Subject of γράφειν in 1 Thess 4:9?

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George F Somsel
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Joined: May 9th, 2011, 10:11 am

Re: Subject of γράφειν in 1 Thess 4:9?

Post by George F Somsel »

I am inclined to take the infinitives in these two passages precisely as they are written without understanding a passive as an active or an active as a passive.

In the case of 4.9 he states "you have no need for [me] to write to you" and giving as the reason αὐτοὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς θεοδίδακτοί ἐστε. In 5.1 he states "you have no need for [something] to be written to you."
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David Lim
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Joined: June 6th, 2011, 6:55 am

Re: Subject of γράφειν in 1 Thess 4:9?

Post by David Lim »

David Lim wrote:This is just my opinion, but I think the infinitive is behaving more like in an accusative-infinitive construction, in which case the subject is completely dependent on the context if not explicitly stated. In 1 Thes 4:9 they do not have need for one to write to them, focusing on the action of writing itself. In 1 Thes 5:1 they do not have any need to be written to, focusing on them, who already know the times and seasons and thus do not need to be told about them. So I would say the meaning is exactly the same, but the focus is possibly slightly different.
Oops I totally missed "υμιν" in my glance. Because of that I think that 1 Thes 5:1 means "you do not have need [that] [anything] be written to you" / "you do not need [anything] written to you", so it will have a rather different meaning from 1 Thes 4:9, as George said.
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