From: S. Kanary (info@kanarysweb.com)
Date: Sun Dec 03 2000 - 22:24:54 EST
Hi, this is my first post, and my only qualification for being on this list
is that I am keenly interested in what the Bible actually says, and I know
how to read. :-)
That being said, I would most humbly like to ask a question to see what
"grayer heads" might have to say.
Would some light be shed on the meaning of "genea" if Matthew's gospel had
originally been written in Hebrew? The reason I suggest this is that I have
found the following:
External evidence to the effect that Matthew originally wrote this Gospel in
Hebrew reaches as far back as Papias of Hierapolis, of the second century
C.E. Eusebius quoted Papias as stating: "Matthew collected the oracles in
the Hebrew language." (The Ecclesiastical History, III, XXXIX, 16) Early in
the third century, Origen made reference to Matthew's account and, in
discussing the four Gospels, is quoted by Eusebius as saying that the "first
was written . . . according to Matthew, who was once a tax-collector but
afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, . . . in the Hebrew language." (The
Ecclesiastical History, VI, XXV, 3-6) The scholar Jerome (of the fourth and
fifth centuries C.E.) wrote in his work De viris inlustribus (Concerning
Illustrious Men), chapter III, that Matthew "composed a Gospel of Christ in
Judaea in the Hebrew language and characters for the benefit of those of the
circumcision who had believed. . . . Moreover, the Hebrew itself is
preserved to this day in the library at Caesarea, which the martyr Pamphilus
so diligently collected."-Translation from the Latin text edited by E. C.
Richardson and published in the series "Texte und Untersuchungen zur
Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur," Leipzig, 1896, Vol. 14, pp. 8, 9.
Sarah Kanary
Kanary's Web
http://www.kanarysweb.com/
info@kanarysweb.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu>
To: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Cc: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2000 8:58 PM
Subject: [b-greek] Re: hOUTOS/EKEINOS
> At 8:07 PM -0500 12/3/00, RHutchin@aol.com wrote:
> >Recently, I was presented with the following argument. The person cited
A
> >Primer of Biblical Greek by N. Clayton Croy (Eerdmans, 1999) as stating,
> >"Biblical Greek, like English, had a 'near' demonstrative, hOUTOS, for
> >something relatively close in time, space or thought, and a 'far'
> >demonstrative, EKEINOS, for something relatively distant."
> >
> >Based on this, the person argues that Jesus, by using the 'near'
> >demonstrative, hOUTOS, in Matt 24:34 could only have been referring to
those
> >to whom he was physically speaking. Had Jesus wanted to refer to a
future
> >generation, he would have had to use the word EKEINOS.
> >
> >Is his argument valid?
>
> Text: 34 AMHN LEGW hUMIN hOTI OU MH PARELQHi hH GENEA hAUTH hEWS AN PANTA
> TAUTA GENHTAI.
>
>
> It is true that the two demonstratives are used thus to refer to things
> nearer and to things farther away in time or space. On the other hand, I
> don't think that we would have EKEINH hH GENEA in Matt 24:34 without some
> preceding identification of such a future generation; that is, I think
that
> if EKEINH hH GENEA were substituted for hAUTH hH GENEA in this verse, one
> would have to wonder WHICH generation the speaker had in mind. I think
> there would need to be some indication of the time or situation to which
> EKEINH hH GENEA must refer.
>
> An example of what I mean is provided by the account in Mark 2 of Jesus'
> response to a question about the non-fasting of Jesus' disciples when
> disciples of Pharisees and disciples of John the Baptist fast. Jesus says
> in 2:19, "The groomsmen cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can
> they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast." But
> then he adds, 2:20 ELEUSONTAI DE hHMERAI hOTAN APARQHi AP' AUTWN hO
> NUMFIOS, KAI TOTE NHSTEUSOUSIN EN EKEINHi THi hHMERAi. Here Jesus first
> says that a time will come when it is appropriate for the "groomsmen" to
> fast and then refers to that more distant time with the expression EN
> EKEINHi THi hHMERAi.
> --
>
> 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
> WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
>
> ---
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