[b-greek] Re: PARA HEAUTW in 1 Cor 16:2

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Dec 07 2001 - 10:53:02 EST


At 10:11 AM -0500 12/7/01, Frazier Conley wrote:
>As I look at PARA with the dative in Paul he seems to greatly favor the
>figurative usage over the literal, often with the meaning "in the judgment
>of." Why is this meaning never considered for 1 Cor 16:2? Wouldn't the
>passage make much better sense if it were rendered: "On the first day of
>every week each of you according to his own judgment contribute, thus
>storing up whatever he may have prospered." Paul's principle of "how much"
>to give would be better honored (2Corinthians 8.3; 9.7; Philem 14). Trying
>to find a principle for "how much" in the latter part of the verse has
>resulted in what appears to me to be utter confusion.

Text (please cite in ASCII transliteration any text you want to discuss):
KATA MIAN SABBATOU hEKASTOS hUMWN PAR' hEAUTWi TIQETW QHSAURIZWN hO TI EAN
EUODWTAI, hINA MH hOTAN ELQW TOTE LOGEIAI GINWNTAI.

Well, the essential meaning of PARA is "in front of" or "in face of" or "in
the presence of"; I think it's not altogether implausible to take PAR'
hEAUTWi in the sense of "according to one's own judgment," BUT--TIQHMI is
commonly used in the sense of "make a monetary deposit" and PARA + dative
is a natural configuration for the person with whom money is deposited. The
fact that the participle QHSAURIZWN is used used with it (and I think the
two ARE used together ("he should set aside continually as he builds up a
fund"), it does seem to me that the natural sense of the text is that PAR'
hEAUTWi indicates the individual is to keep his own funds with himself as
he builds up to a sizable contribution.
--

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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