cwconrad wrote:Perhaps something as simple as apposition?
Apposition to the infinitive (παραστῆσαι)? Or to the whole phrase (παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ)? Or with a part of it (θυσίαν)?
In fact, I tend to think that παραστῆσαι is "used twice" here παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν, and that because the construction παραστῆσαι <a noun> <an adjective> usually has only one adjective (Acts 9:41 παρέστησεν αὐτὴν ζῶσαν) that the παραστῆσαι ... θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ θεῷ requires the repetition of the thought παραστῆσαι ... θυσίαν with each of the adjectives severally. [But that idea has not yet evolved far beyond the amino acids in Oparin's primordial soup.]
cwconrad wrote:It seems to me that the idea here is comparable to that of Micah 6:6-8, a suggestion that authentic worship or sacrifice is this kind of self-oblation.
Well, this "Why is it accusative?" question is actually only an "issue arising". Its genesis is Randall's very absolute comment that
RandallButh wrote:Glad to hear of your wanting to separate στῆσαι from στῆναι. These need partitioning in anyone's brain.
This is a case that, at the initial glimmer of thought, seemed to not require a very strong partition, because if thought of
literally the Roman 12:1 request is almost reflexive, but in terms of the Micah passage and many other passages, the Roman's imagery would probably be better thought of
literarily. In that case, the partition remains strong and well-defined.
Another thing that I didn't state it up-front, but I'm understanding θυσία in a more concrete sense here than perhaps in other places (θυσία = δῶρον). If θυσία were in a more abstract sense (the act of sacrificing), then I could see that in apposition with λατρεία.
There are a number of possible ways of looking at this, and I'm not sure which part of my thinking I actually agree with, if any of them at all.