From: Steven Cox (scox@chinaonline.com.cn.net)
Date: Sun Jan 11 1998 - 09:18:21 EST
Hi Carl
I can see APEIQHSASIN is dative :-) but what I couldn't
see in my haste to connect APEIQEW with Christ's preaching
was the context of the previous verse!
Oh well. Does EN Wi = EN PNEUMATI only, or with broader
reference to the resurrection in v18?
The only thing I am not convinced about in the answer is
EN FULAKHi PNEUMASIN meaning "souls of those who died in
the primeval flood". I can think of Psalm 141/2:7 in LXX
which speaks of EXAGAGE EK FULAKHS THN YUCHN MOU but the
prison here is David's cave. Likewise in Isaiah 42 FULAKH
is for living souls.
I venture an angelic "prison" (complete with chains etc)
would fit the context better with the benefit of 2Peter's
hindsight?
Thanks
Steven
At 07:24 98/01/11 -0600, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>The primary linkage that seems to be missed here is that APEIQHSASIN is a
>dative plural aorist participle in agreement with TOIS PNEUMASIN. It looks
>like the sequence of the two verses is being understood in terms of
>word-order alone rather than in terms of the syntactic links--but in any
>complex, tightly-subordinated sequence, this is the easiest way to get lost
>in a jumble of words.
>
>Beginning where you begin with the last phrase of verse 18, I'd understand
>the fundamental theme here as a visit of Christ in the spirit to preach to
>the souls of those who died in the primeval flood, but whose spirits
>remained 'imprisoned' in the underworld, thus:
>
>" ... but made alive in spirit (ZWOPOIHQEIS DE PNEUMATI), by which (EN hWi)
>he went (lit. 'having gone' aor. ptc. POREUQEIS) (and) preached (EKHRUXEN)
>even to the imprisoned spirits (KAI TOIS EN FULAKHi PNEUMASIN = the souls
>of the dead in the underworld), the ones having disbelieved once (TOIS
>APEIQHSASIN POTE) when (hOTE) God's patience (hH TOU QEOU MAKROQUMIA) was
>awaiting (them) APEXEDECETO in the days of Noah (EN hHMERAIS NWE) ...
>
>In terms of sequential time, the disbelief indicated by the aor. ptc.
>APEIQHSASIN must be earliest, then the resurrection of Jesus (ZWOPOIHQEIS),
>and finally the spiritual journey to preach to those spirits (POREUQEIS
>EKHRUXEN).
>
>The linkage of POREUQEIS and EKHRUXEN one of the most common in narrative
>Greek: preliminary action is stated in an aorist participle agreeing with
>the subject of the chief narrative verb: "having gone, he preached"--where
>the idiomatic preference of English for expression of this sequence is
>sequential indicative verbs joined by conjunction: "he went and preached."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Carl W. Conrad
>Department of Classics/Washington University
>One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
>Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
>cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
>WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
>
>
>
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