[b-greek] Re: EPI as "near"

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Wed Jan 03 2001 - 06:46:53 EST


At 1:36 AM -0500 1/3/01, Bill Barton wrote:
>Mark Wilson wrote:
>
>MW>Mark 2:26 EPI ABIAQAR ARCIEREWS>
>
>MW>[Dr. Wallace] The NET here is bolder than the NIV which implies a
>broader chronological timeframe: "In the days of Abiathar the high priest,"
>even though the Greek most likely cannot be taken so broadly.>
>
>Luke 4:27 has a similar expression, epi with the genitive, "in the time of
>Elisha." It seems that Mark 2:26 could be similarly translated. See the
>new BDAG (I got mine too!) p. 367, 18.a.
>
>
>MW>[Dr. Wallace] The NET's translation of this verse is: "how he entered
>the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread">
>
>That also seems to be an acceptable way to translate it, viewing the verb
>"to be" as understood.
>
>
>If both translations are grammatically acceptable, then it seems one has
>two options:
>
>1) Find a translation that preserves the ambiguity and hence allows both
>meanings.
>
>2) Speculate which meaning the writer intended and translate accordingly.
>
>
>I'd guess the NIV committee decided that it was actually Ahimelech rather
>than his son Abiathar that David dealt with in the temple; and they were
>inclined to give Mark/Jesus the benefit of the doubt; and therefore they
>translated this as a prolepsis, "in the days of Abiathar the [well-known]
>high priest."

It should be remembered here that EPI with a genitive is different from EPI
with a dative; whereas the latter (with locative dative) is indicative of a
specific time (or place), EPI with a (probably partitive) genitive is
indicative of the entire chronological (or spatial) range of the word
referred to in the preposition's genitive object. But as Bill Barton notes,
the objection may be not to the Greek construction but to the 'apparent'
factual discrepancy. Of course, I would argue that the translator ought to
convey what the text says, and not what he or she THINKS the text OUGHT to
have said.


--

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/

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