Acts 17:18-20 γνῶναι τίς/τίνα

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Louis L Sorenson
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Acts 17:18-20 γνῶναι τίς/τίνα

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

Acts 17:18-20 τινὲς δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἐπικουρείων καὶ Στοϊκῶν φιλοσόφων συνέβαλλον αὐτῷ, καί τινες ἔλεγον· τί ἂν θέλοι ὁ σπερμολόγος οὗτος λέγειν; οἱ δέ· ξένων δαιμονίων δοκεῖ καταγγελεὺς εἶναι, ὅτι τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν εὐηγγελίζετο. 19 ἐπιλαβόμενοί τε αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον ἤγαγον λέγοντες· δυνάμεθα γνῶναι τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή; 20 ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν· βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι.

Nestle, E., Nestle, E., Aland, B., Aland, K., Karavidopoulos, J., Martini, C. M., & Metzger, B. M. (1993). The Greek New Testament (27th ed.) (373–374). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.

I have three questions on this text:
(1) I'm wondering about the phrase: δυνάμεθα γνῶναι τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή, Why is τίς in the nominative? Is it because it is a direct quotation? Further down the text, the same infinitive has the expected accusative: βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι. We could say that τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ...διδαχή is a direct question, but perhaps the punctuation is incorrect. Could the punctuation perhaps be δυνάμεθα γνῶναι; (pause) τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή, "Can we please find out? What is this new teaching you are talking about?

(2) In the phrase τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή there is an implicit verb "'ἐστιν." Did the original question have the same syntax omitting the verb?

(3) The phrase βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι seems convoluted. The verb θέλει throws me off. Do I take it as "We wish to know what such these (teachings) wish to be?" θέλει seems to me to be totally out of place and incoherent. Are there other passages which use this sort of syntax with θέλει....εἶναι? Or does θέλει = θέλῇ (middle 2nd singular of θέλω)?
David Lim
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Re: Acts 17:18-20 γνῶναι τίς/τίνα

Post by David Lim »

[Acts 17:18-20] τινὲς δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἐπικουρείων καὶ Στοϊκῶν φιλοσόφων συνέβαλλον αὐτῷ, καί τινες ἔλεγον· τί ἂν θέλοι ὁ σπερμολόγος οὗτος λέγειν; οἱ δέ· ξένων δαιμονίων δοκεῖ καταγγελεὺς εἶναι, ὅτι τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν εὐηγγελίζετο. 19 ἐπιλαβόμενοί τε αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον ἤγαγον λέγοντες· δυνάμεθα γνῶναι τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή; 20 ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν· βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι.
Louis L Sorenson wrote:(1) I'm wondering about the phrase: δυνάμεθα γνῶναι τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή, Why is τίς in the nominative? Is it because it is a direct quotation? Further down the text, the same infinitive has the expected accusative: βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι. We could say that τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ...διδαχή is a direct question, but perhaps the punctuation is incorrect. Could the punctuation perhaps be δυνάμεθα γνῶναι; (pause) τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή, "Can we please find out? What is this new teaching you are talking about?
I would have thought that the interrogative pronoun in both cases should be nominative to agree with its function in the inner clause. "τις" is the subject of the implicit "εστιν" which has predicate nominative "η καινη αυτη", and "τινα" is the nominative plural predicate of "θελει ειναι" with subject "ταυτα".
Louis L Sorenson wrote:(2) In the phrase τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή there is an implicit verb "'ἐστιν." Did the original question have the same syntax omitting the verb?
Hmm why not?
Louis L Sorenson wrote:(3) The phrase βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι seems convoluted. The verb θέλει throws me off. Do I take it as "We wish to know what such these (teachings) wish to be?" θέλει seems to me to be totally out of place and incoherent. Are there other passages which use this sort of syntax with θέλει....εἶναι? Or does θέλει = θέλῇ (middle 2nd singular of θέλω)?
"θελειν" has a particular semantic range used for "to mean something". There is one more that I know in Acts 2:12.
δαυιδ λιμ
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Acts 17:18-20 γνῶναι τίς/τίνα

Post by Stephen Carlson »

David Lim wrote:
Louis L Sorenson wrote:(3) The phrase βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι seems convoluted. The verb θέλει throws me off. Do I take it as "We wish to know what such these (teachings) wish to be?" θέλει seems to me to be totally out of place and incoherent. Are there other passages which use this sort of syntax with θέλει....εἶναι? Or does θέλει = θέλῇ (middle 2nd singular of θέλω)?
"θελειν" has a particular semantic range used for "to mean something". There is one more that I know in Acts 2:12.
This is the suggestion of BDAG 448, θέλω 5, also citing Luke 15:26. I suppose that those familiar with the French idiom vouloir dire may see the logic of this construction.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
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