Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

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David Lim
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Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by David Lim »

[Exo 6] [5] και εγω εισηκουσα τον στεναγμον των υιων ισραηλ ον οι αιγυπτιοι καταδουλουνται αυτους και εμνησθην της διαθηκης υμων
Why is "ον" singular if it refers to "των υιων ισραηλ"?
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David Lim
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by David Lim »

Ken M. Penner wrote:
David Lim wrote:
[Exo 6] [5] και εγω εισηκουσα τον στεναγμον των υιων ισραηλ ον οι αιγυπτιοι καταδουλουνται αυτους και εμνησθην της διαθηκης υμων
Why is "ον" singular if it refers to "των υιων ισραηλ"?
The ὃν refers to τὸν στεναγμόν.
But if it does then it is not the object of any verb. Can I say that it is not "normal" Greek?
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Ken M. Penner
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by Ken M. Penner »

David Lim wrote:
Ken M. Penner wrote: The ὃν refers to τὸν στεναγμόν.
But if it does then it is not the object of any verb. Can I say that it is not "normal" Greek?
You're right that it's not the direct object of a verb. Accusatives do much more than act as direct objects. Generally speaking, they "limit" the verb in some way, much as genitives "limit" nouns, performing a similar function to that of adverbs (qualifying verbs) and adjectives (qualifying nouns). They constrain or specify the extent of the verb. Sometimes this specification of the extent of the verb is called the "accusative of respect," "accusative of general reference," or "adverbial accusative." See, for example, Funk 1140.
1 Maccabees 8:18 has the same verb. One critical text has the accusative, καταδουλουμένους τὸν Ισραηλ δουλείαν (Kappler), another has the dative καταδουλουμένους τὸν Ισραηλ δουλείᾳ (Rahlfs). Would you be more comfortable with a dative here?
Ken M. Penner
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Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
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Alex Hopkins
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by Alex Hopkins »

Exodus 6:5 καὶ ἐγὼ εἰσήκουσα τὸν στεναγμὸν τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ὃν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καταδουλοῦνται αὐτούς καὶ ἐμνήσθην τῆς διαθήκης ὑμῶν (Exo 6:5 BGT)

Ken, You have the advantage of the Hebrew to guide us. Looking at the Greek, which does look a little odd to my eye, I wondered whether it were better to take the antecedent of ὃν to be Israel, with αὐτούς to be taken as a somewhat redundant second accusative to καταδουλοῦνται. Is there anything in the Hebrew that gives help? If ὃν is to be taken as an accusative of respect, is there any reason to take its antecedent to be στεναγμόν rather than Ισραηλ?

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David Lim
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by David Lim »

Ken M. Penner wrote:
David Lim wrote:
Ken M. Penner wrote: The ὃν refers to τὸν στεναγμόν.
But if it does then it is not the object of any verb. Can I say that it is not "normal" Greek?
You're right that it's not the direct object of a verb. Accusatives do much more than act as direct objects. Generally speaking, they "limit" the verb in some way, much as genitives "limit" nouns, performing a similar function to that of adverbs (qualifying verbs) and adjectives (qualifying nouns). They constrain or specify the extent of the verb. Sometimes this specification of the extent of the verb is called the "accusative of respect," "accusative of general reference," or "adverbial accusative." See, for example, Funk 1140.
1 Maccabees 8:18 has the same verb. One critical text has the accusative, καταδουλουμένους τὸν Ισραηλ δουλείαν (Kappler), another has the dative καταδουλουμένους τὸν Ισραηλ δουλείᾳ (Rahlfs). Would you be more comfortable with a dative here?
I was expecting "ους οι αιγυπτιοι καταδουλουνται αυτους" to match the Hebrew. If it was supposed to be adverbial I would have expected "οτι". The dative does not seem to fit because "τον στεναγμον" does not describe "καταδουλουνται" but rather it is the other way around. Likewise "τον στεναγμον" does not seem to be an accusative of respect because it does not qualify the verb.
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by Ken M. Penner »

The Hebrew relative is not inflected, so it doesn't carry gender, number, or case information. The 3rd person masculine plural pronoun at the end of the relative clause resumes the relative, so the LXX translator should have chosen a plural masculine form.
I have to recant my claim that ὁν refers to τον στεναγμον. You're right; it's not easy to read στεναγμον in a way that qualifies the verb. Brenton takes the singular seriously by supplying "the affliction" as the antecedent. "And I hearkened to the groaning of the children of Israel (the affliction with which the Egyptians enslave them) and I remembered the covenant with you." I originally imagined something similar.
Perkins takes it as almost Alex suggests: "And I listened to the groaning of the sons of Israel, those whom the Egyptians are making into slaves, and I remembered your covenant."
So on second thought, I think Perkins is reading it the way most ancient readers would have read it, but perhaps with a wrinkled brow.
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
Louis L Sorenson
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

or Ισραὴλ [τὸν λαὸν] ὃν
David Lim
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Re: Exo 6:5 - των υιων ισραηλ ον

Post by David Lim »

Ken M. Penner wrote:The Hebrew relative is not inflected, so it doesn't carry gender, number, or case information. The 3rd person masculine plural pronoun at the end of the relative clause resumes the relative, so the LXX translator should have chosen a plural masculine form.
Yes I know; I was only referring to the structure that seems to suggest taking the antecedent of the relative pronoun to be "the sons of Israel" so that it is resumed by the plural pronoun which is the direct object of the verb.
Ken M. Penner wrote:I have to recant my claim that ὁν refers to τον στεναγμον. You're right; it's not easy to read στεναγμον in a way that qualifies the verb. Brenton takes the singular seriously by supplying "the affliction" as the antecedent. "And I hearkened to the groaning of the children of Israel (the affliction with which the Egyptians enslave them) and I remembered the covenant with you." I originally imagined something similar.
Perkins takes it as almost Alex suggests: "And I listened to the groaning of the sons of Israel, those whom the Egyptians are making into slaves, and I remembered your covenant."
So on second thought, I think Perkins is reading it the way most ancient readers would have read it, but perhaps with a wrinkled brow.
Haha I see. How about Louis' suggestion? I did think of what Alex suggested, but felt it would still be a bit odd because the phrase "των υιων ισραηλ", being used to refer to the ones whom the Egyptians brought into slavery, would not naturally allow the relative pronoun to refer to "ισραηλ", otherwise it would then suggest a distinction between the sons of Israel and Israel himself. But I did not think of Louis' "των υιων ισραηλ [τον λαον] ον". Do you think that is likely to occur to the reader? And would they wrinkle their brow further when they come to "της διαθηκης υμων"? ;)
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