ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
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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.
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ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
Dear friends,
I recently came across Acts 13,48:
ἀκούοντα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
And I still have some major questions on that sentence:
- is the subject of ἐπίστευσαν τὰ ἔθνη oder the clause ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον? I would have expected the relative clause before the predicate, if so.
- Normal Syntax would be:
καὶ ὅσοι ἐπίστευσαν ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
"And as many as belived were ordained unto everlasting life. -> Why is ὅσοι in such a position? What is the referent: the beliving heathen?
Can the last clause stand by its own?
An example:
καὶ γὰρ <καὶ> οὗτοι καταληφθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων οἱ μὲν ἐσφάγησαν, οἱ δ’ αἰχμάλωτοι ἐλήφθησαν. ὅσοι δὲ τούτων τε καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους ἀπαραχθέντων διεσώθησαν. (DIONYSIUS HALICARNASSENSIS, Antiquitates Romanae, 8.85.3)
One could translate a free relative clause with ὅσοι as subject:
ὅσοι δὲ τούτων = Those of them.....were safed.
Could it accordingly be:
The heathen were glad....and belived. Those (of the heathen)/the ones (of the heathen) were ordained unto everlasting life.
Thank you for all input and help !
Yours
Peter
I recently came across Acts 13,48:
ἀκούοντα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
And I still have some major questions on that sentence:
- is the subject of ἐπίστευσαν τὰ ἔθνη oder the clause ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον? I would have expected the relative clause before the predicate, if so.
- Normal Syntax would be:
καὶ ὅσοι ἐπίστευσαν ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
"And as many as belived were ordained unto everlasting life. -> Why is ὅσοι in such a position? What is the referent: the beliving heathen?
Can the last clause stand by its own?
An example:
καὶ γὰρ <καὶ> οὗτοι καταληφθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων οἱ μὲν ἐσφάγησαν, οἱ δ’ αἰχμάλωτοι ἐλήφθησαν. ὅσοι δὲ τούτων τε καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους ἀπαραχθέντων διεσώθησαν. (DIONYSIUS HALICARNASSENSIS, Antiquitates Romanae, 8.85.3)
One could translate a free relative clause with ὅσοι as subject:
ὅσοι δὲ τούτων = Those of them.....were safed.
Could it accordingly be:
The heathen were glad....and belived. Those (of the heathen)/the ones (of the heathen) were ordained unto everlasting life.
Thank you for all input and help !
Yours
Peter
Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
I think the construction of this sentence is really not complicated; the only thing I find odd is the use of the 3d plural verb with the neuter plural subject, but even that is not unparalleled (BDF§133: "The plural is used especially with neuters designating persons (also class., K.–G. I 65), most frequently with ἔθνη, less often with τέκνα and δαιμόνια. "Peter Streitenberger wrote:Dear friends,
I recently came across Acts 13,48:
ἀκούοντα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
And I still have some major questions on that sentence:
- is the subject of ἐπίστευσαν τὰ ἔθνη oder the clause ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον? I would have expected the relative clause before the predicate, if so.
- Normal Syntax would be:
καὶ ὅσοι ἐπίστευσαν ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
"And as many as belived were ordained unto everlasting life. -> Why is ὅσοι in such a position? What is the referent: the beliving heathen?
Can the last clause stand by its own?
An example:
καὶ γὰρ <καὶ> οὗτοι καταληφθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων οἱ μὲν ἐσφάγησαν, οἱ δ’ αἰχμάλωτοι ἐλήφθησαν. ὅσοι δὲ τούτων τε καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους ἀπαραχθέντων διεσώθησαν. (DIONYSIUS HALICARNASSENSIS, Antiquitates Romanae, 8.85.3)
One could translate a free relative clause with ὅσοι as subject:
ὅσοι δὲ τούτων = Those of them.....were safed.
Could it accordingly be:
The heathen were glad....and belived. Those (of the heathen)/the ones (of the heathen) were ordained unto everlasting life.
I do not think that the clause, ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, can stand on its own; ὅσοι incorporates both the numeral substantive πάντες and the relative pronoun, so that the entire clause functions as the subject of ἐπίστευσαν.
The sequence seems natural enough: τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν: "were elated, praised ... and became believers. I think that ἐπίστευσαν has τὰ ἔθνη as its initial subject but that this is qualified by the ensuing ὅσοι clause. " ... were elated, lauded, and became believers, i.e. those (believed) who were ordained ... "
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
The question of the arrangement of the syntax here comes down to the way you read it out loud (prosody). There are three verbs, and at some point there will be a long pause and (in some cases) a strong καί. Out of the three verbs, the one/those to the left of the pause go with Ἀκούοντα ... τὰ ἔθνη and the one / those to the right of the pause go with ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. In other words, there are two subjects with three verbs written between them. I think that the grammar allows for three possibilities:
If there was an OT quote that contained all or part of this, that might help to clarify the syntax.
- The pause is after all three verbs. All three are taken with Ἀκούοντα ... τὰ ἔθνη, then the ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον is added as a clarification of what was really meant by Ἀκούοντα, ie it was not just the heathen en masse who did all three things, but only those who heard. That is to say that the Ἀκούοντα is read with emphasis, and then the meaning of Ἀκούοντα in this situation is given by ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
- The pause is after the first verb. The first one ἔχαιρον is taken with its subject Ἀκούοντα ... τὰ ἔθνη and then the other two ἐδόξαζον and ἐπίστευσαν are taken with the relative clause ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον as their subject. That is sort of (humanly) logical, because the verb χαίρειν describes an action that takes place inside oneself, while the verbs δοξάζειν and πιστεύειν are verbs that extend beyond oneself, ie that while Ἀκούοντα ... τὰ ἔθνη felt happy, had a good feeling, only those who ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον went beyond their initial personal reaction to give glory and to put their faith.
- The pause is after the second verb ἐδόξαζον. The first two verbs go with Ἀκούοντα ... τὰ ἔθνη, but the only ones of those who actually believed were those ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. The nations were happy and talked about how good the word of God is, but only those who were elect for eternal life / who arranged themselves for eternal life actually believed.
If there was an OT quote that contained all or part of this, that might help to clarify the syntax.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
Well, ὅσος is still considered a relative pronoun. Here the antecedent is ἔθνη, so I don't see how it can function as the subject of the clause. That would complicate the syntax unnecessarily.Peter Streitenberger wrote:Dear friends,
I recently came across Acts 13,48:
ἀκούοντα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
And I still have some major questions on that sentence:
- is the subject of ἐπίστευσαν τὰ ἔθνη oder the clause ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον? I would have expected the relative clause before the predicate, if so.
- Normal Syntax would be:
καὶ ὅσοι ἐπίστευσαν ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
"And as many as belived were ordained unto everlasting life. -> Why is ὅσοι in such a position? What is the referent: the beliving heathen?
Can the last clause stand by its own?
An example:
καὶ γὰρ <καὶ> οὗτοι καταληφθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων οἱ μὲν ἐσφάγησαν, οἱ δ’ αἰχμάλωτοι ἐλήφθησαν. ὅσοι δὲ τούτων τε καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους ἀπαραχθέντων διεσώθησαν. (DIONYSIUS HALICARNASSENSIS, Antiquitates Romanae, 8.85.3)
One could translate a free relative clause with ὅσοι as subject:
ὅσοι δὲ τούτων = Those of them.....were safed.
Could it accordingly be:
The heathen were glad....and belived. Those (of the heathen)/the ones (of the heathen) were ordained unto everlasting life.
Thank you for all input and help !
Yours
Peter
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Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
Language is complex and it needs a set of ideas outside itself to understand it - grammar, so let me complicate this discussion here a little further.Barry Hofstetter wrote:Well, ὅσος is still considered a relative pronoun. Here the antecedent is ἔθνη, so I don't see how it can function as the subject of the clause. That would complicate the syntax unnecessarily.
Because Ὅσοι defines a certain, defined and knowable group, it can have a definite or almost substantive meaning. We could think in terms of the universal set and subsets if that helps makes discussion easier.
When Ὅσοι is used alone, there is the implied remainder:
The implication is that those who are not, are not. Ὅσοι γὰρ πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται is a small (or large) group within the (implied) whole. Here it is picked up by οὗτοι, but it is also picked up by αὐτοί:Romans 8:14 wrote:Ὅσοι γὰρ πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοί εἰσιν υἱοὶ θεοῦ.
Presumably to avoid using another relative,John 1:12 wrote:Ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ·
When Ὅσοι is used twice, there are two groups, one is exclusive of the other, which together constitute the whole:
When used with πάντες, the universal set, the whole class of things, the whole group is referred to,Romans 12:2 wrote:Ὅσοι γὰρ ἀνόμως ἥμαρτον, ἀνόμως καὶ ἀπολοῦνται· καὶ ὅσοι ἐν νόμῳ ἥμαρτον, διὰ νόμου κριθήσονται·
To state the obvious, this is saying that all of them were thieves, and that there is no remainder, who were not - saying in effect that the subset is the universal set.John 10:8 wrote:Πάντες ὅσοι ἦλθον κλέπται εἰσὶν καὶ λῃσταί· ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἤκουσαν αὐτῶν τὰ πρόβατα.
In either case, a definable group is being talked about, and that is more substantive than an ὅς phrase (which typically adds information to a noun phrase), and so takes its definition (substantivisation) from the accompanying noun. (Of course in the extreme case with a form of πᾶς ὅς also has definition, and so doesn't need a noun. That difference in the way that substantivisation is achieved is also why πᾶς ὃς / ὅστις is in the singular - substantive from the force of the πᾶς, ennumerating individuals who share a common characteristic, while πάντες ὅσοι is in the plural - inherently substantive from idea of sets, describing all members of a defined class).
In the verse Peter is discussing, ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον is either a subset of the universal set of τὰ ἔθνη (if ἀκούοντα corresponds to ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον), or more likely (in my opinion) ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον is a subset of ἀκούοντα ... τὰ ἔθνη.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
Dear friends and colleagues,
I find everything written useful and it brought light in that issue.
There is always a hidden interplay with πόσοι (how many) and ὅσοι (so many) in such examples, I'd suppose, right?
Please compare a sentence by Chrysostom (with a try of translation):
…Οἱ πτωχοὶ, οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην καθεζόμενοι πρὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ πόσου; Ὅσου θέλεις•
The poor (are the sellers), who sit in front of the church, to beg for alms. And for how much (do they sell their stuff)? For so much as one wants.
Applied to Acts 13,48 - what would be the answer of ὅσοι ? I'd say the ones of the heathen having belived (maybe according to the forknowledge of God). ὅσοι encodes a reference to a certain number, and restricts the overall number to a certain sub-group.
I'd be glad to hear from you again......
Yours
Peter, Germany
I find everything written useful and it brought light in that issue.
There is always a hidden interplay with πόσοι (how many) and ὅσοι (so many) in such examples, I'd suppose, right?
Please compare a sentence by Chrysostom (with a try of translation):
…Οἱ πτωχοὶ, οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην καθεζόμενοι πρὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ πόσου; Ὅσου θέλεις•
The poor (are the sellers), who sit in front of the church, to beg for alms. And for how much (do they sell their stuff)? For so much as one wants.
Applied to Acts 13,48 - what would be the answer of ὅσοι ? I'd say the ones of the heathen having belived (maybe according to the forknowledge of God). ὅσοι encodes a reference to a certain number, and restricts the overall number to a certain sub-group.
I'd be glad to hear from you again......
Yours
Peter, Germany
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Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
On the ordinary and the interplays...
It is quite common in Greek for the demonstrative to be contained in the relative. When I say "contained", I mean that in English idiom it would ordinarily be written out, but in Greek the sense is there but not explicated. That is to say, in the actual wording of the text, καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. contains the unwritten sense of καὶ ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, τοσοῦτοι ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν. (Including the ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ in that is of course just one interpretation of the phrasing).
If you wanted to add a question applicable to your sense that ordination to eternal life comes after believing, you could write, Πόσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον; If you wanted to ask how many believed, with the answer ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, you could write πόσοι ἐπίστευσαν; In other words the answer to the question is in the other part of the logicc from where it was asked.
Have you thought about whether you are taking ἦσαν τεταγμένοι as middle or passive in sense? In other words, to what extent are the people involved in the process? Your desire to see the person involved in the process may be able to be argued on this point (of course not argued on B-Greek) based on the range of senses possible in the combined middle/passive (heautic) voice (Luke 7:8 and 1Corinthians 16:15), rather than "correcting" the Greek syntax.
To get "normal" syntax to make the Greek mean "And as many as belived were ordained unto everlasting life." might be to use τοσοῦτοι as well. Perhaps, ὅσοι ἐπίστευσαν τοσοῦτοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·Peter Streitenberger wrote:Acts 13,48:
ἀκούοντα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
...
- Normal Syntax would be:
καὶ ὅσοι ἐπίστευσαν ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον·
"And as many as belived were ordained unto everlasting life. -> Why is ὅσοι in such a position? What is the referent: the beliving heathen?
It is quite common in Greek for the demonstrative to be contained in the relative. When I say "contained", I mean that in English idiom it would ordinarily be written out, but in Greek the sense is there but not explicated. That is to say, in the actual wording of the text, καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. contains the unwritten sense of καὶ ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, τοσοῦτοι ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ἐπίστευσαν. (Including the ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ in that is of course just one interpretation of the phrasing).
Peter Streitenberger wrote:There is always a hidden interplay with πόσοι (how many) and ὅσοι (so many) in such examples, I'd suppose, right?
If you wanted to add a question applicable to your sense that ordination to eternal life comes after believing, you could write, Πόσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον; If you wanted to ask how many believed, with the answer ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, you could write πόσοι ἐπίστευσαν; In other words the answer to the question is in the other part of the logicc from where it was asked.
Have you thought about whether you are taking ἦσαν τεταγμένοι as middle or passive in sense? In other words, to what extent are the people involved in the process? Your desire to see the person involved in the process may be able to be argued on this point (of course not argued on B-Greek) based on the range of senses possible in the combined middle/passive (heautic) voice (Luke 7:8 and 1Corinthians 16:15), rather than "correcting" the Greek syntax.

Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
Dear Stephen, dear all,
thanks for the follow up. Yes, I tried to decide, if the Perfect τεταγμένοι is used as Middle or Passive. Because that has to meet the correct interpretation of the semantic of τάσσω, I've looked up several dictionaries and checked parallel passages in Greek literature, even how the LXX used the word in the OT:
In our most trustworthy German translation, the CSV-Elberfelder, τάσσω is translated with determine, order, decide....
In the OT τάσσω is used 35 times for שׂים (Sim), which means "to set", then for שׁית (Schit), which means mainly "to set" as well.
I consulted Friberg and he suggested „disposed“. This could meet a Medium force. "They disposed themselfes". But unfortunately I could not find a parallel example - nor in scripture, nor in Greek literature.
Louw-Nida suggest „those who had been designated for eternal life”. Hereby the agree with a passive reading. Thayer „were appointed/ordained/decreed to eternal life". Which I'd consider to be right.
Can ἦσαν τεταγμένοι be treated as Medium ?
Medium and Passive are in the Perfect one and the same in form. But I've found no examples for a Medium force.
Here some examples:
- Thucydides (Historiae 4,31) writes on defence facilities „οὕτω μὲν τεταγμένοι ἦσαν“ („so they were assembled“).
- Thucydides (Historiae 6,67): καὶ τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ αὐτοῖς τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν ἦν τεταγμένον ἐπὶ ὀκτώ. („and the part of the army in front was established with eight men".
- Herodot writes (Historiae 2,41) writes that ὁ τεταγμένος χρόνος comes („the appointed time“).
- Herodot writes on „ὅκως τοῦ λοιποῦ κατὰ λόγον τῆς τεταγμένης ἀποφορῆς τελέοι“ (Historiae 2,109): „so that he [...] pays the appointed taxes"
Please note that these examples above are just some hints, that a reflexive note as the Medium requires is not found. So I'd suggest a Passive here. The combination ἦσαν τεταγμένοι as verbal paraphrasis is equal to a Pluperfekt and as such anterior in time. So the beliving heathen were appointed to eternal life before they belifed. Maybe according to the forknowledge of God, but that is theology and not of interest.
Thanks for additional thoughts.
Yours
Peter, Germany
thanks for the follow up. Yes, I tried to decide, if the Perfect τεταγμένοι is used as Middle or Passive. Because that has to meet the correct interpretation of the semantic of τάσσω, I've looked up several dictionaries and checked parallel passages in Greek literature, even how the LXX used the word in the OT:
In our most trustworthy German translation, the CSV-Elberfelder, τάσσω is translated with determine, order, decide....
In the OT τάσσω is used 35 times for שׂים (Sim), which means "to set", then for שׁית (Schit), which means mainly "to set" as well.
I consulted Friberg and he suggested „disposed“. This could meet a Medium force. "They disposed themselfes". But unfortunately I could not find a parallel example - nor in scripture, nor in Greek literature.
Louw-Nida suggest „those who had been designated for eternal life”. Hereby the agree with a passive reading. Thayer „were appointed/ordained/decreed to eternal life". Which I'd consider to be right.
Can ἦσαν τεταγμένοι be treated as Medium ?
Medium and Passive are in the Perfect one and the same in form. But I've found no examples for a Medium force.
Here some examples:
- Thucydides (Historiae 4,31) writes on defence facilities „οὕτω μὲν τεταγμένοι ἦσαν“ („so they were assembled“).
- Thucydides (Historiae 6,67): καὶ τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ αὐτοῖς τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν ἦν τεταγμένον ἐπὶ ὀκτώ. („and the part of the army in front was established with eight men".
- Herodot writes (Historiae 2,41) writes that ὁ τεταγμένος χρόνος comes („the appointed time“).
- Herodot writes on „ὅκως τοῦ λοιποῦ κατὰ λόγον τῆς τεταγμένης ἀποφορῆς τελέοι“ (Historiae 2,109): „so that he [...] pays the appointed taxes"
Please note that these examples above are just some hints, that a reflexive note as the Medium requires is not found. So I'd suggest a Passive here. The combination ἦσαν τεταγμένοι as verbal paraphrasis is equal to a Pluperfekt and as such anterior in time. So the beliving heathen were appointed to eternal life before they belifed. Maybe according to the forknowledge of God, but that is theology and not of interest.
Thanks for additional thoughts.
Yours
Peter, Germany
Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
One of the reasons I hesitate to 'get involved' (note the middle-passive force of my English verb phrase) in this is that the issue has theological as well as grammatical implications and both are tricky and perhaps also controversial.Peter Streitenberger wrote:Dear Stephen, dear all,
thanks for the follow up. Yes, I tried to decide, if the Perfect τεταγμένοι is used as Middle or Passive. Because that has to meet the correct interpretation of the semantic of τάσσω, I've looked up several dictionaries and checked parallel passages in Greek literature, even how the LXX used the word in the OT:
In our most trustworthy German translation, the CSV-Elberfelder, τάσσω is translated with determine, order, decide....
In the OT τάσσω is used 35 times for שׂים (Sim), which means "to set", then for שׁית (Schit), which means mainly "to set" as well.
I consulted Friberg and he suggested „disposed“. This could meet a Medium force. "They disposed themselfes". But unfortunately I could not find a parallel example - nor in scripture, nor in Greek literature.
Louw-Nida suggest „those who had been designated for eternal life”. Hereby the agree with a passive reading. Thayer „were appointed/ordained/decreed to eternal life". Which I'd consider to be right.
Can ἦσαν τεταγμένοι be treated as Medium ?
Medium and Passive are in the Perfect one and the same in form. But I've found no examples for a Medium force.
Here some examples:
- Thucydides (Historiae 4,31) writes on defence facilities „οὕτω μὲν τεταγμένοι ἦσαν“ („so they were assembled“).
- Thucydides (Historiae 6,67): καὶ τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ αὐτοῖς τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν ἦν τεταγμένον ἐπὶ ὀκτώ. („and the part of the army in front was established with eight men".
- Herodot writes (Historiae 2,41) writes that ὁ τεταγμένος χρόνος comes („the appointed time“).
- Herodot writes on „ὅκως τοῦ λοιποῦ κατὰ λόγον τῆς τεταγμένης ἀποφορῆς τελέοι“ (Historiae 2,109): „so that he [...] pays the appointed taxes"
Please note that these examples above are just some hints, that a reflexive note as the Medium requires is not found. So I'd suggest a Passive here. The combination ἦσαν τεταγμένοι as verbal paraphrasis is equal to a Pluperfekt and as such anterior in time. So the beliving heathen were appointed to eternal life before they belifed. Maybe according to the forknowledge of God, but that is theology and not of interest.
ἦσαν τεταγμένοι is middle-passive. Greek usage doesn't really distinguish them; we try to English such phrases in such a way as to resolve the issue, but it doesn't really work. The "meaning" of the periphrastic verbal phrase is something like "were lined up." Does that mean that somebody had lined them up or does it mean that they lined themselves up? So long as there is no indication of an agent or instrument responsible for them being lined up we can't make a distinction. What the verb-form tells us simply that "they were in line" or "they were queued." It tells us what state they were in, not how they came to be in that state. They were queued up in a line leading to eternal life.
I don't think your Thucydidean and Herodotean examples are going to be much more helpful: were the troops lined up by their officers -- or did the officers tell them what to do and they lined themselves up? Was the time fixed by some "decider" -- or was it a time that all parties mutually agreed to? There's a reason why the Greeks found it convenient to settle for a single means of expressing middle and passive notions here.
That ambivalence is built into the form itself. Consider Mk 1:6 καὶ ἦν ὁ Ἰωάννης ἐνδεδυμένος τρίχας καμήλου καὶ ζώνην δερματίνην περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ: John "was dressed in ... " or "had put on ... " or "was wearing ... "
In sum, unless you have some clear indication of an external agent or instrument responsible for what happens, you don't need to resolve any grammatical issue here.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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Re: ὅσοι and other issues in Acts 13,48
Dear Carl, and friends,
of course I could not provide a full inductive proof that ἦσαν τεταγμένοι never can be treated as Medium, but I couldn't find a clear instance and the examples I quoted show - at least in my impression - no involvement of the subject in the action.
I tried to gain an oversight for this Syntagma and was not able to find one - maybe I've overlooked something, that is always possible. Of course there could be an unnamed agens for such a determination to eternal life. We all know - without being theological - that God is often not named by using a passive construction.
So I personally conclude a passive construction, with maybe God as actor.
Yours
Peter, Germany
of course I could not provide a full inductive proof that ἦσαν τεταγμένοι never can be treated as Medium, but I couldn't find a clear instance and the examples I quoted show - at least in my impression - no involvement of the subject in the action.
I tried to gain an oversight for this Syntagma and was not able to find one - maybe I've overlooked something, that is always possible. Of course there could be an unnamed agens for such a determination to eternal life. We all know - without being theological - that God is often not named by using a passive construction.
So I personally conclude a passive construction, with maybe God as actor.
Yours
Peter, Germany