Syntax of Acts 4:27-28

Forum rules
Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
Post Reply
timothy_p_mcmahon
Posts: 259
Joined: June 3rd, 2011, 10:47 pm

Syntax of Acts 4:27-28

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

συνήχθησαν γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀληθείας ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον παῖδά σου Ἰησοῦν ὃν ἔχρισας Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος σὺν ἔθνεσιν καὶ λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ ποιῆσαι ὅσα ἡ χείρ σου καὶ ἡ βουλὴ προώρισεν γενέσθαι.

I've always understood ποιῆσαι to be dependent on συνήχθησαν, but someone recently proposed to take it as dependent on ἔχρισας.

Does this sound feasible?
Stephen Carlson
Posts: 3355
Joined: May 11th, 2011, 10:51 am
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Syntax of Acts 4:27-28

Post by Stephen Carlson »

timothy_p_mcmahon wrote:συνήχθησαν γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀληθείας ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον παῖδά σου Ἰησοῦν ὃν ἔχρισας Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος σὺν ἔθνεσιν καὶ λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ ποιῆσαι ὅσα ἡ χείρ σου καὶ ἡ βουλὴ προώρισεν γενέσθαι.

I've always understood ποιῆσαι to be dependent on συνήχθησαν, but someone recently proposed to take it as dependent on ἔχρισας.

Does this sound feasible?
Has this proposal been published anywhere? Off hand, it's hard to see it as plausible with the intervening Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος σὺν ἔθνεσιν καὶ λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ that would ordinarily indicate that the relative clause ends at ἔχρισας.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Barry Hofstetter

Re: Syntax of Acts 4:27-28

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Stephen Carlson wrote:
timothy_p_mcmahon wrote:συνήχθησαν γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀληθείας ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον παῖδά σου Ἰησοῦν ὃν ἔχρισας Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος σὺν ἔθνεσιν καὶ λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ ποιῆσαι ὅσα ἡ χείρ σου καὶ ἡ βουλὴ προώρισεν γενέσθαι.

I've always understood ποιῆσαι to be dependent on συνήχθησαν, but someone recently proposed to take it as dependent on ἔχρισας.

Does this sound feasible?
Has this proposal been published anywhere? Off hand, it's hard to see it as plausible with the intervening Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος σὺν ἔθνεσιν καὶ λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ that would ordinarily indicate that the relative clause ends at ἔχρισας.
It doesn't sound feasible to me, because that would make the relative pronoun the subject of ποιῆσαι, which would make little sense in the context.
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Syntax of Acts 4:27-28

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Acts 4:27 συνήχθησαν γὰρ ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον παῖδά σου Ἰησοῦν ὃν ἔχρισας, Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος σὺν ἔθνεσιν καὶ λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ, 28 ποιῆσαι ὅσα ἡ χείρ σου καὶ ἡ βουλή [σου] προώρισεν γενέσθαι.

Agree with Drs. Carlson and Hofstetter,


Hyperbaton is found in Luke-Acts and we don't have to travel far to see discontinuous and/or difficult syntax in Acts:

Acts 4:25 ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου στόματος Δαυὶδ παιδός σου εἰπών· ἱνατί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά;

On the other hand, breaking up a relative clause: ὃν ἔχρισας … ποιῆσαι … with Ἡρῴδης τε καὶ Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος … λαοῖς Ἰσραήλ doesn't look like something that would be done for rhetorical reasons. Furthermore, Peter's previously established storyline is undermined by this hypothetical reading, see:

Acts 2:23 τοῦτον τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἔκδοτον διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε,

Acts 3:18 ὁ δὲ θεός, ἃ προκατήγγειλεν διὰ στόματος πάντων τῶν προφητῶν παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐπλήρωσεν οὕτως.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
timothy_p_mcmahon
Posts: 259
Joined: June 3rd, 2011, 10:47 pm

Re: Syntax of Acts 4:27-28

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

Thanks, gentlemen.

It doesn't quite feel right to me, either, but I wanted some more experienced opinions.
Post Reply

Return to “New Testament”