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question about LXX Exodus 20:9

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 4:16 pm
by Markos
I have a question about LXX Exodus 20:9:

«ἓξ ἡμέρας ἐργᾷ καὶ ποιήσεις πάντα τὰ ἒργα σου.»

What is the form of ἐργᾷ? I don’t recognize it. Is it a verb or a noun? Thanks in advance for the help.

{ ερωτημα μεν ουν εχω περι του εικοσι κεφαλαιου του της Εξοδου βιβλιου. λεγω δη τον ενατον στιχον.

«ἓξ ἡμέρας ἐργᾷ καὶ ποιήσεις πάντα τὰ ἒργα σου.»

τί εστιν το «ἐργᾷ» κατα μορφην; αυτο γαρ ουκ επέγνων. αρα τουτο ρημα ἢ λογος;

ευχαριστῶ ημιν βοηθοῦσι μοι. }

Re: question about LXX Exodus 20:9

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 5:14 pm
by refe
κατα Perseus:

ἐργᾷ verb 2nd sg fut ind mp attic epic contr

It's a weird looking form but actually very regular:
ἐργαζομαι -> ἐργασεσαι -> ἐργαεαι -> ἐργᾷ

"Six days you will work, and you will do all your work."

Re: question about LXX Exodus 20:9

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 5:45 pm
by Markos
Thanks, Refe,

I missed this one. Perhaps God has read Homer. :D

{ ευχαριστω ω Ρηφ,

τουτο ημαρτον.

ταχα μεν ουν ὁ Θεος τα του Ομηρου ανεγνω. :D }

Re: question about LXX Exodus 20:9

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:27 am
by jswilkmd
refe wrote:It's a weird looking form but actually very regular:
ἐργαζομαι -> ἐργασεσαι -> ἐργαεαι -> ἐργᾷ
Man, that's got to be a record for contraction! Loss of two intervocalic sigmas, contraction of three vowels and an iota becoming a subscript!

Re: question about LXX Exodus 20:9

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:41 pm
by refe
... and it manages to look just like a dative in the process! That's why I love the morphology-heavy approach that Mounce takes to the verbal system. If you know the rules of contraction you can usually figure out where a given verb is coming from (although I had to look this one in Perseus up to make sure!)