Acts 11:26
Footnote:
| 54 | χρηματίσαι is not a passive verb nor a past tense. It is an infinitive active “to conduct public business / to officially designate / to deal” This comes from the cluster of senses where χρηματίζω =
The verb casts the naming as a public, civic, or administrative act, not a casual nickname. It aligns with the sense used of assemblies and authorities “conducting business,” “issuing determinations,” or “designating something in an official capacity.” Χριστιανούς "Christians" The form, Χριστιανός (Christianos) is a Latinized political word. One would expect a suffix like -ικός (-ikos) Χρισματικος (Chrismatikós) if it was supposed to carry the meaning of Pertaining to the Anointing, similar to the name Charismatics derived from the Greek charis "divine gift." It skips these native Greek formations and instead uses the Latin loan suffix -ιανός (-ianos). This strongly implies the name's actual genesis was based on the social and political naming conventions of the Roman Empire, rather than theological derivation. That said, τοὺς μαθητὰς Χριστιανούς means unequivocally The Christian Learners or Christian Disciples. Does the verb χρηματίσαι split these words up as direct object + name? These three words are all in the accusative. χρηματίσαι is an aorist infinitive active in every single Greek manuscript. Every translation mistranslates this into a past tense "were called." χρηματίσαι in itself cannot mean “were called.” It is the aorist active infinitive of χρηματίζω, whose primary senses are “to transact, do business, conduct affairs; to have dealings” (Classical → Hellenistic usage). The specialized sense is “to give oracular responses” from the noun χρησμός), but not passive “to be named/called.” (cf. LSJ χρηματίζω). Even the specialized sense doesn't fit. No one is giving divine oracles here. Julia Smith was the only one apparently to attempt to translate this as "by divine intimation" but that still defies the infinitive with an accusative. Since this was apparently too difficult for scholars to figure out, and they were absolutely certain of what was meant, it was an inconsequential thing to wave the wand and magically change the aorist infinitive active into a passive past tense. I mean, who's going to notice such subtle craft, right? And—as the reasoning goes—it's not like it's going to change the entire narrative or history of the Church, so...
"Presto!" |
