Re: 2 Cor 5:21 hAMARTIAN EPOIHSEN

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Tue Feb 22 2000 - 22:55:18 EST


<x-rich>At 9:15 PM -0600 2/22/00, Bill Ross wrote:

<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>In 2 Cor 5:21, Paul says:

 

hAMARTIAN EPOIHSEN

 

The KJV has this "made him to be sin".

 

Now in English, "made sin" is an idiom for "made into sin" or "made to
stand for" or "made to represent". I don't see anything in the NT that
shows that kind of idiom in Koine. Is there one?

</fontfamily></excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>

</fontfamily>Well, for example (just starting from the beginning of the
GNT):

Matt 3:3 hETOIMASATE THN hODON KURIOU, EUQEIAS POIEITE TAS TRIBOUS
AUTOU "make his paths straight"

Matt 4:19 KAI LEGEI AUTOIS: DEUTE OPISW MOU, KAI POIHSW hUMAS hALIEIS
ANQRWPWN "I'll make you fishers of men"

Matt 5:36 ... OU DUNASAI MIAN TRICA LEUKHN POIHSAI H MELAINAN "You
can't make a single hair white or black"

and yes, there are lots more.

<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>Everywhere else "made to be"
is the passive of "to be" as in GINWMEQA in the second part of that
same verse.

</fontfamily></excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>

</fontfamily>GINWMEQA is not passive but middle; the middle sometimes
takes a passive sense, and there are times were GINOMAI functions as a
passive of POIEW, and I suppose that can be argued here: "we become" =
"(with God's help) we turn into"

<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>Might it have any of these
literal senses?:

 

"He did [a] sin"

"He dealt [a] sin"

"He caused [a] sin"

 

(With #2 being the only one that makes sense in context).

</fontfamily></excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>

</fontfamily>Not really. The construction is, quite simply put, a
predicate accusative used with the verb POIEW; it's the same
construction as "elect Caesar consul" where by the action of the verb
the object is given the role indicated by the predicate accusative.

Carl W. Conrad

Department of Classics/Washington University

One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018

Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649

cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu

WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

</x-rich>



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