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Searching for Optatives


Lorinda H. M. Hoover

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So the number of optatives in today's reading got me curious. I remember being taught in Greek class that it wasn't worthy worrying about learning the conjugations because they were so rare. I decided I wanted to compare the frequency of the use of optatives. At first, I thought I could use Research to do so, but Research doesn't support grammatical tag searches. Instead, I set up a workspace with tabs for the various Greek texts I have (GNT, LXX, LXX parallels, and Apostolic Fathers). In the GNT tab, I set up the search [VERB optative] and then used the LInk command in the remaining tabs. The optative is far more common in the LXX than the GNT! I've attached a couple of screen shots of my finds:

 

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This is great, Lorinda!

 

Also, yikes! More than 100 in the LXX Psalms? We need that long-pined-for and long-awaited paradigm cheat sheet in Accordance! :)

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Yeah, it was a fun rabbit to chase. There are a number of Greek texts I don't have (pseudepigrapha, apocryphal NT, josephus, philo, etc.) I would be interesting to compare there, too.

 

And a paradigm cheat sheet in Accordance would be great! I used to have a laminated, two-sided "cheat sheet" for both Greek and Hebrew that I bought at the Wartburg Seminary book store the summer before I left for "my" seminary. I audited a Hebrew class there, and thought they would be helpful. They were. Don't know where they are now. But I doubt the optative was on the Greek one.

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The reason I want tables in User Tools is to develop my own cheat sheet in Accordance.

I have the basic stuff. I don't have the optative though.

That said Steven's has good tables with these and that is in Accordance.

 

Oh and for fun.

[verb optat] in Philo returns 1197 hits.

Josephus 2176.

 

Thx

D

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Does that mean Josephus is the greater optimist? (optatist?)

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