Saturday, September 11, 2021

Ralph Marcus' Refutation of Purported Examples of "Causal εις" Proposed by J. R. Mantey

  

Ralph Marcus, "On Causal Eis," Journal of Biblical Literature 70, no. 2 (June, 1951): 129-30

 

1. Polybius ii.54.14, διαφηκε παντας εις την χειμασιαν. Hence εις clearly indicates place to which.

 

2. Polybius v.571.1. The same construction appears here.

 

3. Polybius v.66.6(l.5). Exactly the same construction appears here as in Nrs. 1 and 2.

 

4. Polybius v.22.8, εις α βλεπων ο Φιλιππος κτλ. Dr. Mantey renders "Because of which Philip decided etc." He completely ignores the participle βλεπων, on which the preposition εις depends. The locution βλεπων εις τι means "to have regard to something." In this and similar locutions we have a metaphorical use of εις as a preposition indicating place to which.

 

5. Polybius v.30.2, exactly same as Nr. 4.

 

6. Polybius v.38.8, exactly the same as Nrs. 5 and 6.

 

7. Polybius x.6.4, αμυνασθαι σπουδαζοντας την Καρχηδονιων εις αυτους αδελγειαν. Dr. Mantey renders "from eagerness to be avenged on the Carthaginians because of their brutal conduct." The text really says, "being eager to take vengeance for the Carthaginians' (wanton) violence toward them." There is not the slightest shadow of a causal εις here.

 

8. Josephus Ant. ix.3.1 (32), εις αποριαν υδατος τοις τε κτηωεσι και τη στρατια περιστησαν. Dr. Mantey renders, "because of the lack of water for their cattle and the army, they were in desperate need." The text really says, "they were reduced to lack of water for their cattle and the army." The locution περιισταναι εις τι, which is common in medical writers, means "to be reduced to a certain (unfortunate) condition." Here, as in Nr. 4, we have a metaphorical use of εις as a preposition indicating place to which.

 

Ralph Marcus, "The Elusive Causal Eis," Journal of Biblical Literature 71, no. 1 (March 1952): 43-44

 

The first example, from Polybius I.87.4, . . . His translation reads in part, "and to force them, because of the circumstances, εις τα παροντα, to be reconciled." Unfortunately Prof. Mantey has neglected to cite all of the relevant phrase in Greek, which reads βλεψαντας τις τα παροντα. Here the εις is dependent upon βλεψαντας (as in the three other examples from Polybius noted in my first article) and indicates (figurative) place to which. There is no shadow of a causal εις here.

 

The second example, from Pap. Oxy. iv.787, contains the phrase εις την εμην καταλογην, which Prof. Mantey translates, "on ( = because of) my recommendation." This translation is unexceptional but it hardly establishes εις as causal. The phrase meant originally "(set down) to one's account) and only secondarily came to mean "on one's recommendation." Suppose an English grammarian were to argue that since "on his initiative" means the same thing as "because of his initiative", the preposition "on" is causal. Would that be regarded as good linguistic description?

 

The third and fourth examples are almost identical, one being taken from Lucian's Dead Come to Life 12, the other from Essays in Portraiture Defended 23. Both passages speak of a woman who is praised for her beauty, επαινουμενη εις καλλος and επαινειν . . . εις το καλλος. In these cases, to be sure, the beauty is a cause for praise, but that does not make the εις a causal εις. Suppose, again, that an English grammarian were to argue that since such an expression as "commendable in spirit" or "laudable in attitude" is equivalent to "commendable because of spirit" or "laudable because of attitude," the English preposition "in" is causal. That would hardly be considered good linguistic description. Similarly it is not good linguistic description to say of εις after επαινειν that it is causal when it is primarily an indication of respect in which.

 

The next example is from Dionysius Hal. II.72.3, reading in part εις αναγκην κατασταντες, which Prof. Mantey renders, "being constrained by ( = on account of) necessity." But the causality comes only from the free English translation. The Greek says clearly "being reduced to need". The εις therefore indicates (figurative) place to which. . . .

 

LXX, Gen 4 23, ανδρα απεκτεινα εις πραυμα εμοι και vεανισκον εις μωλωπα εμοι, and translated by him as "I killed a man for wounding me, and a young man for striking me." I'm afraid that Prof. Mantey's translation of the Greek is less accurate than the LXX translation of the Hebrew. The Greek says literally, "I killed a man to a wound for me, and a young man to a bruise for me". The LXX has simply given a mechanical rendering of the Hebrew preposition le, the meaning of which in this brief and obscure fragment of poetry is uncertain to us and was probably uncertain to the translator. Whether the LXX translator meant this εις no one, I think, can say.

 

Further Reading


"Acts 2:38 and 1 Peter 3:19-21," in "Born of Water and of the Spirit": The Biblical Evidence for Baptismal Regeneration, pp. 106-24 (for those who want a free PDF copy, email me at ScripturalMormonismATgmailDOTcom)