[B-Greek] hUPER w. acc. as location above/over - or not?

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Mar 10 14:17:01 EST 2011


On Mar 10, 2011, at 2:12 PM, Ken Penner wrote:

> We see the sense of superiority in Matthew 10:24||Luke 6:40 OUK ESTIN MAQHTHS hUPER TON DIDASKALON Οὐκ ἔστιν μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον
> But this superiority is not spatial; it has the sense of the one being more than or beyond the other, a sense which is common enough for hUPER with the accusative.
> 
> The only physical "above" for hUPER+acc. I know of is Deuteronomy 28:23: hO OURANOS hO hUPER KAFALHS SOU ὁ οὐρανὸς ὁ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς σου.

And this, it should be noted, is hUPO with a genitive, not with an accusative.

> 
> For spatial "above," the compounds of ANW (hUPERANW and EPANW) were used. 
> 
> Ken M. Penner, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor, Religious Studies
> St. Francis Xavier University
> 902-867-2265
> kpenner at stfx.ca
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Eric S. Weiss
> Sent: March-10-11 10:53 AM
> To: b-greek
> Subject: [B-Greek] hUPER w. acc. as location above/over - or not?
> 
> I had been taught (and have myself taught) that hUPER with the accusative case 
> means "over/above" - i.e., the opposite of hUPO with the accusative case. 
> 
> Indeed, Metzger's chart in his Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek 
> p. 80 - Table II Geometric Arrangement of the Greek Prepositions - shows 
> hUPER w. acc. as meaning physically "above."
> 
> Yet in looking today at BDAG, whereas hUPO w. acc. can indeed mean "below" 
> in terms of location, there is no corresponding "above" (location) for hUPER in 
> the 
> 
> definitions.
> 
> BDAG hUPO w. acc.: 
> B. w. acc. 
> - a position below an object or another position, under, w. acc. of place under, 
> below 
> 
> - marker of that which is in a controlling position, under, under the control 
> of, under 
> 
> obligation in ref. to power, rule, sovereignty, command, etc. 
> - marker of the approximate time of a period, about w. acc.
> 
> BDAG hUPER w. acc.:
> B. w. acc. 
> - marker of a degree beyond that of a compared scale of extent, in the sense of 
> excelling, surpassing, over and above, beyond, more than
> 
> So, can hUPER w. acc. mean physically above or over something (i.e., the 
> opposite of hUPO w. acc.) in NT Greek, or not?
> 
> - - -
> Eric S. Weiss 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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