[B-Greek] Martyrdom of Polycarp 9:1

Bert de Haan dehaanaf at gmail.com
Sun Dec 28 16:26:43 EST 2008


Τῷ δὲ Πολυκάρπῳ εἰσιόντι εἰς τὸ στάδιον φωνὴ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐγένετο·
Ἴσχυε, Πολύκαρπε, καὶ ἀνδρίζου.
TWi DE POLUKARPWi EISIONTI EIS TO STADION FWNH EX OURANOU EGENETO:
ISCUE, POLUKARPE, KAI ANDRIZOU.


Rodney A. Whitacre in A Patristic Greek Reader says that TWi DE
POLUKARPWi EISIONTI is dative for time. (Actually he says dative
participle for time but I understand him to include the noun.)   He
cites Smyth 14989. "In expressions of time a participle is often used
with the dative of the person interested in the action of the subject,
and especially to express the time that has passed since an action has
occurred (cp. "and this is the sixth month with her, who was called
barren" St. Luke i. 36)."
My problem is with this dative for time.  First of all, I don't
understand some of Smyth's examples;
-In Luke 1:36 the time is specified apart from the dative and the
dative makes sense without calling it a dative of time.
- His next example P. Pr. 321c, APOROUNTI D' AUTWi ERCETAI PROMHQEUS
Prometheus comes to him in his perplexity.
The dative here I understand to be a result of ERCETAI, coming to him.
 APOROUNTI could just be in apposition to AUTWi.
- X.A.6.3.10. CENOFWNTI POREUOMENWi hOI hIPPEIS ENTUGCANOUSI
PRESBUTAIS  while Xenophon was on the march, his horsemen fell in with
some old men.  The two words in the dative seem to be in an absolute
construction.  I would understand this sentence the exact same way if
the two datives were genitives.  Is it possible that a "dative
absolute," unlike the genitive absolute, always refers to time? In
this sentence I can't think of another reason for the dative other
than time.  This last example I think is like the passage from
Martyrdom in that it is absolute.  Is this construction so common that
the datives from this sentence of Martyrdom of Polycarp likely are
dative of time?  And when/while Polycarp entered the stadium there
came a voice from heaven: "Be strong Polycarp and courageous."  Could
it just indicate an indirect object? "A voice from heaven came to
Polycarp entering the stadium: " Be strong Polycarp and courageous."

Thank you.
Bert de Haan.


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