# προσεκληρώθησαν in Acts 17:4, Is it passive?



## KMK (Jun 9, 2012)

Acts 17:4 καί τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπείσθησαν καὶ προσεκληρώθησαν τῷ Παύλῳ καὶ τῷ Σιλᾷ τῶν τε σεβομένων Ἑλλήνων πολὺ πλῆθος γυναικῶν τε τῶν πρώτων οὐκ ὀλίγαι

If προσεκληρώθησαν is in the passive voice, wouldn't it mean something like 'were assigned to' or 'were alloted to' or 'were joined to'? Why do none of the English translations follow the passive here?


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## athanatos (Jun 9, 2012)

It is deponent. Active meaning, passive in form. Root is προσκληροομαι, aorist passive indicative....


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## jawyman (Jun 9, 2012)

Ken, it would be of great benefit to read your translation first. However, one needs to take into consideration the smoothing out of the translation. προσεκληρώθησαν can also be translated as "were associated with" speaking in a figurative manner. The text could be translated as, "And some of them were persuaded and were associated with Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women." Please remember that were persuaded and joined are two connected passives by the presence of the kai. So, the passive should be understood.


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## CharlieJ (Jun 9, 2012)

Having consulted a number of resources, the best answer I can give you is that this particular verb sometimes carries a middle sense even when the passive form is used. The translations have rendered it accordingly. A possible meaning is not impossible, though. If you want to pursue the matter further, Thayer's lexicon gives some bibliography that discusses the issue. 

The presence of a και doesn't really matter grammatically.


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