Re: John 21:19/21 APOLOUQEI

Carlton Winbery (winberyc@popalex1.linknet.net)
Fri, 29 May 1998 15:48:33 +0400

George Blaisdell wrote;
>
>I like the Robertson version best, although perhaps "You, Peter, are
>following me!" might do as well, where the addition of Peter's name
>carries the force of the SU in the Greek. So much hinges on the tone
>of voice as it is pronounced out loud in English...

No, If this were in any way a statement of fact rather than an imperative,
it would be AKOLOUQEIS=. If it is second person, AKOLEUQEI has to be
imperative. It could be translated, "You, follow me!" or even "You, keep
on following me!" "You are" in English is just not imperative even though
it is second person.

>And Carl may have put his finger on the nub of this issue when he
>wrote:
>
>"The question you raise .... concerns the aspect
>of AKOLOUQEI, which is "progressive." Now that I think of it, I don't
>believe I've ever seen an aorist equivalent (AKOLOUQHSON/AKOLOUQHSATE:
>"Be
>(a) follower(s)").

Probably because AKOLOUQEW seems inevitably to refer to a process. I
suppose it could be "Begin following me" though that would seem awkward.
This verb is used often in the aorist indicative, the fisherman disciples
"followed" him. It is also used in the third person imperative Matt. 16:24
EI TIS QELEI ORISW MOU ELQIEN, APARNHSASQW hEAUTON KAI ARATW TON STAURON
AUTOU KAI AKOLOUQEITW MOI. A very interesting use is in the imperfect tense
in Rev. 19:4 HKOLOU/QEI.

Carlton L. Winbery
Fogleman Professor of Religion
Louisiana College
Pineville, LA 71359
winberyc@popalex1.linknet.net
winbery@andria.lacollege.edu