"Ethical" genitive αὐτοῦ in John 9:6?

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Stephen Carlson
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"Ethical" genitive αὐτοῦ in John 9:6?

Post by Stephen Carlson »

John 9:6c wrote:. . . καὶ ἐπέχρισεν αὺτοῦ τὸν πηλὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλούς
Most translations I'm aware of translate this part of John 9:6 (e.g., NRSV "and spread the mud on the man's eyes") as if the genitive construed with ὀφθαλμούς or, with the same effect (because genitives are not necessary, like English, with body parts) as if it did not exist.

I doubt that the αὐτοῦ is supposed to be with construed with ὀφθαλμούς because it is positioned syntactically just like a clausal clitic and so has a clausal meaning in some sense. BDF § 473(1) agrees with this analysis, stating "The forward position of the gen. of the pron. often corresponds to the unemphatic Indo-European dativus sympatheticus (Havers 195f.)." So, according to BDF, we have something like an ethical dative, but in the genitive. (The genitive will eventually replace the dative in Modern Greek, and it has been speculated that this construction assisted in that replacement.)

So, what would the clause mean if αὐτοῦ is an "ethical" genitive?

Stephen

P.S. Wallace does not discuss this verse. Robertson thinks the genitive construes with ὀφθαλμούς but in an unusual position.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
cwconrad
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Re: "Ethical" genitive αὐτοῦ in John 9:6?

Post by cwconrad »

Whether or not the αὐτοῦ properly construes with ὀφθαλμούς, it surely is going to get Englished as "on his eyes." It does seem like a clitic; it's almost as if the genitive is functioning here as a dative -- as it does in Modern Greek. I have no idea how far back in Greek linguistic history dative usage of the genitive case goes.

Just as an aside, I've never understood the use of the terms "ethical" or "ethic" dative. I originally learned to speak rather of a "dative of interest" as in the common Latin "double dative" construction involving a dative of personal interest/reference and a dative of purpose, as in "cui bono?" -- lit. "to whom for good", i.e. "for whose benefit?"
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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