I don't use a swishing pin code to lock my phone, so it sometimes "makes calls (for) itself". I realise this is English, but think about it ... Should we use the "for" or not. It is an action that was done to it, in fact, by the keys or something, not which it did itself. It wasn't done for my benefit, or to help me, so, without a person who could actually benefit, the assumed benefit is "reflexive". The example that you have brought attention to is in the middle-passive voice, which apparently adds a degree of complexity, but consider these examples.jdhadwin wrote:I don't get it. How do any of the translations indicate whether the dead party is not one and the same as the baptizing party? I'm still processing what Stephen said, so I think it is simply, the fact that the preposition would have been a different one (to indicate reflexivity?).
"They don't eat meat. They went to the butcher's and were sold meat for the vegetarians' dinner.", which is not so much different from "and the butcher sold them meat for the vegetarians' dinner". Point being that the medio-passive form of the verb is for the verb, not for the whole phrase. The ὑπὲρ is assumed to be being used reflexively in this context from the context itself and our reasoning of things, not because of the actual ὑπὲρ itself having a reflexive meaning.
I am a strong believer in approaching language with an methodology something like perturbation theory. We don't need to stay on the exactly right line, but just not stray too far from it. We find the more exact understanding of what we are looking into, by "bumping" into other things - add a little if it seems too little, take a little if it seems too much. If this is difficult, revisit it later, and then again and again till your oscillations in understanding settle down to something that seems to fit the situation.
In other words, keep going with Greek and things will work themselves out. If they don't you will enjoy the working out for longer. Uncertainty and inexact explanations are a normal part of life. Greek is part of life.