LXX Greek help

**Prufrock** · #1 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:15 PM

Can someone point out the cause of the infinitive of paroikew having the genitive article in the LXX of Ruth 1:1?

***fredtgreco*** · #2 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:23 PM

Paul,

My Smythe is at the office, but my initial reaction on seeing it was "articular infinitive in the genitive for purpose clause." I looked at Wallace quickly in my Bibleworks, and he says that the articular infinitive can be in the genitive for causal clauses "rarely." My guess is that it is rare in the NT, and more common in Classical Greek.

Poimen · #3 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:23 PM

When an infinitive has an article coupled with it it is an indicator that it is being modified or at least to be interpreted with the prepositional phrase (here apo Bethlehem). As far as I know this only works/happens when the article is neuter singular (as is the case with Ruth 1:1).

Guido's Brother · #4 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prufrock

Can someone point out the cause of the infinitive of paroikew having the genitive article in the LXX of Ruth 1:1?

I would say that it's a Genitive Articular Infinitive, indicating purpose or result. It translates lamedh + infinitive in Hebrew.

***fredtgreco*** · #5 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:26 PM

Also, here is Conybeare's section:

Quote:

59. The Genitive Infinitive of Purpose. The genitive of the verbal noun formed by prefixing the article to the infinitive, which we may call for convenience the Genitive Infinitive, is one of the regular ways of expressing purpose in Biblical Greek, corresponding to our use of ‘to.’ The construction is not entirely unknown to classical authors (e.g. Plat. Gorg. 457 E tou/ katafane.j gene,sqai ) and is especially favoured by Thucydides. There is nothing in the Hebrew to suggest it. The following will serve as examples -
Jdg. 16:5 kai. dh,somen auvto.n tou/ tapeinw/sai auvto,nÅ
Ps. 9:30 evnedreu,ei tou/ a`rpa,sai ptwco,n .
Job 1:19 h=lqon tou/ avpaggei/lai, soi .
So also frequently in N.T., e.g. -
Mt. 13:3 evxh/lqen o` spei,rwn tou/ spei,rein .
James 5:17 proshu,xato tou/ mh. bre,xai .
60. Other Uses of the Genitive Infinitive.
a. The genitive infinitive of purpose is only one use out of many to which this syntactical device is applied. Take for instance -
Ex. 14:5 Ti, tou/to evpoih,samen tou/ evxapostei/lai tou.j ui`ou.j VIsrah.l tou/ mh. douleu,ein h`mi/n ¿Ê w`ste mh. douleu,einÀ;
Purpose is not expressed in either of these cases. In the former we have what may be called the Explanatory Use of the Genitive Infinitive; in the latter we have something which represents ‘from serving us’ in the orginal, but which we shall nevertheless class as a Genitive Infinitive of Consequence, since it is only thus that the Greek can be explained.
b. The Explanatory Use of the Genitive Infinitive is common in the LXX, e.g. -
Gen. 3:22 VAda.m ge,gonen w`j ei=j evx h`mw/nÃ tou/ gignw,skein kalo.n kai. ponhro,n .
Ex. 8:29 mh. prosqh/|j e;tiÃ Faraw,Ã evxapath/sai tou/ mh. evxapostei/lai to.n lao,n .
Ps. 26:4 tau,thn (§ 47) evkzhth,sw· tou/ katoikei/n me ktl .
So in N.T. --
Acts 7:19 evka,kwse tou.j pate,raj h`mw/nÃ tou/ poiei/n e;kqeta ta. bre,fh auvtw/n .
Gal. 3:10 o] ouvk evmme,nei evn pa/si toi/j gegramme,noij Å Å Å tou/ poih/sai auvta,Å
c. As an instance of the Genitive Infinitive of Consequence we may take -
Ex. 7:14 beba,rhtai h` kardi,a Faraw. tou/ mh. evxapostei/lai to.n lao,nÅ
So in N.T. --
Hb. 11:5 VEnw.c metete,qh tou/ mh. ivdei/n qa,natonÅ
d. What is called in Latin Grammar the ‘prolative infinitive’ after ‘extensible’ verbs, or more simply, the latter of two verbs, is also commonly expressed in the LXX by the genitive infinitive, e.g. -
Ps. 39:13 ouvk hvduna,sqhn tou/ ble,pein .
2 Chr. 3:1 h;rxato tou/ oivkodomei/nÅ
Gen. 18:7 evta,cunen tou/ poih/sai auvto,Å
So in N.T. --
Acts 3:12 w`j Å Å Å pepoihko,si tou/ peripatei/n auvto,n , 15:20 evpistei/lai Å Å Å tou/ avpe,cesqaiÃ 27:1 evkri,qh tou/ avpoplei/n .

***fredtgreco*** · #6 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:29 PM

Screenshot may work better.

**Prufrock** · #7 (**permalink**) 01-13-2009, 07:37 PM

Thanks, all. My LXX translating experience is clearly far too small. Thanks for that last post, especially, Mr. Greco: I didn't remember that construction from the example in Matthew.

Wes: Smyth has the construction to normally represent negative purpose; is it used in the LXX often for positive purpose as well? I guess you really don't need to answer; I suppose I'll find out soon enough.