Jn.20:5 Late βράδιον vs. τάχιον Last τελευταῖος or ἔσχατος

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Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Jn.20:5 Late βράδιον vs. τάχιον Last τελευταῖος or ἔσχατος

Post by Stephen Hughes »

I think that ὄψιος vs. ἔνωρος (is this a (later) Koine form derived from ἐν ὥρᾳ "on time", ie "not out of season",ie "not late" or is it attested in the classical period too?) (and related adverbs) refer to "later" and "earlier" as when actions are measured relative to an overal time period, eg. a day. I think that on the other hand βράδιον vs. τάχιον (θᾶττον) refers to a relative lateness or earliness of two things happening.

I think that δεύτερος "second in a sequence" (connotation: others were expected to follow??), ἔσχατος "the last to be able to fit into a sequence" (connotation: it is not possible for there to be others after them??) or τελευταῖος "the last one in a sequence" (connotation: the last one of those present) could be used as an opposite for πρῶτος "first in a sequence".

In that way, reversing the order of the people in this verse;
John 20:5 wrote:Ἔτρεχον δὲ οἱ δύο ὁμοῦ· καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητὴς προέδραμεν τάχιον τοῦ Πέτρου, καὶ ἦλθεν πρῶτος εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον,
a composiotion based on the text might be;
Ἔτρεχον δὲ οἱ δύο ὁμοῦ· καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἔδραμεν βράδιον τοῦ ἄλλου μαθητοῦ, καὶ ἦλθεν τελευταῖος εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον,
If there was a need to explicate the fact that he lagged behind, then perhaps δραμὼν βράδιον τοῦ ἄλλου μαθητοῦ καθυστέρησεν ὁ Πέτρος. Using an inappropriate adverb may indicate that they ran to the tomb at different times of the day, rather than at different speeds.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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