So I'm not expecting to find them
>supporting my inclination to go with the nominative.
>
>I can't put my finger on them at the moment, but it would not be
>difficult to find plenty of parallel constructions with other verbs
>(in addition to the obvious linking verbs) where the verb's complement
>is nominative when it renames or modifies the subject.

Text: hWS SODOMA KAI GOMORRA KAI hAI PERI AUTAS POLEIS TON hOMOION TROPON
TOUTOIS EKPORNEUSASAI KAI APELQOUSAI OPISW SARKOS hETERAS, PROKEINTAI
DEIGMA PUROS AIWNIOU DIKHN hUPECOUSAI.

Randy, it looks nominative to me also with PROKEINTAI as a sort of copula
"stand out as an example" = "constitute an outstanding example." I suppose
that traditionally DEIGMA is understood as object of hUPECOUSAI and that
PUROS AIWNIOU DIKHN are seen as appositional to DEIGMA.

And here I will offer what can only be viewed as an outrageous proposal:
that PROKEINTAI be understood to have a sort of middle force: "display
themselves as an example" = "constitute an outstanding example as they
undergo the punishment of everlasting fire"--in which case of course,
DEIGMA will be accusative after all.

[I'm reminded of Johsua Whatmough in dim dark days of yore proclaiming that
the so-called accusative absolute with the neuter participle of an
impersonal verb is really a nominative absolute; unfortunately the
hypothesis could never be tested, since the nominative and accusative
neuter participle are identical in form.]
--

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

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