[B-Greek] PROS in Heb 1:7-8 ( was Semantic Range of Prepositions
Elizabeth Kline
kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Mon Mar 22 16:03:39 EDT 2010
On Mar 22, 2010, at 11:01 AM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:
>
> Prepositions are ambiguous. Take a look at PROS in:
>
> Heb. 1:7 καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἀγγέλους λέγει· ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πυρὸς φλόγα, 8 πρὸς δὲ τὸν υἱόν· ὁ θρόνος σου ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς εὐθύτητος ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου.
>
> Heb. 1:7 KAI PROS MEN TOUS AGGELOUS LEGEI· hO POIWN TOUS AGGELOUS AUTOU PNEUMATA KAI TOUS LEITOURGOUS AUTOU PUROS FLOGA, 8 PROS DE TON hUION· hO QRONOS SOU hO QEOS EIS TON AIWNA TOU AIWNOS, KAI hH hRABDOS THS EUQUTHTOS hRABDOS THS BASILEIAS SOU.
>
> Does the first PROS mark the addressees of LEGEI "to" or the subjectmatter of LEGEI "concerning"?
Both of these options fall within the same semantic "frame" which we might label "speech act". The frame selection is controlled by the semantics of the verb LEGEI.
When the verb changes, see EIMI below, the frame changes:
S.Ajax 654-656
Ἀλλ' εἶμι πρός τε λουτρὰ καὶ παρακτίους
λειμῶνας, ὡς ἂν λύμαθ' ἁγνίσας ἐμὰ
μῆνιν βαρεῖαν ἐξαλύξωμαι θεᾶς·
ALL' EIMI PROS TE LOUTRA KAI PARAKTIOUS
LEIMWNAS, hWS AN LUMAQ' hAGNISAS EMA
MHNIN BAREIAN EXALUXWMAI QEAS
But now I will go to bathing place
and the meadows by the sea
to cleanse my stains and escape
the violent wrath of the goddess.
Here PROS marks the destination of EIMI, which we might label as a "travel" frame.
A frame is a complex structure that represents the semantic situation. A "travel" frame might include a temporal slot to indicate when it happened, an agent slot for who was traveling, a departure location slot for the point from which the travel commenced, a means of travel slot for the mechanism of locomotion, a route slot for the path taken, a destination slot and so forth.
Elizabeth Kline
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