ἀπὸ μιᾶς (supply γνώμης, ψυχῆς, ὥρας, or some such word implying with one mind, or at one time, or in the same manner, here only in Greek literature), with one Consent. παραιτεῖσθαι : not to refuse, but in courteous terms to excuse themselves. ὁ πρῶτος, the first; of three, simply samples, by no means exhausting the list of possible excuses. ἀγρὸν ἠγόρασα : a respectable excuse, by no means justifying absence, but excellently exemplifying preoccupation, the state of mind common to all. A man who has purchased a farm is for a while very much taken up with it and makes himself very busy about it; everything else for the moment secondary. ἔχω ἀνάγκην : no fewer than three Latinisms have been found in this sentence; this, the use of ἐρωτῶ in the sense of rogo, and ἔχε με παρῃτημένον (Grotius). But parallels can be found in Greek authors for the first. Kypke cites an instance of the second from Josephus. The third, if not a Latinism (Meyer and J. Weiss say no, Schanz and Hahn yes), is at least exactly = excusatum me habeto.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising

Old Testament