Paul Danove, «Verbs of Transference and Their Derivatives of Motion and State in the New Testament: a Study of Focus and Perspective.», Vol. 19 (2006) 53-71
This article identifies 102 New Testament verbs that designate
transference and describes alternative usages of these verbs as derivates of
motion and state. The discussion first considers the manner in which verbs
grammaticalize the event of transference by assuming a particular focus
and perspective on its elements and by indicating the degree of affectedness
of the subject. The study then develops the usages of motion and state in
terms of the exclusion of elements of the event of transference and changes
in focus and perspective. A concluding discussion summarizes the results of
the investigation.
62 Paul Danove
In contrast, interpretation as the passive voice of the active usage is
excluded when the context recommends the interpretation that the verbal
subject is the Agent or when the context grants a typically non-Agent
subject agentive attributes, as in the second example below, in which the
tree is portrayed as capable of obeying a command:
Endure for the sake of discipline; God is presenting himself to you as to sons.
For which son is there whom a father does not discipline? (Heb 12,7)
εἰς παιδείαν ὑπομένετε, ὡς υἱοῖς ὑμῖν Ï€ÏοσφέÏεται ὠθεός. Τίς Î³á½°Ï Ï…á¼±á½¸Ï‚ ὃν
οὠπαιδεύει πατήÏ;
If you have faith like a seed of mustard, you would say to this mulberry tree,
“Uproot yourself and transplant yourself in the seaâ€; and it would obey you
(Luke 17,6)
εἰ ἔχετε πίστιν ὡς κόκκον σινάπεως, á¼Î»á½³Î³ÎµÏ„ε ἂν τῇ συκαμίνῳ ταύτῃ,
ἘκÏιζώθητι καὶ φυτεύθητι á¼Î½ τῇ θαλάσσῃ· καὶ ὑπήκουσεν ἂν ὑμῖν.
The passive usages appear in complementary distribution within their
active correlates plus a co-referential Theme that is realized lexically as
an accusative case reflexive personal pronoun. The distinction between
the passive and the active plus reflexive pronoun again is one of emphasis.
Whereas the passive usage merely signals the total affectedness of the
Agent, the active usage qualifies its unaffected Agent with a totally
affected Theme14:
If you are the son of God, cast yourself down (Matt 3,6)
εἰ υἱὸς εἷ τοῦ θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν κάτω.
Verbs in the passive usages maintain the denotation of their active
usages when these occur. Eleven verbs appear with the correlate primary
active usage and primary passive usage of Transference to a Goal (#7
on chart): διασπείÏομαι; διασῴζομαι; á¼Ï€Î±á½·Ïομαι; á¼Ï€Î¹ÏƒÏ…νάγομαι;
παÏαδίδομαι; Ï€Ïοστίθεμαι; Ï€ÏοσφέÏομαι; ῥίπτομαι; σκοÏπίζομαι;
Allan, Middle Voice, 90-91, would limit such alternatives to situations in which the
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Agent does not typically act on itself in the way designated by the verbs.
Passive correlates to the primary and secondary active usages of Transference from
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a Source are not possible. The primary active usage has the perspective that the Agent is
co-directional with the Goal. Thus, a correlate passive usage would require that the Agent
and co-referential Theme move toward itself, which is logically impossible. The secondary
active usage focuses solely on the initiation of the event and excludes the Goal. This
exclusion removes the possibility for accommodating the total affectedness of the Agent at
the termination of transference.