Subject: Is divine initiative always passive? |
Bible Note: Greetings Aixen7z4! I agree with your post my friend! But, I did want to make one short comment about one of your statements. You wrote: "I am here to say that author was trying too hard. “Were gathered” is not any more passive than “had gathered”. The phrase does not imply that those gathering were doing so under anything but their free will or social pressure. The suggestion that those people gathering were doing so under the direction of God is not warranted." First of all, I agree with your overall point. The author was trying too hard! :-) Secondly, the voice of the verb in Greek is in fact passive. Greek voice is a matter of both form and function. The problem is that some passive verbs actually have active meanings. In this case, 'sunago' can be either in function. It can be passive or it could simply be a simple intransitive verb. Either way, even if the verb is actually functioning in the passive voice, no subject is listed. Therefore, the author was trying too hard, since the verse never says that God gathered them together. :-) I saw this point discussed earlier in the thread, and quite frankly, I was never quite clear about what the dispute was over. Your summary was very clear! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |