[B-Greek] John 2:1 Who was invited?
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun May 6 18:19:01 EDT 2007
On May 6, 2007, at 6:09 PM, Mark Cain wrote:
> Pardon me for not making my train of thought clearer.
>
> Since it appears to me that Mary, the mother of Jesus, assumes
> responsibilities beyond the role of a typical guest such as 1)
> concern for
> the depleted wine supply and 2) access to give directions to the
> servants at
> the feast, could it be that she is there in a supportive role; but
> Jesus is
> there as a guest? Could the words EKLHQH DE indicate this contrast
> of roles
> (supportive vs guest)? or are you saying that EKLHQH DE KAI can
> only be
> translated as additive?
I think the implication of EKLHQH DE KAI is that Mary had been
invited and that Jesus and his disciples had been invited also. Now
that doesn't preclude that Mary is present in a larger capacity. She
may be kin to the groom; we aren't told that. My own view would be
that this narrative introduction tells us all that we need to know to
make sense of the narrative that follows, i.e., that there's no need
to try reading between the lines.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
> To: "Mark Cain" <mark at markcain.com>
> Cc: "greek B-Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 3:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] John 2:1 Who was invited?
>
>
>>
>> On May 6, 2007, at 3:36 PM, Mark Cain wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> In John 2:1 ff we find the account of the Marriage Feast in Cana of
>>> Galilee.
>>> Verse 1 states that the mother of Jesus was there -- but verse 2
>>> says that
>>> Jesus was invited. The verb to "invite" or "call" is 3rd Person
>>> Singular
>>> Aorist Passive Indicative. Would the structure of EKLHQH DE show a
>>> hint of
>>> emphasis with a contrast of the prior statement i.e. "was there"
>>> vs. "But
>>> invited"?
>>>
>>> My reading of the context shows that Mary may be more familiar with
>>> the
>>> feast than the "typical" guest;
>>> 1) it is stated that she "was there" as opposed to being invited
>>> 2) she is concerned with the depleted wine supply
>>> 3) she is comfortable in directing the servants
>>
>> Text: 2 EKLHQH DE KAI hO IHSOUS KAI hOI MAQHTAI
>> AUTOU EIS TON GAMON
>>
>> I don't see the point of your question. Verse two is not a matter of
>> contrast
>> but of addition: "And Jesus and his disciples had also been invited
>> to the
>> wedding." I think the two opening verses are simply introducing
>> the key
>> participants in the account being presented.
>>
>> Carl W. Conrad
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