Ben C Smith

Is there anyone who can perhaps help me with the Latin construction (and English translation) of the last line of the so-called Monarchian prologue of Matthew? It runs as follows:

Nobis enim hoc in studio argumenti fuit, et fidem factae rei tradere et operantis dei intellegendam diligenter esse dispositionem quaerentibus non tacere.

I am having trouble getting the infinitives tradere and esse to follow hoc... fuit in a grammatically meaningful way. What construction is this? And what English translation would best convey that construction?

Thanks.

Ben.

S.C.Carlson

Boy, that sentence is not straight-forward! Here's my atempt to analyze it.

Lewis and Short, s.v. sum, I.B.5.b.ε. explains that a form of est + infinitive with an optional dative is a post-classical construction (found earlier in poetry and imitative of a similar Greek construction) that means it is possible, it is allowed, it is permitted, one may, etc.

The infinitive complement is coordinated by et ... et ..., with one complement being tradere and the other being non tacere. The remaining infinitive intelligendam ... esse is an indirect statement governed tacere.

Thus, I suggest the Latin means something like:

Ben C Smith

Glad to hear it! I was afraid it was going to be something simple that I was just ignorantly missing.

Yes, that helps tremendously. I have little experience with the post-classical stuff.

I think I was trying to coordinate tradere and esse with the et... et. My mistake.

Good, but now what does it mean? ;-)

That is one longwinded sentence. It was not helping that there are at least six manuscript variations for hoc in studio (according to Jürgen Regul):

in hoc studio
in hoc studium
hoc in studium
hoc studium
hoc studio
haec studio

Thanks a ton for your help.

Ben.