Re: THi ELEUQERIAi in Gal 5:1 Dative of Advantage or Purpose?

From: Moon-Ryul Jung (moon@saint.soongsil.ac.kr)
Date: Tue Jun 01 1999 - 20:28:50 EDT


On 06/01/99, ""Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu>" wrote:
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>
> At 4:35 PM -0400 5/31/99, Joseph Brian Tucker wrote:
> >Greetings
> >
> >THi ELEUQERIAi hHMAS CRISTOS HLEUQERWSEN STHKETE OUN KAI PALIN ZUGW
> >DOULEIAS ENECESQE
I think therefore that it would probably be best to understand
> ELEUQERIAi as an instrumental dative, perhaps causal--and maybe that comes
> to being practically equivalent to a purpose: "By reason of freedom has
> Christ set us free."

[Moon]
I do not see how a causal meaning is practically equivalent to a purpose
one.
"By reasons of" is ambiguous in Engglish. If it is causal, we would have
to
render:
By means of freedom, has Christ set us free.

But it does not make a good sense.
So my question: is the dative of "purpose" impossible in Greek?

> >Third, is ENECESQE with the dative case seem abnormal?
>
> Louw & Nida: 37.4 ENECOMAI: to be under the control of or to be subject to
> someone or something - 'to be subject to, to be under the control of.' MH
> PALIN ZUGWi DOULEIAS ENECESQE 'do not be subject again to the yoke of
> slavery' Ga 5:1.
>
> It seems to me that one could understand this dative either as locative or
> as instrumental: that wherein one is held or that whereby one lets oneself
> be held. And I think that instrumental sense of the dative is more
> appropriate here.

If the dative is instrumental, the sentence does not make a good sense.
"do not be subject by the yoke of slavery", because "being subject"
requires the "place" to which the subjection takes place. Isn't dative
case completely polymorphic so that it can help the verb in whatever
ways that the verb requires?

Moon-Ryul Jung
Assistant Professor
Dept of Computer Science
Soongsil University
Seoul, Korea
>
> >Fourth, to what does PALIN relate? It seems to point back to the Jewish
> >law?
>
> As I understand Paul's meaning, those to whom he writes, whether formerly
> Jews or formerly Gentiles, had been "in bondage" prior to their conversion
> to faith in Christ. Therefore, it seems to me that when he says, "Don't let
> yourselves again be held fast in the yoke of bondage," he expresses his
> anxiety lest they revert to that condition in which they stood prior to
> conversion.
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University
> Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
> WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
> --============_-1283877893==_ma============
> Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii"
>
> At 4:35 PM -0400 5/31/99, Joseph Brian Tucker wrote:
>
> >Greetings
>
> >
>
> >THi ELEUQERIAi hHMAS CRISTOS HLEUQERWSEN STHKETE OUN KAI PALIN ZUGW
>
> >DOULEIAS ENECESQE
>
> >
>
> >Gal 5.1 begins with no transition and it seems a peculiar use of the
> dative
>
> >case. Is it better to see it as advantage or purpose? My concern is
> how to
>
> >understand THi ELEUQERIAi as a limitation of the verb HLEUQERWSEN.
>
>
> This is a good question, and your phrasing of it is interesting. I
> can't say that I recognize any authentic "dative of purpose" in Greek
> (unless one wants to consider EPI + Dative phrases, perhaps) although
> it is one of the most common of all LATIN datives (which is more grist
> for my intended study of Latin influence on Koine Greek). And a dative
> of advantage normally is found with the name of a person. Although Paul
> has just talked about the free woman (hH ELEUQERA) and the servant
> woman (hH PAIDISKH), I don't think we'd want to say that ELEUQERIAi
> here involves personification of 'Freedom'. I think therefore that it
> would probably be best to understand ELEUQERIAi as an instrumental
> dative, perhaps causal--and maybe that comes to being practically
> equivalent to a purpose: "By reason of freedom has Christ set us
> free."
>
>
> As for transition, note that USB4 makes 5:1 the conclusion of an
> integral section inclusive of 4:21-5:1; there's a sharper break between
> 5:1 and 5:2. But 5:1 appears to be the "moral" of the allegorical
> presentation of Isaac and Ishmael, Sarah and Hagar.
>
>
> [One other thought occurs to me that I am rather reluctant to suggest,
> because I don't think of Paul's Greek as normally reflective of Semitic
> idiom; yet ELEUQERIAi ELEUQERWSEN is in fact the sort of "cognate"
> Greek verbal expression that is commonly used in the LXX to translate
> the emphatic Hebrew "construct-infinitives." I suppose it is at least
> conceivable that this is what we actually have here; if that were so
> (and I rather doubt it), then the clause should probably be understood:
> "Christ has 'freedom-freed' us."]
>
>
> >Second, Does STHKETE require one to break the sentence or is it
>
> >grammatically connected with 5:1a?
>
>
> My text (USB4/NA27) punctuates this verse with a raised dot after
> HLEUQERWSEN; I don't know if it has affected your understanding, but
> you did omit a vital MH in your transcription above; it should read
> STHKETE OUN KAI *MH* PALIN ZUGWi DOULEIAS ENECESQE. I understand this
> sequence of imperatives as grounded in the assertion of the opening
> clause (THi ELEUQERIAi ... HLEUQERWSEN). So I see no problem in the
> logical sequence.
>
>
> >Third, is ENECESQE with the dative case seem abnormal?
>
>
> Louw & Nida: <color><param>0000,7777,0000</param>37.4 ENECOMAI: to be
> under the control of or to be subject to someone or something - 'to be
> subject to, to be under the control of.' MH PALIN ZUGWi DOULEIAS
> ENECESQE 'do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery' Ga 5:1.
>
>
> It seems to me that one could understand this dative either as locative
> or as instrumental: that wherein one is held or that whereby one lets
> oneself be held. And I think that instrumental sense of the dative is
> more appropriate here.
>
>
> </color>>Fourth, to what does PALIN relate? It seems to point back to
> the Jewish
>
> >law?
>
>
> As I understand Paul's meaning, those to whom he writes, whether
> formerly Jews or formerly Gentiles, had been "in bondage" prior to
> their conversion to faith in Christ. Therefore, it seems to me that
> when he says, "Don't let yourselves again be held fast in the yoke of
> bondage," he expresses his anxiety lest they revert to that condition
> in which they stood prior to conversion.
>
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
>
> Department of Classics, Washington University
>
> Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
>
> cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
>
> WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
>
> --============_-1283877893==_ma============--

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