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The Weekend Papyrus 5-21-2021

Posted: May 21st, 2021, 6:10 am
by Barry Hofstetter
This is fairly simple and straightforward. Enjoy.

1 Ἁτρῆς Ἡρᾶτι τῷ ἀδελφῷ χαίρειν.
2 καθὼς ἐνετείλω μοι περὶ Σερήνου
3 τοῦ γναφέως ὁ συνεργαζόμενος μετὰ
4 Φιλέου, εἰ μὲν χρείαν αὐτοῦ ἔχεις πέμ-
5 ψον ὑπηρέτην ἐπʼ αὐτὸν σήμερον, ἥτις
6 ἐστὶν ιθ. {ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν κατέχω} ἀλ〈λ〉ʼ ὅ-
7 ρα μὴ ἀμελήσῃς, ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν κα-
8 τέχω.
9 ἐρρῶσθ(αι) εὔχομ(αι) εὖ πράττοντ(α).

Notes:

3 If the papyrus is correctly read, there is a syntactical anomaly. Does it remind anyone of something in Revelation?
6 ιθ = 19
7 The first instance of ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν κατέχω is marked in the manuscript with a sign that indicates "ignore." It looks as though he wrote it in the wrong place, and papyrus being relatively expensive didn't want to start over.

Re: The Weekend Papyrus 5-21-2021

Posted: May 22nd, 2021, 11:34 am
by Daniel Semler
Hi Barry,

I am having a little trouble with the sense of χρείαν combined with κατέχω later. Am correct in understanding that he is holding Serenos pending payment of a debt ? My initial reading was more about having a need for him, but that does not seem consonant with κατέχω. But perhaps I am missing the plot entirely. These are great little exercises, somewhat like Morice's stories (though shorter and with less context) which I am going through right now.

Thx
D

Re: The Weekend Papyrus 5-21-2021

Posted: May 22nd, 2021, 6:00 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
Daniel Semler wrote: May 22nd, 2021, 11:34 am Hi Barry,

I am having a little trouble with the sense of χρείαν combined with κατέχω later. Am correct in understanding that he is holding Serenos pending payment of a debt ? My initial reading was more about having a need for him, but that does not seem consonant with κατέχω. But perhaps I am missing the plot entirely. These are great little exercises, somewhat like Morice's stories (though shorter and with less context) which I am going through right now.

Thx
D
Your first reading was right. One thing we see more of in Hellenistic Greek is the substitution of a compound when in Attic the simplex form is used. I don't know anything about "Morices's stories" but these have the advantage of being actually composed in ancient times by daily users of the language.

Re: The Weekend Papyrus 5-21-2021

Posted: May 22nd, 2021, 6:13 pm
by MAubrey
Barry Hofstetter wrote: May 22nd, 2021, 6:00 pm
Daniel Semler wrote: May 22nd, 2021, 11:34 am Hi Barry,

I am having a little trouble with the sense of χρείαν combined with κατέχω later. Am correct in understanding that he is holding Serenos pending payment of a debt ? My initial reading was more about having a need for him, but that does not seem consonant with κατέχω. But perhaps I am missing the plot entirely. These are great little exercises, somewhat like Morice's stories (though shorter and with less context) which I am going through right now.

Thx
D
Your first reading was right. One thing we see more of in Hellenistic Greek is the substitution of a compound when in Attic the simplex form is used. I don't know anything about "Morices's stories" but these have the advantage of being actually composed in ancient times by daily users of the language.
Morice's stories are a fun little resource.

https://amzn.to/3vgzV32

Re: The Weekend Papyrus 5-21-2021

Posted: May 22nd, 2021, 7:24 pm
by Daniel Semler
Barry Hofstetter wrote: May 22nd, 2021, 6:00 pm
Daniel Semler wrote: May 22nd, 2021, 11:34 am Hi Barry,

I am having a little trouble with the sense of χρείαν combined with κατέχω later. Am correct in understanding that he is holding Serenos pending payment of a debt ? My initial reading was more about having a need for him, but that does not seem consonant with κατέχω. But perhaps I am missing the plot entirely. These are great little exercises, somewhat like Morice's stories (though shorter and with less context) which I am going through right now.

Thx
D
Your first reading was right. One thing we see more of in Hellenistic Greek is the substitution of a compound when in Attic the simplex form is used.
Thanx, I'll watch for that.
Barry Hofstetter wrote: May 22nd, 2021, 6:00 pm I don't know anything about "Morices's stories" but these have the advantage of being actually composed in ancient times by daily users of the language.
Yes the fact that these a composed by real users of the language is important. Morice's Stories are in Attic, based on characters and stories from the classics but written in the 19th century. I'm trying to broaden my Greek reading into Attic, with that and JACT materials.

Thx
D

Re: The Weekend Papyrus 5-21-2021

Posted: May 23rd, 2021, 7:50 am
by Barry Hofstetter
Additionally, the syntax change, if the text is correctly read, τοῦ γναφέως ὁ συνεργαζόμενος, should remind us of Rev 1:5

 καὶ ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ μάρτυς, ὁ πιστός, ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς...