From: RHutchin@aol.com
Date: Wed Dec 29 1999 - 16:00:33 EST
In previous discussions of Luke 2:2, Carl Conrad stated (strongly, I believe)
that
Luke, by using the present participle, hHGEMONEUONTOS, clearly intends to
tell us that the census took place while Quirinius was governing.
That seems to follow from--
EGENETO EN TAIS hHMERAIS HRODON BASILEWS.... (LK 1:5)
EGENETO DE EN TAIS hHMERAIS EKEINAIS EXHLQEN DOGMA PARA KAISAROS AUGOUSTOU...
(LK 2:1)
so that
hAUTH APOGRAFH PRWTH EGENETO hHGEMONEUONTOS THS SURIAS KURHNIOU (Lk 2:2)
would simply convey that Quirinius was also governing at the time.
If this were not the case (i.e., Luke really wants to refer to the future
Quirinius), Luke would need a reason to contrast this particular census (tax)
with the later census under Quirinius and then he would need to have written
it differently to actually make his point. Had Quirinius not been
governing, would Luke have cause to mention him at all? If Luke thought that
there might be some confusion with the later census in 6-7 AD, he would need
only to identify the man who was governing at that time. Even if one wants
to argue that Luke felt compelled to make a distinction from the later census
of Quirinius, the grammatical structure still must be explained. The
simplest resolution seems to be Carl's.
The real issue is not so much what PRWTH means but what made Luke use it at
all. Why didn't Luke just say, hAUTH APOGRAFH EGENETO hHGEMONEUONTOS THS
SURIAS KURHNIOU. What does PRWTH add to the historical account that
necessitates its use?
Carl also said that PRWTH cannot legitimately be understood to mean "the first
census" but rather must be understood to mean "took place as the first one."
If I understand Carl correctly, PRWTH implies contrast and not order or
number.
Carl then takes this to mean that the census had NOT ever taken place prior
to the governorship of Quirinius.
That is the point, I want to pursue. Luke wants to tell the reader that the
census was conducted when Quirinius was governing. If there were only one
census under Quirinius, and Luke mistakes the census of 6-7 AD for the one in
6-7 BC, then he has no reason to add PRWTH (or does he?). However, if Luke
seeks to contrast the census of 6-7 BC with the later, more infamous, census
conducted by Quirinius in 6-7 AD because both were under Quirinius and
thereby avoid confusion between the two, then he needs to insert language to
accomplish this purpose. Would the addition of PRWTH into the account do
this?
Roger Hutchinson
RHutchin@AOL.com
--- B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:52 EDT