In Acts 7:34b we have :
KAI NUN DEURO APOSTEILW SE EIS AIGUPTON
Both Wallace (p464) and BDF (364(1)) call this an example
of a permissive subjunctive. BDF states ". . . in the first
person singular . . . an invitation is extended to another to
permit the speaker to do something."
I checked the LXX and the syntax of Ex 3:10 in BHS and
read U. Cassuto on Ex 3:10 and my conclusion is that
whatever the subjunctive is doing in this passage it is
most certainly not permissive. The LORD is not asking
Moses if He can send him to the Egyptians.
I could find no English translation that rendered Acts
7:34b in an explicitly permissive manner. What am I
missing here? Am I misreading BDF? Quite possibly I am
caught up in a misunderstanding about how the
permissive subjunctive is used. Please feel free to
straighten me out on this. I am listening.
Clay Bartholomew
Three Tree Point