[b-greek] Re: Grammatical question in Rom 4.1

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sun Feb 04 2001 - 16:47:37 EST


At 4:28 PM -0500 2/4/01, Moon-Ryul Jung wrote:
>Dear Carl,
>thanks for the response. Let me ask a clarifying question about the
>orginal question?
>
>> >Rom 4:1 TI OUN EROUMEN? EUREKENAI ABRAHAM TON PROPATORA HMWN
>> >> KATA SARKA?
>> >
>> > >> What then shall we say? To have found Abraham [to be]
>> >> our forefather according to the flesh?
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> (1)
>> >> Hays suggested the above reading. He surveyed Paul's other uses of
>> >> TI OUN EROUMEN, which occurs only in Romans (3.5, 6.1., 7.7,
>> >> 8:31, 9.14, 9.30). In every case except for 8:31, this expression
>> >> forms a complete sentence. This observation is the basis of the
>> >> above reading. But it makes the infinite clause following
>> >> TI OUN EROUMEN to play as a sentence. Would it be possible?
>> >>
>Can an infinitive clause be used as an independent sentence? The above
>rendering assumes that.

Not as a wholly independent sentence, no. But I assumed that the above
interpretation made an assumption that EROUMEN or LEGOMEN or an equivalent
verb introducing the infinitive clause was understood. An infinitive clause
must surely depend upon at least an implicit construction wherein it can
serve as a noun clause, whether as a subject or an object.

I hope that's an answer to the question you were actually asking! I think
it often happens that we answer a question that wasn't asked and leave
unanswered the question that WAS asked.

--

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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