Romans 1:2a which he promised

[JohnParker]

"which he promised beforehand through his prophets..."

προεπηγγείλατο promised is apparently in middle voice so would it be correct to translate this phrase as

"which he promised himself..." ?

Thank you
John

[Jonathan Robie]

"which he promised beforehand through his prophets..."

προεπηγγείλατο promised is apparently in middle voice so would it be correct to translate this phrase as

"which he promised himself..." ?

Welcome to B-Greek, John!

First off, a little housekeeping - in "what does this text mean", we ask you to quote the text, not just an individual word. In this case, the phrase is sufficient:

ὃ προεπηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν γραφαῖς ἁγίαις

The verb προ-επαγγελλω is used only in the middle and passive, and when used in the middle, it means simply "promise beforehand". If you remove the προ, you are left with επαγγελλω, which is also frequently used in the middle to mean "promise".

[Stephen Carlson]

προεπηγγείλατο promised is apparently in middle voice so would it be correct to translate this phrase as

"which he promised himself..." ?

No. You're right that προεπηγγείλατο is middle, but it is not helpful to think that that the prototypical sense is reflexive. It is not.

The usual way to express a reflexive action in Greek is to use a reflexive pronoun, such as ἑαυτόν. For example, Gal 1:3-4 Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ δόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ("Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins"). Some reflexive actions do take a middle verb, but only when the action is most frequently performed on oneself rather than on someone else, for example λούομαι "I wash (myself)" but λούω "I wash (someone else)."

What the middle voice really marks is that the subject is somehow affected by or involved in the action. In Greek, mental and emotional actions are considered to affect the subject and this can apply to speech acts as well. That is why a lot of (usually non-generic) speech act verbs are middle:

• ἀνατίθεμαι, I propound
• ἀπολογέομαι, I speak in defense
• ἀποκρίνομαι, I answer
• ἀποτάσσομαι, I say good-bye
• ἀποφθέγγομαι, I utter clearly
• ἀρνέομαι, I deny
• ἀσπάζομαι, I greet
• δέομαι, I implore
• διαβεβαιόομαι, I insist
• διακρίνομαι, I dispute
• διαλέγομαι, I address (with a formal speech)
• διαστέλλομαι, I order
• εἰσκαλέομαι, I invite in
• ἐμβριμάομαι, I scold, sternly insist
• ἐντέλλομαι, I command
• ἐξηγέομαι, I tell fully
• ἐξομολογέομαι, I confess
• ἐπαγγέλλομαι, I promise, assert
• εὐαγγελίζομαι, I preach good news
• μαντεύομαι, I tell fortunes
• μαρτυρέομαι, I testify
• μωμάομαι, I blame
• καυχάομαι, I boast
• παρρησιάζομαι, I speak boldly
• προσανατίθεμαι, I confer with
• προσεύχομαι, I pray
• προσκαλέομαι, I summon
• πυνθάνομαι, I inquire
• ῥώννυμαι, I say farewell (usu. as ἔρρωσθε)
• συνυποκρίνομαι, I pretend to agree with
• φθέγγομαι, I utter
• φιμοῦμαι, I say nothing
• ψεύδομαι, “I lie” (cf. ψεύδω, “I falsify” [not necessarily speech])

These speech act verbs are all middle, but none of them are reflexive.

[cwconrad]

This is a nice reply, Stephen. I haven't checked, but does this list reflect specifically Koine or GNT verbs? Have you compiled a listing of all middle verbs in the various categories of middle verbs as formulated by Kemmer and/or Allan?

[Stephen Carlson]

This is a nice reply, Stephen. I haven't checked, but does this list reflect specifically Koine or GNT verbs? Have you compiled a listing of all middle verbs in the various categories of middle verbs as formulated by Kemmer and/or Allan?

I went through Louw-Nida for the list (though I have treated separately all middle verbs in Galatians). There are about 9 or 10 different categories in Allan.

Stephen