First, with reference to the side note: this is like the use, in the
nurseries of some churches, of the verse from 1 Cor 15, "We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed."
Paul Dixon has noted that Mt uses this coda (EKEI ESTAI ... TWN ODONTWN) in
many an eschatological passage. It should be noted that it appears once in
Lk (13:28) in the same context. I would assume that this is a piece of the
common tradition shared by Mt and Lk and generally referred to as "Q." In
any case, this must be an "anaphoric" use of the particular article to
refer to something well-known to the audience (Smyth #1120a, BDF #252).
This is actually a very ancient usage of the article in its original
function as a demonstrative: "And that's where there'll be that
lamentatation and that gnashing of teeth (that you've heard about so many
times)"
>Why is it the sons of the *kingdom* who will be cast out? The word kingdom
>is used twice here, in verse 11 and 12. What exactly is meant by the kingdom
>in these verses?
Louw-Nida #11.13 "(an idiom) ... people who should properly be or were
traditionally regarded as a part of the kingdom of God ... it is normally
possibleto use a descriptive phrase, in context such as Mt 8.12, for
example, 'those who should be a part of the kingdom of God,' or 'those over
whom God should be ruling. ... '"
>
>Verse 7: EGW ELQWN
>
>Mat 8:7 EGW ELQWN QERAPEUSW AUTON (RSV: And he said to him, "I will come and
>heal him.")
>ELQWN is an aorist active participle. What is the force of ELQWN in this
>verse? Would it be more accurate to translate this: "when I have come, I
>will heal him"?
I'd say that it would be EQUALLY accurate but somewhat less idiomatic in
English. Greek quite regularly uses the participle (especially an aorist,
in this instance indicating priority in time to the main verb) in
conjunction with an indicative to indicate a sequence of actions, where
English idiom more naturally coordinates the verbs in the fashion of the
RSV cited above.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(704) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/