μοιχευθῆναι (Matt 5:32) passive

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deborahewitt
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Joined: June 1st, 2011, 2:18 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

μοιχευθῆναι (Matt 5:32) passive

Post by deborahewitt »

What difference does the passive voice make here: "ποιεῖ αὐτὴν ⸀μοιχευθῆναι"? Any suggestions appreciated.
Debbie Hewitt
cwconrad
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Re: μοιχευθῆναι (Matt 5:32) passive

Post by cwconrad »

deborahewitt wrote:What difference does the passive voice make here: "ποιεῖ αὐτὴν ⸀μοιχευθῆναι"? Any suggestions appreciated.
Debbie Hewitt
I think that there are a couple things to note here:

1) Although the verb usage is not wholly consistent, μοιχεύειν/μοιχεύεσθαι functions in terms of voice usage much as does γαμεῖν/γαμεῖσθαι; that is to say, the active form is used of the man who marries or commits adultery, while the middle form is used of the woman entering into a marriage or committing adultery.

2) The -θη- "passive" forms in the era of NT Koine are in the process of supplanting the older "middle" μην/σο/το personal endings in the aorist. So the tense-forms for the middle voice used for a woman committing adultery are: μοιχεύεσθαι, μοιχεύσεσθαι, μοιχευθῆναι. The sense of ποιεῖ αὐτὴν μοιχευθῆναι is "causes her to commit adultery" or "brings her into an adulterous relationship"; that is to say, his own divorce and remarriage brings his erstwhile wife into an adulterous relationship with himself -- his behavior has dissolved her legal and moral status.
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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