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Re: Luke 4:21 (NIV)
On Mon, 9 May 1994 13:21:10 -0400 (EDT) you said:
>
>The NIV is indeed questionable. It seems to me that the division into
>two sentences is precisely the problem. The NIV seems to want to make the
>impact of this sentence that Jesus was included in the general baptism,
>and secondly that the heavens were opened up while Jesus was praying.
>Whereas the genitives absolute are both circumstantial participles (of
>time?, perhaps) describing or modifying the three following infinitives,
>all of which are introduced by the initial "EGENETO DE."
It seems to me that in the second regard, the NIV translation is correct:
namely, that the heavens opened up while Jesus was praying and AFTER he had
been baptized. Is there an alternative way of reading the tense differenti-
ation between the aorist baptisthentos and the present proseuxomenou in the
genitive absolute phrase that presumably functions adverbially to define
when the Spirit descended upon Jesus?
CARL W. CONRAD, C25001CC@WUVMD.BITNET OR C25001CC@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU
Classics, Washington University, One Brookings Dr., St. Louis, MO 63130
Phone: (314) 935-4018