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Mt.28:3,4 (RP) ὡσεὶ vs. ὡς

Posted: November 22nd, 2015, 1:34 am
by Stephen Hughes
In the Byzantine text form, ὡσεὶ "as if" is used twice in these verses and the more common ὡς "as" used just once:
Ἦν δὲ ἡ ἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπή, καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκὸν ὡσεὶ χιών. 4 Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ φόβου αὐτοῦ ἐσείσθησαν οἱ τηροῦντες καὶ ἐγένοντο ὡσεὶ νεκροί.
Is there logic to that differentiation? Specifically, does the first use of ὡσεὶ here, viz. "τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκὸν ὡσεὶ χιών." mean that clothes are compared to snow, not that the colour is compared to snow - "and his clothes were white, as if they were snow"?