τί = "why/for what reason": nom./acc. pron. or adverb?

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cwconrad
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τί = "why/for what reason": nom./acc. pron. or adverb?

Post by cwconrad »

This may perhaps more properly belong in the Language and Linguistics forum, but the question as put to me by Tim Friberg yesterday strikes me as an interesting one and clearly a matter in some dispute. Let me first pose the question here as he did to me:

[Friberg/quote]Can you give your judgment on the following parsings, please.

The question is whether TI is nominative or accusative. There seems to \be some disagreement out there in the literature.

Mt. 8:26//Mk 4:40 Τί
Matthew 8:26 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Τί δειλοί ἐστε, ὀλιγόπιστοι;
Mark 4:40 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί δειλοί ἐστε; οὔπω ἔχετε πίστιν;

Lk 24:38Τί τεταραγμένοι ἐστέ
Luke 24:38 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί τεταραγμένοι ἐστέ, καὶ διὰ τί διαλογισμοὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν;

Mk 2:16 ti/ (is it) oti ...
Mark 2:16 καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν Φαρισαίων ἰδόντες ὅτι ἐσθίει μετὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ τελωνῶν ἔλεγον τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, Ὅτι μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει;

Lk 2:49 Τί (is it) ὅτι ...
Luke 2:49 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς, Τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτέ με; οὐκ ᾔδειτε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναί με;

Ac 5:9 Τί (is it) ὅτι ...
Acts 5:9 ὁ δὲ Πέτρος πρὸς αὐτήν, Τί ὅτι συνεφωνήθη ὑμῖν πειράσαι τὸ πνεῦμα κυρίου; ἰδοὺ οἱ πόδες τῶν θαψάντων τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἐπὶ τῇ θύρᾳ καὶ ἐξοίσουσίν σε.

Ga 3:19 Τί οὖν (is) ὁ νόμος;
Galatians 3:19 Τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου.
[/quote]

After studying and thinking about these verses and your question, my
first reaction is that it is indeed an interesting question. I find it difficult
to understand the parsing of τί as a nominative in any one of these
instances. I can see only two possibilities: either (1) it is an adverbial
accusative equivalent to διὰ τί ("for what reason/why"), or (2) it should
be classified as an interrogative adverb like ποῦ, πότε, πῶς or particularly
like διὸ which has become an adverbial conjunction derived from δι(ὰ) ὃ.

When τί means "what thing?" it is a substantivized pronoun and could be
nominative, but when it means "why?" I think that it has to be in the
adverbial accusative case.

In Mark 2:16 above I take it that Ὅτι is elliptical for τί ὅτι, "Why is it that .. " -- but I still think that the implicit τί should e understood either as an adverbial accusative pronoun or as an interrogative adverb.

Ga 3:19 may seem a bit different to some:
Galatians 3:19 Τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου.

Should we understand this as τί οὖν ἐστὶν ὁ νόμος; "What is the law?" I don't think so. It seems to me clear from the clause that follows that it's something like τί οὖν γέγονεν ὁ νόμος; "Why does the law exist?" or "Why did the law come into existence?"

BDAG offers the following account of this usage of τί:
2. interrogative expression of reason for, why? adv. τί (Hom., Pla., et al.; LXX; TestAbr A 8 p. 85, 23 [Stone p. 18]; B 7 p. 111, 4 [St. p. 70]; ApcEsdr 5:16 p. 30, 15 Tdf.; ApcSed 3:1; ApcMos 27; Just., A I, 20, 3; Tat. 10, 2; Ath. 17, 4) τί μεριμνᾶτε; why do you worry? Mt 6:28. Cp. 7:3; 19:17; Mk 2:7a, 8; 4:40; 11:3; Lk 2:48; 6:46; 19:33; 24:38a; J 7:19; 18:23; Ac 1:11; 14:15; 26:8; 1 Cor 4:7c; 10:30; Col 2:20. τί τοῦτο ἐποίησας; GJs 13:2; 15:3 (GrBar 1:2 τί ἐποίησας τοῦτο;). τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; why have the law, then=well then, what’s the use of the (Mosaic) law? Gal 3:19. τί καί; why, indeed? for what possible reason? 1 Cor 15:29b, 30. τί γινώσκω ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου; how should I know where my son is? GJs 23:1.
I think that BDAG has it right: τί meaning "why?" is best understood in its usage as an adverb rather than as a pronoun. If, however, it should be considered a pronoun, then I think it must be understood as the neuter accusative in an adverbial accusative usage. What I can see no justification for whatsoever is viewing this τί as a nominative substantive.

What do others think?
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Ken M. Penner
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Re: τί = "why/for what reason": nom./acc. pron. or adverb?

Post by Ken M. Penner »

You're exactly right, Carl. Nominative is out of the question. The question is whether to classify it as an (adverbial) accusative of the interrogative pronoun, or an interrogative adverb. I favour the former, so as not to multiply categories beyond necessity.
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
Barry Hofstetter

Re: τί = "why/for what reason": nom./acc. pron. or adverb?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

What interests me is that there is a dispute about it. I agree with both of you -- I don't see how it can be anything other than an adverbial/accusative usage.
Stephen Carlson
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Re: τί = "why/for what reason": nom./acc. pron. or adverb?

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Yeah, I'm just curious what literature claims it's nominative.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
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