Paul Danove, «Christological Implications of the three-fold Interpretation of Verbs of Transference», Vol. 21 (2008) 27-44
This article develops the Christological implications of the three-fold grammatical interpretation of specific passive occurrences of verbs that designate transference with Jesus as the verbal subject. The discussion considers the Greek conceptualizations of transference and motion, the conditions that accommodate a three-fold grammatical interpretation of passive occurrences, and procedures for evaluating the contextual viability of these grammatical interpretations. The discussion then identifies verbal occurrences that admit to a three-fold interpretation with Jesus as subject, clarifies their traditional English translations, and develops the Christological implications of the three-fold interpretation of verbs in Mark 14,41, Heb 9,28, and Acts 1,11.
Christological implications of the three-fold interpretation of verbs 29
The conceptualization of motion specifies the relationships among
three logical entities: something that moves, the locale from which so-
mething moves, and the locale to which something moves. These three
entities have the semantic functions, Theme, Source, and Goal. Although
Greek and English verbs are able to raise three entities as required com-
plements, verbs in both languages grammaticalize conceptualizations of
motion that assume a perspective in relation to either initiation, at which
the Theme and Source are coincident, or termination, at which the Theme
and Goal are coincident. With these perspectives Greek and English verbs
omit consideration of the coincident Source or Goal, whose relationships
may be retrieved from the Theme, whether at initiation (Source) or termi-
nation (Goal) and raise only the Theme and either the Goal or the Source
as required complements, as in the following examples:
But let’s go [from where we are] to him (John 11,15)
ἀλλὰ ἄγωμεν Ï€Ïὸς αá½Ï„όν
He withdrew [to his final position] from them about a stone’s throw (Luke
22,41)
αá½Ï„ὸς ἀπεσπάσθη ἀπ᾿ αá½Ï„ῶν ὡσεὶ λίθου βολὴν
In John 11,15, “we†(Theme) is coincident with the Source at the initia-
tion of motion; and, in Luke 22,41, Jesus (Theme) is coincident with the
Goal at the termination of motion. In both examples, the realized local
entity (Goal in John 11,15 and Source in Luke 22,41) receives greater
grammatical emphasis than the unrealized coincident local entity.
1.2. The Conceptualizations of Transference and Motion: Subject
Affectedness
English verbs grammaticalize transference with active base forms
and may appear with passive forms only though passivization, which
raises the Theme complement to the status of the verbal subject. En-
glish verbs grammaticalize motion with active base forms and do not
admit to passivization because only the Theme of motion can function
as the verbal subject. Greek verbs in the NT, however, grammaticalize
transference with only active base forms (e.g., ἀποστÎλλω, “sendâ€), only
middle base forms (e.g., χαÏίζομαι, “giveâ€), both active and middle base
forms (e.g., τίθημι / τίθεμαι, “place†/ “entrustâ€), or, under conditions
detailed in the following study, both active and passive base forms (e.g.,
διασῴζω / διασῴζομαι, “bring safely†/ “bring oneself safelyâ€); and verbs
with active and / or middle base forms may appear with passive forms by
passivization. When the same Greek verbs grammaticalize motion, they