From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sun Nov 07 1999 - 16:51:41 EST
At 2:12 AM -0500 11/7/99, Stporfiri@cs.com wrote:
>The final sentence in Hermas Vis. I.i.3 is clear in its purport, but obscure
>in one point. Why does a verb in the subjunctive mood surface in a steady
>stream of indicatives? The outline of the sentence is DIABAS . . . TON
>POTAMON . . . HLQON EIS TA OMALA KAI TIQW TA GONATA KAI HRXAMHN PROSEUCESQAI.
> When I checked Lake's translation, I found that he paid the subjunctive no
>attention at all. I will appreciate any helpful comments on this puzzle or
>directions to the relevant grammar-books.
I don't have any resources ready to hand at the moment, and perhaps by now
somebody has already answered this, but I'd consider the possibility that
TIQW is not a subjunctive at all but rather the familiar TIQHMI transformed
into an omega verb, in which case this is a present indicative first
singular. After all, AFIHMI, although a classical -MI verb, commonly
appears as AFIW in some Koine writers. A quick check of the GNT has
verified that the omega verb TIQW is not to be found there, but I think
that's as much a possibility as that we have a subjunctive . Still it's an
odd sequence: from HLQON aorist to TIQW present to HRXAMHN aorist again.
The TIQW would have to be a historical present or perhaps fall into Dale
Wheeler's "default" category. But there ought to be lexicographical
evidence somewhere for an omega form of TIQHMI, or so I'd guess.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
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