[b-greek] Re: future indicatives as imperatives

From: Alex / Ali (alexali@surf.net.au)
Date: Mon Jan 15 2001 - 21:17:40 EST


Bart Ehrman wrote:


> The Didache gives a lot of orders, a lot of them are negative, and a
lot of them use the future indicative. Some are quotations of the LXX.
Thus: OU FONEUSEIS, OU MOIXEUSEIS, OU PAIDOFQORHSEIS, OU PORNEUSEIS, etc.
etc.
>
> It also gives positive commands using the future inicative: AGAPHSEIS
TON QEON TON POIHSANTA SE, e.g.
>
> Moreover, it also uses regular imperative forms (esp. for positive
commands).
>
> My inclination is to translate these all as imperatives: e.g., for the
negatives above, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not sodomize
children, to not engage in sexual immorality." And for the positive: "Love
the God who made you."
>
> But one of my grad students who's reading over all my drafts for me,
and whose judgment i trust, is pushing me to go for the more conventional,
"You shall not..." and "You shall..." Her point is that this helps preserve
the allusive character of the injunctions (i.e., it sounds more like BIble
language); my point is that I never talk that way (I always say, "Shut the
blasted door," never "You shall shut the blasted door"; or "Don't stay up
too late," never "You shall not stay up too late") ((and also that the
repetitions of the shalls and shall nots gets rather tiresome))
>
> Does anyone else want to weigh in?


My own inclination aligns with your grad student's; without having checked
this thoroughly, I associate this usage when seen in the NT with quotations,
as at Mat 5:27, 19:18, Ro 13:9; but compare, e.g. Mat 21:2. (Other exx.
given in Zerwick's 'Biblical Greek', #280). Like yourself, I wouldn't and
don't use 'shall' - but it's for that very reason that 'shall' has allusive
value in these cases.

Alex Hopkins


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