>Let me second Jonathan's question. My observation is that it's
>possible to regard these participles as participles if you don't
>insist on treating them as complete sentences. One ought not to
>be surprised that Greek, like other languages, contains constructs
>that aren't "legal" sentences (in English, at least, we call them
>sentence fragments). Thus, in Rom 12, for example, one could
>read in part
>
> ... the compassionate, in cheerfulness; the love, without
> hypocrisy--hating the sordid, clinging to the good, cherishing
> one another with the affection of brothers [and sisters], ....
>
>This way you get an implicit imperative without a real one.
>Could the same be happening in the Greek?
Interpreted this way, it seems to be painting a picture of the life to which
we are called rather than issuing a series of commands to live this
particular way.
Jonathan
***************************************************************************
Jonathan Robie
POET Software, 3207 Gibson Road, Durham, N.C., 27703
Ph: 919.598.5728 Fax: 919.598.6728
email: jwrobie@mindspring.com, jonathan@poet.com
http://www.poet.com <--- shockwave enabled!
***************************************************************************