Grammar in Mt 6 and 7

From: Maurice A. O'Sullivan (mauros@iol.ie)
Date: Sun Dec 31 1995 - 15:48:23 EST


Ken Litwak wrote:

1.

>Mt 6:24: I can't figure out why (enos and (eterou are genities.
>I don't see that the verbs used require genitives.I can't think
>of a form of genitive that fits readily. Suggestions?

Well, according to L,S, & J 'entechw' is one of those verbs which, in both
the active and middle, is " c. acc and gen ", with examples of " c. gen
only " and "c. dat ". Indeed, the middle L & S gives the example:

4. c. dupl. gen. pers. et rei, a)nqe/cetai/ sou tw=n xrhma/twn will lay
claim to the property from you, dispute it with you, Ar.

But more precisely to the point of Mt. 6:24, Balz and Schneider, vol. 1 of
the Exegetical Dictionary of the NT" write:
" 'antechomai': In the NT, as in the LXX, this vb. appears only in mid. and
always with gen."

2.
As regards katafrone/w:
  
again the middle L & S lists:
katafronew fut. h/sw I. to think down upon, i. e. to look down upon,
think slightly of, tino/j Hdt., Eur., etc.

so it's just a matter of fact that the verb takes the genetive. I don't see
the point of trying to " ....... think of a form of genitive that fits
readily. " and as for your request for "suggestions" I will content myself
with remarking that the middle L & S is neither too heavy nor too expensive <g>.

You might like to have a look at the other eight of the nine NT occurences
of katafronew, and examine the usage there.
Lk 16:13 [ II to Mt. 6:24 ]
1 Co. 11:22
2 P. 2:10
Mt 18:10
1 Tim. 4:12
           6:2
Ro. 2:4
Hb. 12:2

3.

>>Mt 7:4 D&M says aphes ekbalw <<

Zerwick, Grosvenor " Grammatical Analysis of the GNT " notes:
aor. impv used before hort. subj. w. virtually auxiliary force ( allow
me/let me take )" and, of course, ekbalw here is aor. subj.

EDGNT notes: " the Hellenistic formula of request also appears in 'afihmi' "
and refers the reader to Blass, Debrunner and Funk par. 364

I did a quick SEARCH on aor. impv of 'afihmi' + any aor. subj -- with no
interval between the words --and came up with:
  Matt 7:4
  Matt 27:49
  Mark 15:36
  Luke 6:42

4.

As for >> Mt 7:11 mh liqon epidwsei au.<< you obviously meant Mt 7:9
Here 'mh' can be described as " Latin _num, interr. particle expecting the
answer "No", ' (he will not) .... will he?' [ Zerwick, Grosvenor again ]

Hope this of some help

Happy New Year

Maurice

Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros@iol.ie

[using Eudora Pro v 2.1.2 ]



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