07_AN_Kibbe_282_286_282_286 10/07/15 12:22 Pagina 284 284 MICHAEL KIBBE “He delivered to the woman the one [to,n] for whose life she had asked [paraite,eto]” (Herodotus 3.119). , “I am the angel who intercedes for [o` paraitou,menoj] the race of Is- rael [to. ge,noj VIsrah,l]” (Test. Levi 5.6). Third, the lone text marshaled as evidence of paraite,omai + mh, + infini- tive alongside Heb 12.19, Thucydides 5.63.3, is really no parallel at all. o` de. parh|tei/to mhde.n tou,twn dra/n “But he besought them to do none of these things.” paraite,omai + infinitive (dra/n) + accusative direct object of the in- finitive (mhde,n) 5 Note the difference between that text and Heb 12,19: oi` avkou,santej parh|th,santo mh. prosteqh/nai auvtoi/j lo,gon “Those who heard requested that no further word be spoken to them”. paraite,omai + mh, + infinitive (prosteqh/nai) + accusative subject of the infinitive (lo,gon) We do possess at least two close parallels to the syntax of Heb 12.19. Plato, Rep. 3.387b: paraithso,meqa {Omhro,n te kai. tou.j a;llouj poihta.j mh. calepai,nein “We shall plead with Homer and the rest of the poets not to be angry”. paraite,omai + mh, + infinitive (calepai,nein) + accusative subject of the infinitive ({Omhro,n te kai. tou.j a;llouj poihta,j) Josephus, Ant. 10.203: Dani,hloj parh|tei/to prw/ton mh. sofw,teron auvto.n do,xai tw/n a;llwn “Daniel first begged that he might not be thought wiser than the others”. paraite,omai + mh, + infinitive (do,xai) + accusative subject of the in- finitive (auvto,n) The first of these is most naturally understood as “to request” or some similar term. To say “We shall reject the anger of Homer and the rest of the poets” would clearly be taking Plato’s words in an entirely different direction than that indicated by their context. The second, however, could go either way — and this illustrates the problem: to say “Daniel begged 5 THUCYDIDES, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.63.3. For a similar construction see JOSEPHUS, Ant. 5.14.