Voice: Middle/Passive Acts 13.48
This chapter is closely related to the chapter in which we discussed Rom 9.22. I’d like to walk you through another example of this Middle/Passive concept because the implications of this concept are far-reaching.
Definition:
Middle Voice: Used to emphasize the subject’s participation in the verbal process
Example: John 21:14 This was now the third time Jesus revealed himself (efanerwqh) to the disciples
Here, the word can be understood as either Middle or Passive. The Middle sense would reflect Christ’s participation in the decision to reveal himself at this time.
Passive Voice: Used to emphasize the subject being the recipient of the action of the verbal process
Example: John 21:14 This was now the third time Jesus was revealed (efanerwqh) to the disciples
The Passive sense could emphasize, not Christ’s decision, but the Father’s decision to reveal Christ at this time.
Chapter Summary (Of Greek)
In the previous chapter we discussed the Middle and Passive voices and how these two voices are often expressed in Greek with the same FORM. More times than not it is obvious which voice is intended. But on the occasions you have to “reach deep” to understand what the writer is communicating; it is during these times that your humility and desire to know the truth becomes evident TO YOU. I am fond of saying, “the Bible was written in such a way as to measure a person’s heart.”
English - The Known
English has the Active and Passive voices. We could also say that English has a Reflexive voice. A reflexive voice is pretty much what its name says: the subject both performs and receives the verb’s process.
Example: He shaved himself. (compare: He shaved ___x____.)
The reflexive pronoun (himself) is used here to show that the subject both initiated the action as well as was the recipient of the same action. In the parenthesis above, I left a blank in the sentence to demonstrate that what is expected after this verb is a direct object. And in fact, “himself” functions as the direct object in the example above.
Greek Grammar 1 - The Unknown
Let’s take a look at a few more examples of this Middle/Passive voice. One reason I am emphasizing this so much is because one’s view of the Lord can be greatly influenced by the usage of these kinds of verbs. Surely the example in Rom 9.22 is no small matter.
We will begin with the same example used above in John. Let’s get the Greek in front of us.
touto hdh triton efanerwqh ihsouV toiV maqhtaiV
this now third time was revealed Jesus to the disciples
egerqeiV ek nekrwn
having raised himself from the dead
You will notice that “was raised” is yet another Middle/Passive verb.
Now, what is the justification for taking this as a Middle here? Look at this passage a few chapters earlier in this same gospel:
10:17 This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.”
Christ had already told his disciples that he was vested with the authority to resurrect himself. So, taking 21.14 as a Middle makes sense in light of the bigger picture.
But what about passages such as 2 Cor 4:14 which states: We do so because we know that the one who raised up Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. Or Acts 4:10 which says “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…”
Here we see that the Father raised Jesus. So, how can it be said that Jesus raised himself? In addition to the passage quoted in John 10, lets look at a passage in John 2, which says, “2:20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise (egereiV) it up in three days?” 2:21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 2:22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken.
The verb egereiV is a Future Active Indicative, and as an Active verb, it indicates that the Jews understood Jesus to have said the he himself would raise his body.
In Luke, we have the following passage:
24:5 The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 24:6 He is not here, but has been raised (hgerqh) or has raised himself.
There is another usage of the Middle known as the Causative Middle. The idea with this usage is that the subject is the source of the action. If we take hgerqh in this sense, we could consider the following translation:
24:6 He is not here, but has caused himself to be raised (hgerqh).
Okay, let’s turn to one, final text in which the Middle voice nuance brings out the meaning in such a way as to vindicate God’s love for the whole worl
Exegetical Insight - Let’s look at a passage in the Bible regarding this lesson. (Why did we just learn about the Middle/Passive Voice?)
The passage to be analyzed in this section is Acts 13.48. Here is how it appears in the Greek.
13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and praise the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life believed
akouonta de ta eqnh ecairon kai edoxazon
hearing the Gentiles they began rejoicing and they began praising
ton logon tou kuriou kai episteusan
the word of the Lord and they believed
osoi hsan tetagmenoi eiV zwhn aiwnion
as many as had arranged themselves for life eternal
Note the Perfect Middle/Passive participle tetagmenoi. Because this participle is placed along side the verb hsan, it basically means they both function together as a syntactical unit. Since it is an Imperfect tense verb and since the participle is Perfect, together they denote a Pluperfect idea. The “plu” of Pluperfect means “past.” These two words therefore combine to form a Past Perfect idea.
The participle is an inflected form of tassw. A. T. Robertson says of this verb, it means “a military term to place in orderly arrangement.” The basic meaning of this verb is to assign (a group) to a place or task, to appoint (someone) to a place or task, to decide, to arrange, or to order.
Here is how Acts 13.48 appears in the KJV:
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
The KJV obviously takes tetagmenoi in the Passive sense here, but I really don’t see that as a likely option. Here’s what this verse looks like if we go with the Middle sense:
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and all who positioned themselves for eternal life believed.
Or…When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and all who arranged themselves to receive eternal life believed.
Just before this verse 48, notice how Luke describes the Jews and Gentiles:
13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled together to hear the word of the Lord. 13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him. 13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.
How did they position themselves such that they believed the gospel? Well, the Jews rejected the message; the Gentiles responded positively toward the message. When we respond positively toward the gospel, we position ourselves to believe it. The Jews rejected the gospel; the Gentiles accepted it.
Again, do you see how knowing the Greek here opens up more options? Without any training in Greek, you would have to accept the KJV’s rendition, which almost looks like God is ordaining who does and who does not believe. What is important to see here is that the idea of these people positioning themselves to either accept or reject the gospel corresponds with the rest of Scripture where we read such passages as:
1 Tim 2:3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 2:4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
