John 2:23-25 ἐπίστευσαν / ἐπίστευεν

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Jonathan Robie
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John 2:23-25 ἐπίστευσαν / ἐπίστευεν

Post by Jonathan Robie »

John 2 wrote:23 Ὡς δὲ ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐν τῷ πάσχα ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ, πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, θεωροῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐποίει· 24 αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὑτὸν αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν γινώσκειν πάντας 25 καὶ ὅτι οὐ χρείαν εἶχεν ἵνα τις μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐγίνωσκεν τί ἦν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ.
How would you interpret the force of the imperfect in ἐπίστευεν? In apposition to the aorist ἐπίστευσαν, I would expect the difference in tense to be significant.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Stephen Hughes
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Re: John 2:23-25 ἐπίστευσαν / ἐπίστευεν

Post by Stephen Hughes »

I think it's similar to the difference between "run a car" (for convenience) and "run into a car" (as in crash). The difference in aspect that is made clear in Greek is sort of understood from the English. There is a different degree of transitivity in those two constructions.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
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Re: John 2:23-25 ἐπίστευσαν / ἐπίστευεν

Post by cwconrad »

Jonathan Robie wrote:
John 2 wrote:23 Ὡς δὲ ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐν τῷ πάσχα ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ, πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, θεωροῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐποίει· 24 αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὑτὸν αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν γινώσκειν πάντας 25 καὶ ὅτι οὐ χρείαν εἶχεν ἵνα τις μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐγίνωσκεν τί ἦν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ.
How would you interpret the force of the imperfect in ἐπίστευεν? In apposition to the aorist ἐπίστευσαν, I would expect the difference in tense to be significant.
I think the sense of πιστεύειν differs in the two instances: in verse 23 ἐπίστευσαν is intransitive, "came to believe", i.e. came to the state of belief; in verse 24 οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὑτὸν αὐτοῖς is "would not entrust himself to them" is transitive, reflexive, and habitual or continuing behavior.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Stephen Carlson
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Re: John 2:23-25 ἐπίστευσαν / ἐπίστευεν

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Jonathan Robie wrote:
John 2 wrote:23 Ὡς δὲ ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐν τῷ πάσχα ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ, πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, θεωροῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰ σημεῖα ἃ ἐποίει· 24 αὐτὸς δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὑτὸν αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν γινώσκειν πάντας 25 καὶ ὅτι οὐ χρείαν εἶχεν ἵνα τις μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐγίνωσκεν τί ἦν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ.
How would you interpret the force of the imperfect in ἐπίστευεν? In apposition to the aorist ἐπίστευσαν, I would expect the difference in tense to be significant.
Well, "force" means a variety of things, but one of the things going on here is a difference in discourse mode, specifically narrative/plot, which prefers perfectives, and description, which prefers imperfectives.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: John 2:23-25 ἐπίστευσαν / ἐπίστευεν

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Stephen Carlson wrote:Well, "force" means a variety of things, but one of the things going on here is a difference in discourse mode, specifically narrative/plot, which prefers perfectives, and description, which prefers imperfectives.
That makes a lot of sense here, using the aorist to describe an event that happened, and using imperfectives to paint the scene.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
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