146 Chrys C. Caragounis Accordingly, of the six occurrences of κτᾶσται in the NT (except- ing our text), all of which are usually interpreted inchoatively, in two instances the inchoative interpretation is (leaving the Aorist aside, for the moment), problematic; a durative sense would seem to be more suitable, especially in the second text. In Mt 10:9 μὴ κτήσησθε χρυσὸν ... εἰς τὰς ζώνας ὑμῶν, an inchoative translation of this would be “Do not acquire [i.e. put] money in your purses”85. But then why does he not use a verb that signifies “put”, since κτήσησθε cannot mean that. The most suitable sense in this context, where a prolonged journey is in view, would be “Do not carry (keep) money in your purses”. The second text is Lk 21:19 ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ ὐμῶν κτήσασθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν. Even if this referred to the eschatological salvation, rather than to possessing (or keeping) their souls in patience– a meaning that ought to be contemplated, –they are not said to obtain or acquire something they do not already have, sc. eternal life (in which case we should have expected ζωή), but to ‘save’, in the sense of ‘to preserve’, ‘to keep’ something they already have, sc. their souls.86 This seems to argue for a durative sense in the basic form of the verb, even though the Aorist gives it an aoristic, i.e. a punctiliar aspect in the tense; in other words, the action is viewed as a whole without respect to its linearity.87 Bearing in mind that words are no rigid things, and in view of the fact that the NT occurs at a time of transition from ancient indicative of ownership, shows that also in these cases κτᾶσται has the durative sense of “to be in poossession of”; PDura I. 26 (A.D. 226): τὴν χώραν αὐτῷ ἔδωκεν εἰς τὸ ἔχειν αὐτὸν κυρίως καὶ βεβαίως εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον κτᾶσθαι χρᾶσθαι πωλεῖν δι[οι]κεῖν τρόπῳ ᾧ ἂν αἱρῆται…; PLond. V. 1724,54 (date unknown): κυριεύειν καὶ δεσπόζειν καὶ πωλεῖν καὶ μεταπωλεῖν καὶ οἰκεῖν καὶ κατοικεῖν καὶ οἰκοδομεῖν καὶ ἐποικοδομεῖν, κτᾶσθαι, χρᾶσθαι παντὶ ἀρέσκοντι ὑμῖν τρόπῳ ἀνεπικωλύτως καὶ ἀνεμποδίστως; BGU I. 316rp,20 (A.D. 359): καὶ διὰ χειρός [χιρος], καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτῷ τὸν [προγεγρ(αμμένον)] δοῦλον κυρίως ἔχειν καὶ δεσποτικῶς κτᾶσθ[αι χρᾶσθαι (καὶ)] πωλεῖν διοικεῖν, ὃν ἂν αἱρῆται [αἱρητε] τρόπον, ἀπὸ τῆς σ[ήμερον] ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς ἀεὶ; SB VI. 8987,29 (A.D. 644-5): ἔχειν καὶ κρατεῖν καὶ κυριεύειν καὶ δεσπόζειν τοῦ εἰρημ… [συμποσ]ίου καὶ τῆς μικρᾶς αἴθρας ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἑξῆς καὶ ἅπαντα καὶ διηνεκῆ χρόνον, καὶ [ἔ]χειν ὑμᾶς τὴν ἄδειαν τοῦ κτᾶσθαι, χρᾶσθαι, νέμεσθαι, διοικεῖν, οἰκονομεῖν, βελτιοῦν, φιλοκαλεῖν…; Finally, POxy II. 259,6 from A.D. 23 documents the durative sense for the futute infinitive κτήσεσθαι: Καίσαρα Νέον Σεβαστὸν Αὐτοκράτορα ἦ [ει] μὴν κτήσεσθαι ἡμ[έ]ρας τρίακοντα [830]8 ἐν αἷ<σ> [αι] ἀ[πο]καταστήσω ὅν ἠγγύημαι [ενγεγυημαι] παρὰ σοῦ ἐκ [τ]ῆς πολιτι[κ]ῆς φυλα[κ]ῆς . The sense given by BAG, BAGD and BDAGD s.v. “acquire gold (in order to put it) 85 into your (money) belts” is forced and artificial, dictated by the assumption of inchoative action in the basic form of the verb. Differently from Mark, Luke, by interposing vs.18, seems to have left the thought of 86 martyrdom (vs. 16) behind him and to be thinking in vs. 19 only of perseverance. G. P. Carras, “Jewish Ethics and Gentile Converts. Remarks on 1 Thess 4,3-8” in R.F. 87 Collins (ed.), The Thessalonian Correspondence, Leuven 1990, cites Lk 18:12, following LSJ, but κτῶμαι here is certainly inchoative, since the tithing took place at the acquisi- tion.