Pronomen Abundans and Pronomen Coniunctum. A ... - DWC

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34 PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN CONIUNCTUM is a Greek idiom, but that its frequency in the LXX and the NT is a consequence of Semitic influence 100. 2.4.2. Quantitative method In his Introduction Beyer says 101: "Falls eine Konstruktion im Semitischen und im Griechischen in gleicher Bedeutung üblich ist, wird ihre jeweilige Häufigkeit untersucht, ob sie gewöhnlich oder nur selten gebraucht wird. Wenn die qualitative Methode versagt, kann so immer noch mit der quantitativen (Statistik) semitischer Einfluss nachgewiesen werden". In the following I shall give a short survey of the results attained by following this method in a former study on this subject 102. 2.4.2.1. LXX. Let us start with giving some examples: Gen. 28,13 ij yij, ècp' ~ç av "a-&evCu:tç in' alrl'ijç, aol {Jwaw alrcijv "al 7:0V ani(!/"w7:{ aov. If one reads the Hebrew text 103, one sees that the Greek text constitutes an extremely exact, literal translation : not only the pronomen abundans in' aV7:ijç is an imitation of the Hebrew, but also the nominativus pendens ij yij! Lev. 11,32 niiv a"evoç, ö iàv notrr{}fj leyov iv aiJnp, elç i5{Jwe {Jarp~ae7:at ... The translation is just as literal as in the former example. If the relat. pronoun ö really is the correct version (an emendation into o'Ó would solve everything!), this fossilized neutral form ö is absolutely unique : something like this has not been found in Greek another time 104. It has not been necessary to count all the cases of the pronomen abundans in the LXX, because, when I had finished counting the cases in Genesis, a total of 23 had been reached. This is enough evidence to show that in the LXX there is something else going on than in the rest of the Koine, where a total of 26 was found. Is it correct to call this phenomenon in the LXX a Semitism? That depends upon our definition of the term "Semitism" . If we regard only phenomena which have been adopted by Greek from Hebrew (i.e. have 100 See, e.g., Robertson, pp. 94, 683, 722-3, but especially Black, p. 100. 101 Beyer, pp. 9-10. 102 See Bakker, Ontwikkeling, pp. 171-2. 103 I wish to express my gratefulness to Drs. P. W . van der Horst for his assistance in interpreting the Hebrew texts. 104 This is not altogether true. In a translation of the Pentateuch into colloquial Greek and written in Hebrew characters, executed in 1547 and edited by Hesseling (see bibliography) we find something similar: the Hebrew nota relationis is rendered by an indeclinabIe oç almost all the time! A few examples: Gen. 3,11 tin' TO t5ÉvTeo, oç ÉnaeáyyetÀá ae và "'-YJ rpéj.ç àn' beeivo (LXX: ov .. . àn' athoii), Gen. 21,23 T-YJV 1jyij oç É'K.aTobeYjaeç elç aVT-YJv (LXX: fJ . •• Év aVTfl), Gen. 40,3 Ó T6noç oç ó Ioaerp rpvÀa'K.w",Évoç É'K.ei (LXX: ov ... È'K.ei). The translator also used the modern (indeclinabIe!) relative ónov, but mostly, and especially in cases where in the Hebrew text the nota relationis is followed by a resumpt. pronoun, he made use of lJç, the old relat. pronoun, which was out of use then since a long time, without dec1ining it. The use of 0 in Lev. 11,32 is much more strange, for at the time when the LXX was written the relat. pronoun oç 1) 0 was still in use!
PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN CONIUNCTUM 35 become common property in the Greek language) as being Semitisms, then even Lev. 11,32 would not contain a Semitism! We need a definition which is a little more subtie and at the same time should consider the following. A Semite, even when he is writing Greek, continues thinking as a Semite and is always inclined to use Semitic phrases and constructions. This inclination will be even stronger, when he is translating, especially when he is translating the Holy Scripture. We have seen that in the Greek Koine the pronomen abundans is not an unusual phenomenon: it does occur now and then. What we find in the LXX is not unknown to the Greek language, but, if one looks at it from the viewpoint of statistics, the phenomenon breaks through its limits, or rather it stretches them extremely far l05. We may, therefore, as far as the LXX is concerned, concur with the view of Blass-Debrunner, who sayl06: "In vielen Fällen hat eine im Griechischen nicht unerhöhrte, aber doch ungewöhnliche Erscheinung, weil sie zum semitischen Gebrauch stimmte, volle Lebenskraft erhalten ... ". 2.4.2.2. NT. The situation in the NT differs from the one in the LXX: there are not so many instances of the pronomen abundans and many of them are similar to examples which are found in the rest of the Koine. Ep. Gal. 2,10 flÓVOV nov nTwxwv rva flv'YJflOVBVW!lfiV, 8 xal èanov(jaaa aVTo Toiho notijaat. This use of the pronomen abundans is almost similar to the one we have observed in B.G.U. I 330 (see 2.2.1). Eighteen examples have been found in the NT against 26 in the rest of the Koine. Eight of them occur in the Gospels: four in Mark, two in Luke and one in both Matthew and J ohn. St. Paul presents one example, which we have seen above. The highest amount is found in the Apocalypse: nine! It is not a surprise that the majority of the cases occurs in the Gospel of Mark and in the Apocalypse: these two texts have undergone the greatest influence from Aramaic and Hebrew. As far as the NT is concerned, we cannot go further than say that Aramaic supports a tendency which already existed in the Greek language. With great eagerness the Semitic authors - forgetting for a while that Luke sooms to have been a Greek! - embraced an idiom that was in their blood. As to the number of instances one may, considering the fact that they were Semites, admire their self-restraint! 2.4.3. Qualitative method If the qualitative method cannot be used, the quantitative method is still there, but obviously one does not get very far with it. The results which were attained in the foregoing pages are plausible, but not very satisfying. We should try, therefore, to make use ofthe qualitative method, 105 Cf. Moulton, Proleg., p. 95. That such a phenomenon cannot be called a Semitism is also observed by Trenkner, p. 59. 106 Blass-Debrunner, § 4,3.
Page 1 and 2: VERHANDELINGEN DER KONINKLIJKE NEDE
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1. Definition
Page 5 and 6: PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN CONI
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Page 10 and 11: 10 PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN O
Page 12 and 13: 12 PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN C
Page 14 and 15: 14 PRONOMEM ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN C
Page 22 and 23: 22 PRONOMEN AlIUNDANS AND PRONOMEN
Page 24 and 25: 24 l'RONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN
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84 PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN C
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92 PRONOMEM ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN C
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94 PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEM C
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98 PRONOMEN ABUNDAN8 AND PRONOMEN C
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100 PRONOMEN ABUNDANS AND PRONOMEN
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A. TEXTS Achi
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