Thanks for all the chat on PARAGETAI in 1 John 2. Very stimulating--even
the occasional rant or rave was well taken and informative! I think Carl
gave out why BAGD et al. evaluate this form as passive (some old notions
of basic active-passive polarity rather than active-middle/reflexive).
You all probably want this to die down, but can I very, very meekly ask
for reflections of the same sort on PHANERWTHWSIN in 1 John 2:19? [Is
there a standard transliteration scheme I should use??] This
morphologically passive verb has the same sort of intransitive meaning
(as PARAGETAI): "be manifested." Yet the plural form gives slight pause.
This verb's phrase is taken as impersonal yet that makes the OTI the
virtual subject of this plural verb. OK, perhaps something similar in 2
Cor. 3:3. Yet, is there a slight, oh very slight chance that John means
something like "that they may be exposed (as pretenders)"? (See Rev.
3:18 for this possible meaning of PHANEROW in passive.) Otherwise the
plural just seems odd (also to some Greek scribes; note the singular as
a variant reading here).
Xariti,
S. M. Baugh
Westminster Theological Seminary
in California