Mt.17:9 εἴπητε suggestion or command?

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Stephen Hughes
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Mt.17:9 εἴπητε suggestion or command?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Matthew 17:9 wrote:Καὶ καταβαινόντων αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους, ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, λέγων, Μηδενὶ εἴπητε τὸ ὅραμα, ἕως οὗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθῇ.
The ἐνετείλατο says clearly that he commanded them, but why is the εἴπητε subjunctive rather than imperative while still being second person (not third)?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Mt.17:9 εἴπητε suggestion or command?

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Stephen Hughes wrote:
Matthew 17:9 wrote:Καὶ καταβαινόντων αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους, ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, λέγων, Μηδενὶ εἴπητε τὸ ὅραμα, ἕως οὗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθῇ.
The ἐνετείλατο says clearly that he commanded them, but why is the εἴπητε subjunctive rather than imperative while still being second person (not third)?
Prohibitions are frequently expressed with 2d person aorist subjunctive:
Funk wrote:810. Prohibitions are expressed by the present imperative or the aorist subjunctive (2. person sing. and plur.). It is the general pattern in Indo-European languages that negative commands are expressed by the present imperative (not subjunctive) and the aorist subjunctive (not imperative). The negative is μή. There are a few examples of the 3. person aorist subjunctive with μή, and rare occurrences of the aorist imperative with μή.

810.1 Categorical prohibitions take the aorist (complexive) subjunctive (Bl-D §337(3)):
(3) μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἄγιον τοῖς κυσίν Mt 7:6
Do not give what is holy to the dogs
(4) μὴ φονεύσῃς Mk 10:19
Do not kill

810.2 The present imperative is employed in negative injunctions to stop doing something (Bl-D §336(3)), e.g.
(5) μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ
ὑμῶν σώματι Rom 6:12
Therefore let sin no longer reign in your
mortal bodies
(6) μὴ γογγύζετε μετ' ἀλλήλων Jn 6:43
Stop murmuring among yourselves
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Stephen Hughes
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Re: Mt.17:9 εἴπητε suggestion or command?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Why is it in the second person in a narrative text?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
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Re: Mt.17:9 εἴπητε suggestion or command?

Post by cwconrad »

Stephen Hughes wrote:
Matthew 17:9 wrote:Καὶ καταβαινόντων αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους, ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, λέγων, Μηδενὶ εἴπητε τὸ ὅραμα, ἕως οὗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθῇ.
The ἐνετείλατο says clearly that he commanded them, but why is the εἴπητε subjunctive rather than imperative while still being second person (not third)?
Stephen Hughes wrote:Why is it in the second person in a narrative text?
Isn't it reasonably clear that ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, λέγων introduces a direct quotation? "Don't tell anyone what you saw ... "
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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