From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Thu Jun 14 2001 - 08:24:30 EDT
At 9:59 PM -0700 6/13/01, Kenneth Litwak wrote:
>At the start of Luke 5:4 we read
>hWS DE EPAUSATO LALWN,....
>
> My question is this. Should we read this as"
>As he was speaking, he stopped
>ro as
>As he stopped speaking?
>Is there any grammatical rule that would dictate which
>it should be? Also, if the latter translation is
>corect, what kind of construction is the verb +
>participle, with no other modifiers or anything else
>separating them or connecting them? For Carl's
>benefit, I'm not contending this is bad Greek. It
>seems that long ago I posted something about a
>construction that seemed bizarre to me and forever
>after, it seems I'm doomed to be perceived as being
>suspicous of the grammar. I'm actually come to hold
>the exact opposite position, and am guessing that just
>as modern U.S. culture does completely bogus
>grammatical constructions like "it's this way, not,"
>Greek writers probably felt liberty to do whatever
>they wished to do as well. I simply want some rule of
>thumb to understand the construction. Thanks.
Ken, this falls into a category of what I learned and have taught as the
"supplementary" use of a participle with a verb that functions as an
auxiliary of sorts. In Classical Attic, a few such common verbs are
TUGCANW, FQANW, KINDUNEUOMAI, FAINOMAI, ARCOMAI ('begin'), PAUOMAI. You
need to look at in the grammar books under participial usage.
Here I'd understand hWS DE EPAUSATO LALWN as "And when he had finished
speaking ... (lit. 'ceased speaking')"
You might check out Smyth at Perseus, ##2094ff on "The Supplementary
Participle". Wallace (GGBB) has a discussion of what he prefers to call
"Complementary Participle" (but it's the same thing) on page 646 {I'm not
transliterating the Greek; I know it will appear as gobbledygook, but you
can check the Greek text for yourself):
=================================
4. Complementary
a. Definition
The complementary participle completes the thought of another verb.
It is especially used in combination with a verb suggesting a consummative
(e.g., "stop" [pau/w]) or sometimes a progressive (e.g., "continue"
[epimenw]) idea.81 The idiom is rare in the NT.
b. Illustrations
Matt 11:1 ote etelesen oJ Ihsouv diatasswn
when Jesus finished teaching
Acts 5:42 oujk epau/onto didaskonte kai eujaggelizo/menoi to\n
cristo/n Ihsouvn
they did not cease teaching and proclaiming that the Messiah was Jesus
Acts 12:16 oJ Petro epemenen krou/wn
Peter kept on knocking
Eph 1:16 ouj pau/omai eujcaristwn
I do not cease being thankful
Cf. also Matt 6:16; Luke 5:4; John 8:7 (v.l.); Acts 6:13; 13:10;
20:31; 21:32; Gal 6:9; Col 1:9; 2 Thess 3:13; Heb 10:2.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
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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