[B-Greek] What is the Sense of the Imperfect of EIMI in Luke 7:37
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Tue Mar 29 14:19:10 EDT 2011
On Mar 29, 2011, at 11:46 AM, Billy Shaw wrote:
> I am curious as to the intended sense of the imperfect of EIMI in Luke 7:37.
> Perhaps it's obvious, and I apologize if that's the case. I'm just wondering
> whether it is more "accurate" to render - "a woman who had been a sinner" versus
> "a woman who was a sinner [at the time of her crashing Simon's party]"
>
> Perhaps Simon's own ESTIN in verse 39 sheds light?
>
> My gut is leaning toward Wallace's category - "Imperfect Retained in Indirect
> Discourse." Using among others John 9:18 as an example. Says Wallace, "In
> indirect discourse, we usually push the tense back 'one slot' from what it would
> have been in direct discourse...that is, we render a simple past as a past
> perfect, a present as a past...." Not sure the textual issue of TIS HN vs.
> hHTIS HN, noted by Marshall in NIGTC affects the question, but it might?
>
> As fascinating as it is, I am not asking the theological question about whether
> hAMARTWLOS applies post-"conversion."
>
>
> For what it's worth, the NIV smooths it out "a woman who had lived a sinful
> life."
B-Greekers ordinarily find it easier to talk about the Greek of a passage with the
text immediately before our eyes:
Luke 7:37 καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ ἥτις ἦν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἁμαρτωλός ...
[Luke 7:37 KAI IDOU GUNH hHTIS HN EN THi POLEI hAMARTWLOS ...]
Since this sentence is not within indirect discoure, I don't see how it could fall
under the heading of "Imperfect retained in Indirect Discourse." I'd say that the
imperfect here is a tense regularly used to introduce a new phase in the narrative --
the initial IDOU suggests the same. Verse 37 also uses the infinitive to start
this pericope by indicating the setting: the Pharisee's invitation to Jesus to dine
at his house. Verse 38 calls attention to the appearance at this scene of a woman
of this town who had a reputation ... It looks like one unexpected thing happening
after another: if Jesus doesn't seek out unsavory company, it certainly seeks him
out. But this imperfect seems to be used here simply as a feature of narrative
scene-setting.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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