[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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