[B-Greek] Matt 16:18 EPI + dative?

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Tue Jun 17 06:47:50 EDT 2008


On Jun 17, 2008, at 5:50 AM, newsgroupstuff wrote:

>> It's customary to speak of adverbial phrases as
>> answering questions of "when," "where," "why," etc.
>> EPI THi PETRAi answers the question "at
>> what point is the foundation to be laid?" I was
>> trying to differentiate between EPI + acc. which
>> indicates point to which/upon which action is
>> directed and EPI + dat. which indicates a stationery
>> point of focus.
>>
>> Carl W. Conrad
>> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>
> Okay, I think I've got it now, but not sure, you will need to  
> confirm! I
> think what was throwing me was I thought you were saying by "at what  
> point"
> meaning a point in time, so answering a "when" question. Which  
> didn't make
> sense to me.
>
> But I think what you are saying it is EPI+Dat is answering "at what  
> point in
> space" question, a "where" question. Which rock will Jesus build on?  
> This
> rock! The EPI+Acc is more a "how" question, emphasising "upon",  
> building
> upwards starting from the foundation of the rock.
>
> Is that what you mean?

No, I don't think you've quite got it right (This reminds me of almost- 
forgotten classroom challenges requiring the back-and-forth of  
conversation to narrow things down more precisely):

EPI could perhaps be diagrammatically represented with a caret  
pointing downward to or resting upon a line: _⋁_ . This is 2- 
dimensional but should be conceived as 3-dimensional: the line  
represents a surface, the downward pointing apex indicates a spot on  
that surface.

EPI means "on," "upon," "onto," -- sometimes "on the basis of."

With the (locative) dative EPI indicates a position atop a spatial  
surface without any motion involved. That's what we have with EPI  
TAUTHi THi PETRAi in Mt 16:18. If the question (theoretically) is  
"Where am I going to construct my church/assembly-gathering place?"  
then the answer is "Right here: on this rock."

With the accusative of end-of-motion (or "terminal-of-action") EPI  
means "onto" or "coming down upon" or "weighing down upon." That's  
what we have in the expressions in the parable of the house built on  
rock/sand in Mt 7:24-26 WiKODOMHSEN ... OIKIAN EPI THN PETRAN;  
TEQEMELIWTO ... EPI THN
PETRAN; WiKODOMHSEN ... OIKIAN EPI THN AMMON. If the theoretical  
question is "upon what foundation was the house put down," then the  
answer is "upon rock" or "upon sand."

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






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