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Re: Passive Infinitive in John 3:30

Jim Beale wrote:
> 

> Thanks for the comments.  In reply, I ask:
> 
> But how can John neither act nor be acted upon?  I don't understand
> that at all.  Wouldn't that be equivalent to saying that there is no
> relation between EME and ELATTOUSQAI???

Philosophically, everything may have a cause, but grammatically, some
events are uncaused.  "I grow older every day."  In "growing" I neither
act, nor am I acted upon.  "When I dropped the glass, it broke." The
glass neither acted nor was acted upon. On the other hand I could use
the passive and say, "The glass was broken by me."

> 
> In John 3:30, the active and the middle/passive occur side-by-side;
> which according to Robertson, is meant to draw attention to the
> distinction (The Big Yellowish One, 805).  (He also indicates that
> ELATTOUSQAI is passive, _Word Pictures_, ad loc.)  How do you see
> the distinction?

I do not believe the active and the middle side-by-side has anything to
do with drawing attention to the distinction.  ELATTOUSQAI is the best
way to say "decrease."  The active voice is transitive and would not fit
at all.


> >I know this is simplistic but it helps me.  Part of the difficulty is
> >the overlap of form and function. Middle,passive, and reflexive are
> >sometimes found in the same form.
> 
> That's the problem all right!  I guess we must be ever sensitive to
> the context!  (Q. Do you intend to make reflexive a distinct voice
> which is sometimes found in a different form from the middle???)

No, the overlap of forms is in the middle/passive.  Reflexive is the
same form as the middle.  I'm sure that some people see the reflexive as
a subset of the middle voice.  You may remember a post about 6 months
ago when I pointed out that the same is true of the Hebrew Niphal stem,
which may be middle, passive, or reflexive, with no difference in form.


-- 
Lee R. Martin
Adjunct Faculty in Old Testament and Hebrew
Church of God School of Theology
Cleveland, TN 37311
Pastor, Prospect Church of God
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