Re: Christian

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Mon May 31 1999 - 11:57:24 EDT


At 10:06 AM -0500 5/31/99, dd-1@juno.com wrote:
>Denny Diehl here with a question about Ac 11:26
>
>In a commentary on Ac 11 is the following:
>
> "To an untrained reader of the Greek it might
> appear that the passage should be rendered,
> ' they were gathered together with the church,
> and taught much people, and called the disciples
> Christians first at Antioch,' thus representing
> Barnabas and Saul as the authors of the name;
> but this rendering is condemned, and that of our
> text is justified by the almost unanimous judgment
> of scholars."
>
>Why? In Ac 11:26 there is:
>
> They (Barnabas and Saul) - subject
> SUNACQHNAI - aorist infinitive passive
> DIDAXAI - aorist infinitive active
> CRHMATISAI - aorist infinitive active
>
>What am I missing here?

Perhaps it is the fact that you (like all of us, to a greater or lesser
extent, are an 'untrained' reader of Greek -- ;-)

EGENETO DE AUTOIS KAI ENIAUTON hOLON SUNACQHNAI EN THi EKKLHSIAi KAI
DIDAXAI OCLON hIKANON, CRHMATISAI TE PRWTWS EN ANTIOCEIAi TOUS MAQHTAS
CRISTIANOUS.

Actually there are two points missed in the above analysis:

(1) a new accusative/infinitive clause, linked by TE to the preceding
accusative/infinitive clause, begins with CRHMATISAI, the subject of which
is TOUS MAQHTAS;
(2) CRHMATISAI, although active in form, has an intransitive force as a
sort of copula, "take the name," "be called."

i.e. EGENETO is construed first with AUTOIS, the referents of which are
indeed Barnabas and Saul, who are indeed the implicit subjects of both
infinitives:

        (1) KAI ENIAUTON hOLON SUNACQHNAI EN THI EKKLHSIAi
        (2) KAI DIDAXAI OCLON hIKANON

and then the force of EGENETO is extended to a new clause, indicated by the
TE following upon CRHMATISAI. Here the predicate is given emphatic initial
position (CRHMATISAI PRWTWS EN ANTIOCEIAi), followed by the subject TOUS
MAQHTAS, then by the predicate word, which is here accusative because the
subject is accusative, CRISTIANOUS.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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