Meaning of “πρηνὴς γενόμενος” in Acts 1:18

[skipcress]

Hi all,

Typically, the words “πρηνὴς γενόμενος” in Acts 1:18, which provides an account of the death of Judas Iscariot, are translated as “falling headlong,” or something to that effect. However, not only does this seem to me to be a strange way of expressing that (as I understand γενόμενος to roughly mean “to cause to be”), but it also introduces an apparent contraction between the book of Acts and Matthew’s gospel, which clearly states that Judas hung himself (whereas Acts 1:18 states that he “fell headlong,” and then his intestines spilled out).

My question is, is there any possibility that the phrase “πρηνὴς γενόμενος” was once a euphemism for either being hung, or (more specially) hanging oneself, or (more broadly) committing suicide? Is anyone aware of any other period usages of that precise phrasing, which may be able to either provide support for this theory, or disprove it?

Thanks!

[Jason Hare]

Hi all,

Typically, the words “πρηνὴς γενόμενος” in Acts 1:18, which provides an account of the death of Judas Iscariot, are translated as “falling headlong,” or something to that effect. However, not only does this seem to me to be a strange way of expressing that (as I understand γενόμενος to roughly mean “to cause to be”), but it also introduces an apparent contraction between the book of Acts and Matthew’s gospel, which clearly states that Judas hung himself (whereas Acts 1:18 states that he “fell headlong,” and then his intestines spilled out).

My question is, is there any possibility that the phrase “πρηνὴς γενόμενος” was once a euphemism for either being hung, or (more specially) hanging oneself, or (more broadly) committing suicide? Is anyone aware of any other period usages of that precise phrasing, which may be able to either provide support for this theory, or disprove it?

Thanks!

First, γενόμενος is a participle. Second, it is middle/passive and doesn’t cause anything to be. It is generally translated as “becoming, coming to be,” or “being.” In this case, πρηνής means “head down” or “upside down.” Together, these mean “entering a head-down state” or “going upside-down.” There’s no problem with the normal translations of the verse.

[Philip Arend]

Taking a look at The Cambridge Greek lexicon, this word goes all the way back to Homer, where it refers both to those falling "head long" in battle, or those lying prone. Luke uses the Ionian form of πρᾶνής. Here is CGL entry for πρᾶνής related to people:

"1. On the face or belly (opp. on the back, supine) (quasi-adverbial, of persons, lying face down, prone. (Iliad, Aristophanes);
|| (of persons falling) head first, headlong. Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, Aristophanes."

There are other usage categories, referring to a palace being thrown down, and ship going bottom up, as well as roads or topography that goes sharply downwards.

It is possible that the event of Judas's body falling head long and lying prone came after his hanging, either from the rope breaking, or from an attempt to cut down the body as it hung.

[Tony Pope]

While πρήνης is found in the sense prone, it is generally collocated either with a verb in the semantic domain of falling or a verb in the semantic domain of being in a lying down posture. The verb γενόμενος becoming fits neither of these.

F. H. Chase wrote an article over a century ago in which he advanced the theory that πρήνης in the context of Acts 1.18 is a medical term swollen, which fits the context well. The theory was accepted by several scholars including Edgar Goodspeed (Problems of New Testament Translation, 123-126) and appears in J. B. Phillips's translation and in the margin of RSV, NRSV and ESV.

The paper is now available online:
https://archive.org/details/sim_journal ... 8/mode/1up

The existence of πρήνης in the sense required is, of course, not generally accepted due to the meager evidence in its favor, but it would not be the only term of uncertain meaning in Acts, as δεξιολάβος (Acts 23.23) is in that category.

[Philip Arend]

In answer to your question, the main semantic core of πρηνής seems to revolve around falling down or forward, or lying on ones face after having done that. I see no evidence that it was used as a shorthand or idiom for suicide. Biblical accounts of events are terse. They don't describe many details of scene or mood. Thus each writer may include a specific detail as seemed good to them, but none were aiming at a comprehensive account of every detail that occurred in any given event.

Here is the entry from Brill GE:

πρηνής -ές [πρὸ?] with head down, drooping forward, prone IL. 6.43, al. HES. Sc. 365; opp. to ὕπτιος supine IL. 11.179; with verbs of state (κεῖμαι) IL. 21.118; more frequently with verbs of motion (ἐκπίπτω, ἐρείπω etc.) IL. 5.58, 16.413, al.; ἐπὶ τὸ π. ῥέπειν to incline forward HP. Fract. 1 | fig.: πρίν με κατὰ πρηνὲς βαλέειν Πριάμοιο μέλαθρον before I throw the roof of Priam to the ground IL. 2.414 ‖ turned down, downwards: opp. to ὕπτιος ARISTOT. Spir. 484b 29 THPHR. H.P. 2.6.1 (dates) | πίπτειν π. to fall prone PLUT. QConv. 680a ‖ declining, sloping, of places: κατὰ πρανοῦς (with verbs of motion) downward, headlong, declining, sloping downward XEN. Hip. 3.7 PLUT. Sul. 18.1 = κατὰ τοῦ πρανοῦς XEN. An. 4.8.28 = ἐπὶ τὸ πρανές XEN. Cyr. 2.2.24 = κατὰ τὰ πρανῆ XEN. Hip. 8.6; κατὰ πρανοῦς γηλόφου down the slope of a hill XEN. An. 1.5.8; πολὺ ἥδιον τὸ πρανὲς τοῦ ὀρθίου δραμεῖται will run downhill much more willingly than uphill XEN. Hip. 8.6 ‖ of the back, of animals: τὰ π. back ARISTOT. H.A. 498b 20, al. P.A. 658a 17; of leaves THPHR. H.P. 1.10.2 | convex ARISTOT. Meteor. 350a 11 Ion. and Koine πρην-, Att. πρᾱν-.

HERE IS THE VERB FORM:

πρηνίζω [πρηνής] fut. πρηνίξω OR. Sib. 11.113, al. ‖ aor. ἐπρήνιξα ‖ ppf. mid. pass. 3. sg. ἐπρήνικτο NONN. D. 30.86 ‖ aor. pass. [ἐπρηνίχθην] ① act. to throw down, destroy: πόλιν a city EUPHOR. 18 NONN. D. 4.340 ② medio- pass. to fall headlong HSCH. PHOT. Lex. NONN. D. 30.86 | to go to the bottom, sink ISID.2 (AP 7.532.4) fut. πρηνίσω L. Zon. ‖ aor. ἐπράνιξε HSCH., epic πρήνιξα EUPHOR. 418.41 SH etc. ‖ aor. inf. pass. πρανιχθῆναι PHOT. Lex. | ptc. πρανιχθείς HSCH.


Franco Montanari, The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2015).