Well, Tim, you are certainly right about a couple things here. I really did think you were at Columbia and had access to the library there,and I certainly wouldn't have said anything about that if I had been wise enough or observant enough to pay attention to your signature file indicating that you are currently at Smyrna, GA. What jumped out at me from the signature file was the lengthy citation from _Black Athena Revisited_ and the notice about your web site. So I'm very sorry about that mistake. I did realize also that you knew about the Ioudaios-L list and I've seen your post there and some of the responses you've already gotten from it; I was right in thinking it was a more appropriate place for you to seek the sort of information for which you were asking in these last two posts.
I thought long and hard before posting that note directly to the list rather than to you alone, and I guess I was wrong in deciding to go ahead and do so. What made me decide to post it was the fact that you have continued to post messages and inquiries to the list that have no direct bearing on the Greek text of the NT and that you've scatter-posted your questions to several lists at one time, apparently without regard to what sort of list each one was. I posted my reply to you only to you and to B-Greek, not to the other lists to which you sent your inquiries. The fact is that when you have asked questions regarding the Greek text of the NT I have been ready and willing to help. But you have previously involved this list in your correspondence with Brother Akbar and at that point were including not only the list as a whole but several individual members of the list in a very long cc line. On another occasion you posted to the B-Greek list a response to something that came from the I
ntro-Greek list; I responded to that. I probably would have left it alone if that response had not presented misinformation about the Greek questions involved, but I think it is dangerous for people just beginning Greek to be left with misinformation. This past week you asked the question about the significance of the Greek word used for the troops accompanying Judas at the arrest of Jesus. I responded to that and so did some others. You will get answers from the list to questions that are germane to the list.
You are absolutely right when you note that I do not own the B-Greek list. I don't claim to own it, although I have probably more frequently than I should tried to urge some restraint at points where flame wars were threatening over doctrinal issues that were not germane to the list. I was probably unwise on this occasion to write and send that message to the list rather than to you and to the list as well, and in retrospect I wish I had not done so. I did try to suggest to you where you might more fruitfully seek answers to your questions when they didn't concern the Greek of the NT. Rightly or wrongly, I posted that note to the list because it seemed to me that you were continuing to bring issues to the list that didn't belong there, even while at the same time putting those inquiries to other lists where they were appropriate.
I am sorry this unpleasantness has occurred, and I don't suppose there's any likelihood that you'll appreciate the point I am making here, but I did want to attempt to explain to you the perspective from which I wrote. I apologize for failing to note the clear indication of your residence in your signature file, and I am sorry that you were so deeply embarrassed by the message. What I regret particularly is that it failed miserably in its primary purpose, which was to urge you to go looking for kinds of information that don't concern the Greek text of the NT in more fruitful fields than B-Greek. At least you have some more suggestions about how to do that, whether you choose to do so or not.
I really do wish you well, cwc