Acts 11:20
Footnote:
| 52 | εὐαγγελιζόμενοι τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν This means "evangelizing the Master Jesu/Salvation" or "gospelizing the Master Salvation/Jesu" It does not mean "preaching." It serves the same function as other similar "-izing" words:
When a –ίζω verb (such as εὐαγγελίζω, βαπτίζω, καθαρίζω, σκανδαλίζω) is followed by an accusative of a person, the construction reflects one of two tightly defined valency patterns in Greek: 1. Direct Object of Affect (Patient Accusative)Here the person in the accusative is the one directly acted upon—i.e., the recipient of the action that the verb effects. Structural pattern Verb (–ίζω) + Accusative Person Semantic value “to cause that person to undergo X” Examples (structural type)
Here the accusative marks the directly transformed participant. This is the canonical transitive use of –ίζω. 2. Double-Object Frame (Person + Content)With communicative or declarative –ίζω verbs (especially εὐαγγελίζω), Greek often uses: Accusative of person + Accusative of thing Example patterns
Here:
So the person is not transformed, but informed. What This Means for εὐαγγελιζόμενοι + Accusative PersonWhen you see: εὐαγγελιζόμενοι τινά the accusative person is not undergoing a physical change, but is:
This is a regular Greek extension of the “affect” accusative into the semantic domain of information transfer. With εὐαγγελιζόμενοι, an accusative person is not the content of the proclamation but the recipient of it. In Greek valency terms, the person in the accusative functions as the affected addressee (recipient/patient of the speech act), while the content is expressed separately—either by a second accusative (εὐαγγελίζω τινά τι), a prepositional phrase (περί + gen.), or a ὅτι/ὡς clause. All the previous translations, trying to avoid the truthful reading, add words such as περί + gen. and/or change the noun "Jesu/Salvation" into a genitive form (e.g. of Jesus) when it (he) is in fact an accusative direct object. In other words, pretty much every rendering ever of this line has been falsely crafted. |