From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 30 1998 - 17:53:35 EST
Delete this if it doesn't interest you. I'm just reporting my delving into
the question whether MOICEUOMENH in John 8:4 must be understood as passive
or ought to be understood as genuinely middle voice. I've satisfied myself
that it is really middle, whether or not others agree, and in the course of
it, I've found some interesting information both about Old Testament usage
of this verb and about earlier Greek as well as Hellenistic Greek usage of
the verb.
Back on Monday, and intermittently since then, there have been two
interrelated threads entitled (a) MOICEUOMENH and (b) Adultery, both
focused initially on the curious Johannine narrative of the woman taken in
adultery (Jn 7:57-8:11).
SALIENT POINTS (from my perspective) in the earlier thread:
----------------------------------------
(1) First Denny Diehl asked:
"I've noticed that the active voice MOICHEUOW is usually used; but the
passive form ( MOICHEUOMAI ) is used in Mt 5:32, Mt 19:9, Mk 10:11-12, and
Jn 8:4. This is a little puzzling to me. Especially:
"they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery
(MOICHEUOMENH ),in the very act.' " -Jn 8:4
"My question: How can she be "caught...in the very act" of being
adulterated? What is the significance of being in the form of the verb? Is
this the normal way to speak of a woman in an adulterous act?"
(2) To this I responded:
"I think that MOICEUOMENH should probably be understood here as a
middle voice rather than as a passive. To be sure, it is normally active
MOICEUW of both the man and the woman, the implication here is clearly that
the woman is no mere victim, and for that reason the middle might be
appropriate."
(3) Then Jim West responded to me:
"Carl may well be right- but I would argue that the passive verb is
used because, in the Palestine of Jesus' day, the woman was a victim of any
illicit action. In Roman and Greek law women had rights of their own- but
in Judaism women were granted rights only through their husbands. Thus, if
a woman were abandoned, divorced, or childless, her only forms of support
were to return home in shame to the family (not likely) or become the wife
of another (again, not likely) or become a prostitute. In the case Jesus
cites the woman has been divorced by her husband for no cause and thus is
forced into an adulterous situation merely to survive. She is adulterated! "
Thereafter the thread spun into what for me was really tangential, how the
situation in this Johannine narrative relates to the Synoptic dominical
saying on divorce and adultery. As long as I was involved in the thread,
however, I was chiefly concerned withthe question whether in fact
MOICEUOMENH in John 8:4 needs to be understood as a passive rather than a
middle participle. After all, Denny Diehl's initial question was precisely
on this matter of the voice.
(4) In the evening on Monday, Ginger Ferguson addressed this question to me:
"Can you point me to an example of MOIXEUW being used actively in
reference to a woman, Carl? (Or do we only assume inclusivity?) I'd *love*
to find out that I'm wrong!"
(5) And I responded:
"No, I can't. I've done a check in Accordance on MOICEUW and don't
find it used anywhere else of a woman. I've checked LSJ and find it
asserted there (the older LSJ on the Perseus web site) that it's used in
the passive of a woman, but it looks to me from the examples provided that
it's what's called a "passive deponent" which simply means that it's
probably middle but has -QH- forms in the aorist and future. I want to
check the newer LSJ in my office tomorrow and also do a TLG search on
MOICEUW. I still suspect that it is like GAMEW which is active of the male
and middle of the female. But I won't try to argue that position without
first doing the TLG search and seeing what I find."
(7) In the meantime, we were treated to a significant lexicographical
discussion by Anthony Storm, the key part of which, in terms of the
question I'm interested in here, was:
"The noun MOIXEIA means adultery or illicit intercourse, as is found
in Plato (R 443a; Lg. 839a) and in Lysias (1.36), as well in Andocides,
PERI MEN OUN MOIXEIAS KAI YUNAIKWN ALLOTRION (4.10), and in many other
places. The distinction between adultery or illicit intercourse depends on
whether the female is married or not. I maintain MOIXEIA can apply to any
female under the protection of a kurios, but that the most common situation
in Greek literature is that of a married woman committing what we would
call adultery.
"The verb MOIXEUW is used in the active voice in an absolute
(intransitive) sense meaning I act as an adulterer, for example MH
MOIXEUEIN MHD' hUBRIZEIN (Arist. NE 1129b, 22), EMOIXEUSAS TI (Ar. Nub.
1076). When the verb is used with the accusative case, which is the norm,
it means to commit adultery with (a woman), debauch her, or seduce her. In
Aristophanes we find, MOIXEUSONTES TAS ALKMHNAS (Av. 558), and in Lysias On
the Murder of Eratosthenes, hWS EMOIXEUEN ERATOSQENHS THN GUNAIKA THN EMHN
(1.4) and UPO GUNAIKOS UPOPEMFQEISA hHN EKEINOS EMOIXEUEN (1.15), and in
Plato, KAI THN GUNAIKA AUTOU MOIXEUSANTA (R 360b), and so forth. In
conjunction with the genitive, which is rare, MOIXEUW means to seduce or
violate a woman, and then figuratively, to adulterate (Lucianus DMar.
12.1). In the middle and passive voices, it means to be, or allow oneself
to be, seduced, (Arist. HA 586a3), but in the case of a woman it means to
commit adultery. Interestingly enough, it is also used figuratively for the
intermingling of men and animals or people of different races, (Arist. HA
619a).
"The verb MOIXEUW generally means commit adultery. When a girl, who
should be guarding her virginity, is seduced, it means to commit illicit
intercourse. In either case, MOIXEUW covers the entire process of wooing a
woman (or girl) away from her kurios, as we see when we examine Lysias 1,
including illicit sex. The Greeks believed that men were powerful and women
susceptible, hence MOIXEIA does not only refer to the process when an
illicit affair is consummated, but also to the initial moment of seduction
that later leads to sexual intercourse."
-----------------------------------
Well, I have done my research into MOICEUW active and MOICEUOMAI
middle/passive and although I think that Anthony Storm's account is
important and generally accurate, but I'd like to add some things I've
found to what he tells us. I should add that I really have not attempted to
run a complete tally of the TLG disk; in fact, I've only gone through Alpha
but in itself that has produced some results that are interesting and
significant enough to cast light upon the question of how the voice of the
form MOICEUOMAI ought to be understood, particularly as I've also looked at
all examples of the verb MOICEUW in the LXX. Let me begin with those:
Leviticus 20:10 MOICEUSHTAI (aorist subjunctive middle 3d sg.) used of a
man with GUNAIKA as object:
ANQRWPOS, hOS AN MOICEUSHTAI GUNAIKA ANDROS H hOS AN MOICEUSHTAI GUNAIKA
TOU PLHSION, QANATWi QANATOUSQWSAN hO MOICEUWN KAI hH MOICEUOMENH. Here I
think that both instances of MOICEUSHTAI should be understood as middle
(actually, as aorist, they couldn't be passive) in the sense: causes to be
an adulteress.
Hosea 4:13 MOICEUSOUSIN (future indicative active 3d pl.) used of women,
and Hosea 4:14 MOICEUWSIN (present subjunctive active 3d pl.) used of women
likewise. I cite these two verses entirely, because I think they show in
the prophet an interestingly different perspective on the relative behavior
of males and females from that of the Leviticus legal passage--in Hosea's
oracle God is already saying, it appears, "Why should I endeavor to protect
your women from sexual corruption, considering the sexual behavior of your
men?" In some ways an interesting parallel to the story in John 8:
EPI TAS KORUFAS TWN OREWN EQUSIAZON KAI EPI TOUS BOUNOUS EQUON, hUPOKATW
DRUOS KAI LEUKHS KAI DENDROU SUSKIAZONTOS, hOTI KALON SKEPH. DIA TOUTO
EKPORNEUSOUSIN hAI QUGATERES UMWN, KAI hAI NUMFAI hUMWN M O I C E U S O U
S I N; KAI OU MH EPISKEYWMAI EPI TAS QUGATERAS hUMWN, hOTAN PORNEUWSIN, KAI
EPI TAS NUMFAS hUMWN, hOTAN M O I C E U W S I N, DIOTI KAI AUTOI META TWN
PORNWN SUNEFURONTO KAI META TWN TETELESMENWN EQUON, KAI hO LAOS hO SUNIWN
SUNEPLEKETO META PORNHS.
One of the more fascinating passages in classical Attic attesting our
middle participial form is Aristophanes' Peace 980; I offer a version of
the whole passage, but show the Greek of line 980:
(The protagonist Trugaios is making an offering to the goddess Peace. In
line 978 the chorus sings to her)
Do receive it, most honored one
by Zeus, and don't do what the ( hAI
adulterous women do. (MOICEUOMENAI DRWSI GUNAIKES)
For they also recline
and peep out through the curtain,
and if anyone pays them any attention,
they draw back,
and if he goes away, they peep out again.
After which Trugaios says, "No, don't do that, but reveal yourself wholly
to us your lovers in all generosity ..." I think the form MOICEUOMENAI here
is pretty surely middle.
There was a comic dramatist of the early fourth century in Athens with the
same name, Alcaeus, as the renowned Lesbian poet (of whom you probably have
never heard, though you've probably heard of his feminine contemporary from
the same island, Sappho). Unfortunately (or fortunately, as the case may
be) only a few piddling fragments survive of Alcaeus Comicus' works, but
one that survives only by title is ADELFAI MOICEUOMENAI. My bet is that
here too the participle is feminine, and it would not surprise me in the
least if this play isn't an early model for what ultimately became Mozart's
comic opera, "Cosi Fan Tutte."
In the Hellenistic novel "Leucippe and Clitophon of Achilles Tatius (4.8.4)
we find what, since it is future tense, can only be a middle 3d sg. form,
MOICEUSETAI. In Fable 300 of Aesop we find a future middle participial
form, MOICEUSOMENHN. I assume no one will try to argue that these are
passive.
A rather amusing iambic line (Amphilochius Scr. Eccl. Iambi ad Seleucum
106) personifies Laughter as ruling despotically and Nature as committing
adultery: GELWS TURANNEI KAI FUSIS MOICEUETAI. Here too I think the verb is
middle.
An interesting elegiac piece from the Greek Anthology (AG 9.166.3) displays
the misogynist sentiment that both of Homer's epics show the destructive
power of women, although one is chaste Penelope and the other the lusty
Helen. And lest it be thought that Helen behaved as she did because
Menelaus divorced her, the fact is that he not only fought a long hard war
to get her back but that he was very happy to get her back and to display
her to the visiting son of Odysseus, who at this point has still not come
home from the war. MOICEUSAMENHS, since it is aorist, can only be middle
voice:
PASAN hOMHROS EDEIXE KAKHN SFALERHN TE GUNAIKA,
SWFRONA KAI PORNHN AMFOTERAS OLEQRON.
EK GAR THS hELENHS MOICEUSAMENHS FONOS ANDRWN
KAI DIA SWFROSUNHN PHNLOPHS QANATOI.
ILIAS OUN TO PONHMA MIAS CARIN ESTI GUNAIKOS,
AUTAR ODUSSEIHi PHNELOPH PROFASIS.
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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