[B-Greek] EPI with acc. ( was ACTS 20:13 PROELQONTES/ PROSELQONTES)
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Mar 16 04:30:37 EST 2007
On Mar 16, 2007, at 2:50 AM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:
>
> On Mar 15, 2007, at 12:03 PM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>
>>> Another issue here is EPI used to mark a GOAL (see BDAG p.364 #4). I
>>> was tempted to read EPI TO PLOION as "on the boat"
>>
>> but how could it mean that? EPI with acc. must indicate movement
>> onto something.
>
>
> MATT. 19:28 ... hOTAN KAQISHi hO hUIOS TOU ANQRWPOU EPI QRONOU DOXHS
> AUTOU, KAQHSESQE KAI hUMEIS EPI DWDEKA QRONOUS KRINONTES TAS DWDEKA
> FULAS TOU ISRAHL.
>
>
> Carl,
>
> Looking at KAQISHi ... EPI QRONOU DOXHS AUTOU followed by KAQHSESQE
> EPI DWDEKA QRONOUS sent me to the grammars to see what was going on.
> Reading G.Cooper 1.68.42 (Attic Syntax) he took a very strong
> position that EPI with the acc. is used for movement toward something
> or onto something and not of something resting or being in a location
> on something.
>
> Then I looked at A.T.Robertson pages 600-601 while speaking of EPI
> with the cases he quotes some ancient source "... the accusative
> implies motion with a view to superposition ... " and then comments
> "There is some truth in this distinction and the case-idea must
> always be observed. But the growth of the accusative in the later
> language at the expense of the other cases caused some confusion in
> the usage according to the standard of earlier Greek. Simcox
> considers it 'almost a matter of indifference' whether in the N.T. on
> uses the locative, genitive or accusative." Robertson then does not
> totally agree with this.
>
> More on this later.
Well, my initial response was more or less a "gut feeling" -- not
always trustworthy but also not to be ignored. Maybe ATR had the same
"gut feeling." On the other hand, nowadays when I see something like
the usage in Mt 19:28 I'm more inclined to think -- doch noch einmal
wieder -- that NT Koine Greek is a language in flux and even
individual writers are not altogether consistent in their usage. The
much-ballyhooed notion that we must view NT Koine synchronically in
order to understand it properly is worth just about as much (maybe)
as my "gut feeling."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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