[B-Greek] Acts 16,3
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Mar 30 16:31:05 EST 2004
At 11:01 AM -0700 3/30/04, Bart Torbert wrote:
>Unless we can find NT references that would indicate if Paul was or was not
>a mohel, I think the question of who circumcised Timothy can not be
>defiantly answered.
I'm not particularly interested in achieving a "defiant" answer to the
question of whether Paul personally performed the circumcision. To me the
important point at issue from the original question posed to initiate the
thread is that a Greek active or middle verb can--given the particular
verb's usage--express action on behalf of the subject but not performed by
the subject. PERIETEMEN in the verse in question COULD mean that Paul
personally performed the circumcision and COULD just as well mean that he
"got him circumcised" or "had him circumcised." And whether or not this is
deemed a "category" of active verb usage, it is a fact about Greek verbs
that a reader or interpreter of Greek might not--but needs to--be aware of,
which, I think, is the reason why the grammars make specific mention of it.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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