Matthew 1:21 - finishing up

τέξεται δε υιόν και καλέσεις το όνομα αυτού Ιησούν,
αυτός γαρ σώσει τον λαόν αυτού από των αμαρτιών αυτών

For she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins.

We've already seen that the verb 'τέξεται' has Mary as the understood subject; it is Mary who will bear a son ('υιόν'). But the next verb has 'you' as the understood subject; 'καλέσεις' is the second personal singular of the future of the verb 'καλέω', 'I call'.

The 'you' refers, of course, to Joseph, who is being directly addressed (in a dream) by an angel. So Joseph will call . . . what?

. . . . καλέσεις το όνομα αυτού Ιησούν
. . . . you will call the name of him Jesus

Or, in more idiomatic English,

you will call his name Jesus

or even (slightly simplified, but even more idiomatic):

you will call him/name him Jesus

The next line also has a verb in the future: 'σώσει' - he/she/it will save

In this case, we read 'he will save', not only because the verse is clearly referring to Jesus, but also because we have an added pronoun, 'αυτός' - 'he'. The use of the pronoun 'αυτός' is a complicated bit of Greek; for now we will note that in this context it adds emphasis.

'He will save'.

Exactly what/how/who will Jesus be saving?

τον λαόν αυτού από των αμαρτιών αυτών
his people from their sins

The direct object of 'σώσει' is 'τον λαόν' - 'the people'. Followed by the third person pronoun in the genitive ('αυτού')- indicating possession - it becomes 'his people'.

Then we finish the verse with a prepositional phrase:

από των αμαρτιών αυτών
from the sins of them

The preposition 'από' takes the genitive; this accounts for the word for 'sin' ('η αμαρτία') being in the genitive (plural). The final word is once again the third person pronoun in the genitive, but this time it is the genitive plural - 'αυτών' - 'their'.

That's it for the verse. Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:21

We're back to Matthew, chapter 1. Verse 21 reads:

τέξεται δε υιόν και καλέσεις το όνομα αυτού Ιησούν,
αυτός γαρ σώσει τον λαόν αυτού από των αμαρτιών αυτών

First of all, note that there are two postpositive words: δε ('and, but') and γαρ ('for'). So in the English translation those words will come first in their phrase.

And/but she will bring forth a son and you will call the name of him Jesus
for he will save the people of him from the sins of them.

Clearly not idiomatic English. Phrases showing possession, such as:

το όνομα αυτού . . . . . . the name of him
τον λαόν αυτού . . . . . . . the people of him
των αμαρτιών αυτών . . . . . . . the sins of them

are characteristic and idiomatic in Greek, but in English we change the word order:

his name, his people, their sins.

Note that one result of this change is the loss of definite article, which is not translated; e.g., we don't say 'his the name', we say 'his name.'

The word 'τέξεται' is the future third person singular of the verb 'τίκτω', which means, more or less, 'to bring forth'. In theory, the subject of this verb (which is not separately expressed) could be male or female; in the context, it is translated 'she', as referring to Mary.

But note that there is no separate word for 'she' in the Greek.

More on this verse next time. Χαίρετε!

Adjectives, part two: the predicate use

The attributive use of adjectives is much the same as their use in English, with the exception that the word order is more flexible.

The predicate use is different, however. It is best explained with an example:

καλός ο λόγος

These are the same three words as we started with last time, but the meaning is different. In this order, these words can be a full sentence:

The word is good.

What's different? We added 'is' in English; that is, the verb was understood in the Greek, but not explicitly expressed.

How can we tell if an adjective is being used attributively or as a predicate? As I mentioned last time, if the adjective is immediately preceded by the definite article, it is the attributive use:

ο άνθρωπος ο καλός . . . . . . . . . the good man

If the adjective is not preceded by the definite article, it is in the predicate position:

ο άνθρωπος καλός . . . . . . . . . . . the man is good

καλός ο άνθρωπος . . . . . . . . . . the man is good

Next time we will continue with a third use of adjectives: as substantives.

Χαίρετε!

Adjectives, part one: the attributive use

Adjectives modify nouns.

The red house. The long story. The incontrovertible evidence.

Adjectives are used in koine Greek much like they are used in English. But, of course, not entirely. There are three major uses of the adjective in koine: the attributive, the predicate, and the substantive use. We will cover the attributive use today.

This use of the adjective is similar to that of English:

ο καλός λόγος
the good word

However, in koine, 'the good word' can be expressed in three slightly different ways:

1. ο καλός λόγος (most common)
2. ο λόγος ο καλός (less common)
3. λόγος ο καλός (uncommon)

All of these mean approximately the same thing, although #2 is sometimes translated 'the word the good (one)' and #3, 'a word, the good (one)'

The common feature - and the key to recognizing the attributive use of the adjective is as follows: the adjective is immediately preceded by the article which refers to the noun in question.

(There are some minor exceptions, so one might better say the adjective is always at least almost immediately preceded by the article - but more on that as the case arises.)

If the adjective is not preceded by the article, e.g.,

καλός ο λόγος

then the meaning is different. More on that next time. Χαίρετε!

Vocabulary list 3

At the moment, one of the easier on-line sources to find English equivalents to koine Greek vocabulary is at: http://faculty.bbc.edu/RDecker/documents/elgkvoc.pdf

Vocabulary 3

αγαθός, -ή, -όν
αγαπητός, -ή, -όν
αιώνιος, -ον
αλλήλων
απεκρίθη
γαρ
διά + acc
διά +gen
εάν
είπεν
εμός, εμή, εμόν
η εντολή
ἦν
ίνα
καθώς
κακός
λέγω
μετά + acc
μετά +gen
μη
μου/εμού

νεκρός, -ά, όν
νυν
ο δούλος
ο θάνατος
ο νόμος
ο οίκος
ο όχλος
ο υιός
ου, ουχ, ουκ
πιστός, -ή, όν
πονηρός, -ά, -όν
προς + acc
πρώτος, -ή, -όν
συ
το έργον
το ευαγγέλιον
το πνεύμα
τρίτος, -η, -ον
υπό + acc
υπό + gen
ώστε

Vocabulary list 2

Vocabulary 2

άγιος
αλλά
άλλος
από +gen
γαρ
δε
διά +gen
διά + acc
εγώ
ειμί
είπεν
εις + acc
εκ, εξ + gen
εν + dat
έσχατος
ἦν
ίνα
και
λέγω
μετά +gen
μετά + acc
μη
νυν
ου, ουχ, ουκ
παρά + gen
παρά + dat
παρά + acc
προς + acc
συ
υπό + gen
υπό + acc
ώστε
η αμαρτία
η αρχή
η βασιλεία
η γλώσσα
η γραφή
η δόξα
η εξουσία
η ζωή
η θάλασσα
η καρδία
η μήτηρ
η οικία
η παραβολή
η φωνή
η ψυχή
η ώρα
ο θάνατος
ο θρόνος
ο Ιησούς
ο καιρός
ο κόσμος
ο λίθος
ο λόγος
ο νόμος
ο οίκος
ο όχλος
ο ουρανός
ο πατήρ
ο προφήτης
ο υιός
το αίμα
το έργον
το ευαγγέλιον
το πνεύμα

Vocabulary list 1

I am beginning a series of vocabulary lists for the blog. These are words that are used very frequently in the New Testament. Each list will overlap the one before it, so that some words will drop off, and others will be added.


Vocabulary 1

ο άγγελος
ο άνθρωπος
ο απόστολος
η Γαλιλαία
η γραφή
η δόξα
εγώ
έσχατος
η ζωή
ο θεός
και
η καρδία
ο κόσμος
ο λόγος
το πνεύμα
ο προφήτης
το σάββατον
η φωνή
ο Χριστός
η αγάπη
ο αδελφός

άγιος
το αίμα
η αμαρτία
η γλώσσα
η εκκλησία
το έργον
το ευαγγέλιον
ο θάνατος
ο θρόνος
ο Ιησούς
ο λίθος
η μήτηρ
ο νόμος
η παραβολή
ο πατήρ
η ψυχή
η βασιλεία
άλλος
εν
το έργον
ο καιρός

νυν
η ώρα
η αρχή
γαρ
είπεν
εις
η εξουσία
ο κύριος
ο ουρανός
ο υιός
συ
ου, ουχ, ουκ
μη
δε
λέγω
ειμί
εκ, εξ

Matthew 1:20, continued

Ταύτα δε αυτού ενθυμηθέντος
ιδού άγγελος κυρίου
κατ' όναρ εφάνη αυτῴ
λέγων,
Ιωσήφ υιός Δαυίδ,
μη φοβηθῄς παραλαβείν Μαρίαμ την γυναίκα σου,
το γαρ εν αυτῄ
γεννηθέν εκ πνεύματός εστιν αγίου

Last time we looked at the first three lines; Joseph had resolved to send Mary away, but after that an angel had appeared to him in a dream.

The next word is grammatically important - λέγων

This word is a present participle of the verb λέγω (I say). In the participle form, here, it can be translated 'saying'. It is the masculine nominative singular form of the present participle, meaning that it modifies the word 'άγγελος', the angel. In other words, the angel is saying something (to Joseph) (in a dream).

The angel first addresses Joseph: Ιωσήφ υιός Δαυίδ ("Joseph, son of David")

and then tells him to do something; or in this case, not to do something:

μη φοβηθῄς
do not be afraid

The word 'μη' is the negating part of this phrase; the part we translate as 'not.' The second word, 'φοβηθῄς', is a subjunctive form of the aorist tense of the verb 'φοβέω', meaning 'to fear'. The subjunctive here stands in for an imperative form, in other words, a command to not be afraid. But there is an addition or a complement to the meaning of this verb in this instance:

μη φοβηθῄς
do not be afraid

παραλαβείν Μαρίαμ την γυναίκα σου,
to take Mary the wife of you
(to take Mary as your wife)

The word 'παραλαβείν' is an infinitive, and is used here much as we would use the infinitive in English.

Why should Joseph not be afraid to take Mary as his wife? The rest of the verse explains:

το γαρ εν αυτῄ
that for in her

The word 'γαρ' is another postpositive, like 'δε'; even though it comes second in the Greek phrase, in the English translation is should come first: for that in her

γεννηθέν εκ πνεύματός εστιν αγίου was conceived out of a spirit is holy (was conceived of the holy spirit)

Note that this is traditionally translated 'out of the holy spirit', although there is no word for 'the' in the Greek.

Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:20

Ταύτα δε αυτού ενθυμηθέντος
ιδού άγγελος κυρίου
κατ' όναρ εφάνη αυτῴ
λέγων,
Ιωσήφ υιός Δαυίδ,
μη φοβηθῄς παραλαβείν Μαρίαμ την γυναίκα σου,
το γαρ εν αυτῄ
γεννηθέν εκ πνεύματός εστιν αγίου

Now here's a verse to sink your teeth into. Let's start with a mostly word-for-word translation of the first three lines above:

Ταύτα δε αυτού ενθυμηθέντος
these things and/but/_ he considered

ιδού άγγελος κυρίου
look angel of lord

κατ' όναρ εφάνη αυτῴ
in a dream appeared to him

Once we've remembered to move 'δε' to the first position, i.e.

And/but these things he considered

the first line makes more sense. This line will also make more sense when we recognize that it is another example of a genitive absolute, that is, a noun or pronoun (here, αυτόυ, 'he') plus an accompanying participle(ενθυμηθέντος), both in the genitive.

The participle is an aorist form of the deponent verb 'ενθυμέομαι', meaning something like 'deliberate, consider, ponder'. Because it is in the aorist, it gives the sense that the deliberating, considering, or pondering has been completed, so we could add a word in the English translation to point to that sense, e.g.:

And after he pondered these things

or

And when he had considered these things

Who had pondered?: 'αυτού', 'he', i.e., Joseph. Remember that although we normally place the subject of a verb in the nominative case, this is a genitive absolute, and the word 'he' ('αυτού) is in the genitive. Do not translate it 'of him'.

So after Joseph had pondered these things (i.e., his betrothed Mary had been found to be pregnant, and he had resolved to send her away quietly) what happened next?

ιδού άγγελος κυρίου
look angel of lord in a dream

κατ' όναρ εφάνη αυτῴ
in a dream appeared to him

The word 'ιδού' appears many times (200) in the New Testament, and is often translated 'behold', although in some versions (the New Revised Standard and the New International, for example) it is left untranslated. For more information about this word, left-click on it at greekbiblestudy.org.

An angel of the lord ('άγγελος κυρίου') is the subject here, and 'εφάνη' ('appeared') is the verb. Note that we have to add the word 'the' to make this phrase idiomatic English: i.e., 'an angel of the lord', not 'an angel of lord'.

So the angel appeared 'to him' (αυτῴ - the third person, singular, masculine pronoun in the dative) -- i.e., appeared to Joseph.

Only one thing is left: An angel of the lord appeared to Joseph - how? The phrase 'κατ' όναρ' means 'in a dream.'

So an angel of the lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Next time we will continued with the rest of the verse.

Χαίρετε!

Some additional information on modern Greek pronunciation: consonants

1. β is pronounced as a 'v'.

2. δ is pronounced as the ‘th’ in ‘this’, as opposed to θ, which is pronounced as the ‘th’ in ‘think’.

3. The sounds ‘b’ and ‘d’ and ‘g’: these sounds are produced by the combinations ‘μπ’ and ‘ντ’ and ‘γκ’ or ‘γγ’. However, there are some variations in the way those combinations are pronounced.

a. Generally, you get the ‘dry’ sound (as above) at the beginning of a word.e.g., μπροστά, ντόπιος, γκρεμός. These words are all from modern Greek: there are no words in the New Testament that begin with any of those combinations.

b. Generally, these combinations are nasalized in the middle of a word:

μπ becomes ‘mb’ .............. το συμπόσιον (group (eating together))
ντ becomes ‘nd’.............. η εντολή (commandment)
γκ and γγ become ‘ng’................έγκυος (pregnant), ο άγγελος (angel, messenger)c.

There are some exceptions, which I suspect are more relevant to modern Greek. When there is repetition, for example, the ‘dry’ sound may be retained in the middle of the word: μπαμπάς (babas) (daddy).

4. Changes at word boundaries following a word ending in ‘ν’. These sound changes arise frequently because of the frequent use of the definite articles την, τον and των.

When one word ends in ‘ν’ and is followed by a word beginning with ‘π’, the combination is pronounced ‘mb’: την παρουσία (presence, coming, arrival)

When one words ends in ‘ν’ and is followed by a word beginning with ‘τ’, the combination is pronounced ‘nd’: την τέχνη (skill, craft)

When one word ends in ‘ν’ and is followed by a word beginning with ‘κ’, the combination is pronounced ‘ng’: τον κύριος.

5. The letter σ is pronounced like a ‘z’ in front of the consonants β, γ, δ, μ, ν and ρ. Otherwise, it is pronounced as a plain ‘s’.

E.g.: κόσμος, Ισραήλ vs. σκοτία (darkness, gloom), σάββατον

6. Palatalization. Τhis refers to the change in the way that the velar consonants κ, γ and χ are pronounced when they are followed by an ‘i’ (ι, η, υ, ει, οι) or an ‘e’ (αι, ε) sound.‘Velar’ means that the consonant is pronounced with the back of the tongue touching the soft palate. But when κ, γ and χ are followed by an ‘i’ or ‘e’ sound, the consonant becomes ‘palatal’ instead; that is, the middle of the tongue touches the hard palate.

For example, the velar ‘γ’ in γάλα (milk: modern Greek) becomes the palatal ‘γ’ in η γη (earth).This phenomenon also occurs with κ and χ: it’s just not as obvious to our (native English speaking) ears. For example, the χ in έχω is pronounced slightly differently than the χ in έχεις, and the κ in κατά is pronounced slightly differently than the κ in κύριος.

These are by no means the only rules/details/exceptions to Greek pronunciation, but they are some of the major ones. Χαίρετε!

Some additional information on modern Greek pronunciation: vowels

VOWELS

There are five basic vowel sounds:
α
ε, αι
η, ι, υ, ει, οι
ο, ω
ου

1. α is pronounced as the 'a' in father

2. αι and ε are pronounced the same: similar to the ‘e’ in pet, but with lips pulled slightly more to the side.

3. η, ι, υ, ει, and οι (and υι, which is less common) are pronounced the same: similar to the ‘ee’ in meet, but shorter. Or, between ‘bit’ and ‘beat’.

4. ο and ω are pronounced the same: somewhat like ‘bought’ but with lips more closed and rounded. Other guides give a sound closer to the English long ‘o’, probably for convenience.

5. ου is pronounced like the 'oo' in 'loot', or somewhat between 'put' and 'loot'.

6. The combinations 'αυ' is pronounced 'av' or 'af', depending on the following letter/sound. If the following sound is voiceless (κ, π, τ, χ, φ, θ, σ, ξ, ψ), αυ is pronounced 'af:

e.g., αυτό is pronounced 'af-TO'

Otherwise, αυ is pronounced 'av':

ε.γ., αύριον is pronounced 'AV-ree-on'

Similarly, the combination 'ευ' is pronounced 'ev' or 'ef', depending on the following letter/sound.

Consonants will be covered in the next blog. Χαίρετε!

The use of the genitive case

The genitive case has a variety of uses, some of which are not easily classified. However, for now we will concentrate on three major uses:

1. The genitive case is used to show possession.

This is similar to English usage, and in translation sometimes - but not always - involves adding the English word 'of'. For example:

βίβλος γενέσεως Ιησούς Χριστού (the underlined words are all in the genitive case)
a book of the generation of Jesus Messiah

and

Ιωσήφ δε ο ανήρ αυτής
Joseph her husband

In the second example we could keep the 'of' and translate: 'Joseph the husband of her', but it would be bad English.

2. The genitive case is used after certain prepositions.

For example, it is used after the prepositions από and εκ:

από της μετοικεσίας Βαβυλώνος
from the deportation to Babylon

εκ πνεύματος αγίου
out of (by) the holy spirit

3. The genitive case is used in the genitive absolute construction.

We have discussed this construction before: see the blogs for Wednesday, October 29 and Friday, October 31, 2008.

Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:19, continued

και μη θέλων αυτήν δειγματίσαι

We ended last time with Joseph being unwilling ('μη θέλων') to do something- to do what? Here the use of the infinitive parallels a similar use in English:

μη θέλων . . . . δειγματίσαι
not willing to expose to disgrace

The word 'δειγματίσαι' is the aorist infinitive of the verb 'δειγματίζω', which can be translated as 'make an example of' or 'expose to disgrace.' Various translations read 'put (her) to shame', or 'disgrace (her)'.

Where is the 'her'? The pronoun 'αυτήν' precedes the infinitive; it is feminine singular accusative, and refers to Mary.

και μη θέλων αυτήν δειγματίσαι

So Joseph was not willing to expose Mary to disgrace. What happens next?

εβουλήθη λάθρα απολύσαι αυτήν.
(he) planned secretly to send away/release her.
(he) secretly planned to send her away.

The form 'εβουλήθη' (which I talked about briefly on Monday) comes from the verb 'βούλομαι', a deponent verb. A deponent verb, broadly speaking, is a verb which has an active meaning, but middle or passive forms. In this case, 'εβουλήθη' is an aorist passive form, but it means 'planned', or 'wished', or (as the KJV says) 'was minded to.'

Bringing us to another use of the infinitive: was minded to - do what?

εβουλήθη . . . απολύσαι αυτήν.
was minded . . . to send away her.

The aorist infinitive 'απολύσαι' is from the verb 'απολύω', meaning 'release', 'dismiss', or 'put/send away'.

The word 'λάθρα' is an adverb meaning 'secretly'. This adverb indicates the manner in which Joseph intended to send her away: in secret. Adverbs do not inflect, making them an easy part of Greek.

Next time we will return to case usage. Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:19

We will return later to the use of the various noun cases. Now, let us forge ahead with the next verse of Matthew. I have added a more-or-less literal translation in English, followed by a translation that makes sense. Remember that Joseph and Mary have just been betrothed, and Mary has been discovered to be pregnant.

Ιωσήφ δε ο ανήρ αυτής,
Joseph and/but/_ the husband of her
But Joseph her husband

δίκαιος ων
just being
being a just man

και μη θέλων αυτήν δειγματίσαι,
and not wishing her to make an example of
and not wishing to shame her publicly

εβουλήθη λάθρα απολύσαι αυτήν.
planned secretly to send away/release her.
secretly planned to send her away.

The word 'εβουλήθη' in the last phrase is given various definitions, from 'wish' or 'will' to 'have an intention' or 'be disposed.' (Left-click on this word at www.greekbiblestudy.org to see more.) In this case, I think the King James wording, old-fashioned as it is, gives a nice option: 'be minded to'.

Joseph is at the beginning of this verse:

Ιωσήφ δε ο ανήρ αυτής,
Joseph and/but/_ the husband of her
But Joseph her husband

'Ο ανήρ' is the Greek word for both 'husband' and 'man' ('man' as opposed to 'woman', not 'man' as opposed to 'animal'); it has retained this double meaning in modern Greek. Joseph is the husband 'αυτής', 'of her' ('αυτής' is the feminine genitive singular of the personal pronoun).

In the next phrase, we find and adjective ('δίκαιος') and a participle ('ων'). The adjective 'δίκαιος' means 'just' or 'righteous'. The participle is a form of the present participle of 'ειμί'; in other words it is the participle of 'to be' -- 'being.'

Both the adjective and the participle are in the masculine nominative singular form, because they both modify and agree with 'Ιωσήφ'. Here is the declension of the present participle meaning 'being', in the singular only:

........................ Masculine .......... Feminine .......... Neuter
Nominative..............ων.....................ούσα..................ον
Genitive................όντος...................ούσης...............όντος
Dative...................όντι.....................ούσῃ................όντι
Accusative............όντα.....................ούσην................ον

In the next phrase we have another participle, 'θέλων' - 'wishing', which also modifies 'Ιωσήφ' and thus is also in the masculine nominative singular form. Note the '-ων' ending, like the 'ων' of the participle of 'to be'.

και μη θέλων αυτήν δειγματίσαι

The 'μη' before 'θέλων' negates it, i.e., Joseph was 'not willing'.

What was he not willing to do? More next time . . . . Χαίρετε!

Further uses of the accusative: as the subject of an infinitive

We've actually met another use of the accusative already, in Matthew 1:18:

3) The accusative is used as the subject of an infinitive.

(Greek grammarians will tell you that, technically, the accusative here is not a true subject; it only seems like it is. But never mind.)

First of all, what is an infinitive? In English, it is the form of the verb using the word 'to':

to walk
to sleep
to circumnavigate

We use it in constructions such as

Peter doesn't want to take the bus to school, he wants to walk.
I tried to warn him.
She reads the newspaper to keep up with world events.

In English, we generally find the infinitive as a compliment, or explanation of the primary verb:
Peter wants something - what? He wants to walk, not to take the bus. I tried - what? I tried to warn him.

In the third example the use is slightly different. She reads the newspaper - why? In order to keep up with world events. Here the infinitive gives a reason for the action of the first verb, and in this kind of use the sentence still makes sense if you add the words 'in order' before the infinitive.

The infinitive is much used in koine Greek for similar constructions: here is John the Baptist, giving a warning (Matthew 3:7):

Γεννήματα εχιδνών,
Offspring of vipers

τις υπέδειξεν υμίν φυγείν από της μελλούσης οργής;
who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

In other words, who warned you - what? Who warned you to flee?

But the infinitive is also used in constructions which don't correspond so neatly to English. One of these is the construction we saw in Matthew 1:18:

πριν ή συνελθείν αυτούς
before they were married

This is an example of a temporal clause introduced by the conjunction 'πριν' (or, in this case, the variation 'πριν ή'). The conjunction 'πριν' can be followed by an infinitive, with the general meaning of 'before (an action happens)', the action being expressed by an infinitive.

In the example from Matthew 1:18 above, the action is 'were married', and is expressed by the infinitive of the verb συνέρχομαι, which is 'συνελθείν'.

And now we arrive, finally, at our accusative: as was mentioned earlier, in the discussion of this verse, the subject of 'were married' ('συνελθείν') is Mary and Joseph, 'they'. The form of 'they' used here is the accusative plural, 'αυτούς'; thus we have an accusative subject of the infinitive.

Χαίρετε!

The accusative case

The accusative case has a number of uses. We will begin with two of these; its use as direct object, and the accusative following a preposition.

1) The accusative case is used for a noun or pronoun which is the direct object of a verb.

In the sentence we discussed previously

Ο απόστολος βλέπει τον προφήτην.
The apostle sees the prophet.

the direct object is the object (in this case, the person) which is seen: the prophet. So 'τον προφήτην' is in the accusative case.

Here's another example, taken from John 3:16:

τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν
the son the only-begotten he gave
(he gave the only-begotten son)

God gave ('έδωκεν') the son ('τον υιόν'): 'the son' is the direct object of the verb 'gave', and is put in the accusative.

ο υίός . . . . . the son (nominative)
τον υιόν . . . . the son (accusative)


This is not the only use for this case, however.

2) The accusative is used following certain prepositions, in a prepositional phrase.

These are prepositional phrases:

in the house
with the apostle
over the hill

The preposition can be thought of as expressing some kind of relationship. In the sentence

The prophet is with the apostle.

the preposition 'with' indicates a relationship between the prophet and the apostle.

'Mary is in the house' also expresses a relationship - in this case, between Mary and the house.

In Greek, the noun or pronoun which follows a preposition is put into one of the non-nominative cases; i.e., into the accusative, the genitive, or the dative.

The preposition 'εις' for example ('into') is always followed by a noun/pronoun in the accusative:

Η Μαρία έρχεται εις τον οίκον.
Mary goes into the house.

The preposition 'εις' is always followed by the accusative. Other prepositions, however, may be followed by more than one case, with a resultant difference in meaning. For example, when the preposition 'κατά' is followed by the accusative, it can mean 'according to':

κατά τας γραφάς
according to the writings (Scriptures)

But when 'κατά' is followed by a noun/pronoun in the genitive, it means something else, generally 'down from' or 'against'. For example (from 2 Corinthians 13:8):

κατά της αληθείας
against the truth

Clearly, it is important to recognize this difference in the use of 'κατά', since 'against the truth' would mean something entirely different from 'according to the truth'.

A bit more on the accusative next time. Χαίρετε!

A second use for the nominative case

2) The nominative case is used for a predicate noun following a linking verb.

This is easier than it sounds in grammar-speak. In the sentence

Ο απόστολος βλέπει τον προφήτην.
The apostle sees the prophet.

only 'απόστολος' is in the nominative case, as subject of the verb. 'The prophet' ('τον προφήτην') is in the accusative case, as the direct object (what is being seen) of the verb.

But in the sentence

Ο απόστολός εστιν προφήτης.
The apostle is a prophet.

both 'απόστολος' and 'προφήτης' are in the nominative, because the verb 'εστιν' is a linking verb: it doesn't describe what the subject does, it describes what the subject is. The apostle is a prophet. In this sentence 'προφήτης' is a predicate noun, or predicate nominative.

The verbs that can serve as linking verbs include:

ειμι ('I am')

and

γίνομαι ('I become').

Χαίρετε!

Noun cases: the nominative

English is not a highly inflected language, and for that reason native English speakers often find noun cases confusing. In the sentences

The dog sees the cat.

and

The cat sees the dog.

we do not spell 'cat' and 'dog' differently. We understand which animal is the subject of the verb - which animal is doing the seeing - only via word order; in these examples, the subject comes first.

Greek, on the other hand, is a highly inflected language. Word order is flexible, and meaning comes from the use of different case endings. To read and understand a Greek sentence, you must be able to recognize the case form of each noun.

There are five noun cases in koine Greek: the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and vocative. Today we will start our look at the nominative case.

1) The nominative case is used for the subject of a sentence.

Ο απόστολος βλέπει τον προφήτην.
The apostle sees the prophet.

'Ο απόστολος' is in the nominative case because 'the apostle' is the subject of the verb: he is doing the seeing. We have two clues indicating nominative: the 'ο' - the definite article in its masculine nominative singular form, and the '-ος' ending of 'απόστολος', also indicating masculine nominative singular.

If the sentence was reversed

Ο προφήτης βλέπει τον απόστολον.
The prophet sees the apostle.

the form of the nouns used would not be the same. Instead we would have 'τον' instead of 'ο' for the definite article, and 'απόστολον' instead of 'απόστολος' for 'apostle'.

What is the subject of this new sentence? 'Ο προφήτης', 'the prophet'. The word for 'prophet' is now in the nominative case instead of the word for 'apostle' (which is now in the accusative case; more on that later). Notice that although our first clue is the same (the definite article is always 'ο' for masculine nominative singular) the ending of the noun itself is different: '-ης' instead of '-ος'.

Why? (ask generations of Greek students, beating their heads against the nearest wall). It would certainly be easier if all masculine nouns ended in '-ος' in the nominative singular.

But they don't. The proper declension and pattern of endings must be identified for each word. Fortunately, after even a little reading in the New Testament you will become familiar with the endings of the most common nouns, and recognition of the proper forms will become automatic.

I promise. Next time we will move on to the second major use of the nominative case: the predicate nominative. In the meantime, χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:18, completed!

So far we have:

Mνηστευθείσης της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας τῳ Ιωσήφ,
(After/when) his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph

πριν ή συνελθείν αυτούς
before they got married

ευρέθη εν γαστρί έχουσα εκ πνεύματος αγίου.

The first word, 'ευρέθη' is an aorist passive form of the verb 'ευρίσκω', meaning generally, 'find'.
Since it's in the passive form, we can translate it as 'was found'. Who or what was found? - Mary.

Then we have an idiom: 'εν γαστρί έχουσα'. Literally this means, 'in belly/womb having', but the idiomatic meaning is 'pregnant'.

So before they got married, Mary was found (to be) pregnant. Notice that the literal meaning of these first four words, in the same order, would not make an easily readable phrase in English:

ευρέθη εν γαστρί έχουσα
was found in womb having
(was found to be pregnant)

But the kicker is at the end of the verse. Mary was found to be pregnant

εκ πνεύματος αγίου
out of spirit holy

The adjective 'άγιος' means 'holy', and 'πνεύματος' is the genitive singular form of the word 'πνεύμα', which has various meanings centered around 'breath' or 'wind', but here is translated 'spirit' (in older terminology, 'ghost'). (See www.greekbiblestudy.org and left-click on 'πνεύματος' in Matthew 1:18. Then choose 'short definition' or 'long definition' for more information about this word.)

The word 'εκ' is a preposition taking the genitive case; it means 'out of'.

So we have

εκ πνεύματος αγίου
out of (the) holy spirit

The article ('the') is typically added in English translations; it is not present in the Greek, which literally reads 'out of a spirit holy'.

So one genitive absolute, one use of the accusative as subject of an infinitive, two participles, and a couple more verbs later, and we're done! Altogether we read:

Του δε Ιησού Χριστού η γένεσις ούτως ην.
And the birth of Jesus the Messiah was thus -

Mνηστευθείσης της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας τῳ Ιωσήφ,
After his mother was betrothed to Joseph

πριν ή συνελθείν αυτούς
before they were married

ευρέθη εν γαστρί έχουσα
she was found to be pregnant

εκ πνεύματος αγίου.
out of (by) the holy spirit.

One verse, a lot of grammar. Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:18, continued almost (!) to the end

Mνηστευθείσης της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας τῳ Ιωσήφ,
πριν ή συνελθείν αυτούς ευρέθη εν γαστρί έχουσα
εκ πνεύματος αγίου.

Now that one difficulty - the genitive absolute - is out of the way, we can continue with the rest of the verse. The first phrase told us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. The rest of the verse explains what else happened while she was betrothed.

Let's start with:

πριν ή συνελθείν αυτούς
before got married they

The two words 'πριν ή' mean 'before.' Then we are faced with a second tricky piece of Greek grammar: the use of the accusative case as the subject of an infinitive. The verb 'συνελθείν' is the aorist infinitive of the verb 'συνέρχομαι' and the word 'αυτούς' is a pronoun in the accusative plural.

Although normally the subject of a verb is put in the nominative, when the verb is an infinitive, the subject is put into the accusative case. Here, 'αυτούς' refers to Mary and Joseph, and 'συνελθείν', which has a basic meaning of 'come together' or 'gather, assemble' can be translated 'got married'. Or (more directly, and in case anyone is still unclear as to the meaning) - 'slept together.'

So - before Mary and Joseph got married . . . what?

On Wednesday we will finish the verse, I promise.

Χαίρετε!

The genitive absolute

A genitive absolute consists of a noun or a pronoun, with an associated participle, all in the genitive case. In almost all cases, there is no grammatical relationship between the noun/pronoun and participle of the genitive absolute, and the rest of the sentence.

Perfectly clear?

Consider the following two sentences in English:

Although the dog was barking, the thief entered the house.
While he was talking, the class took notes.

The first phrase in each sentence is the equivalent (in classical and koine Greek) to a genitive absolute. We have:

a noun or pronoun ('the dog', 'he'),

and

a participle ('was barking', 'was talking')

and those elements are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence. The dog was barking, but the thief entered the house. The man was talking, but the class took notes.

Of course there is some relationship between the elements: the dog might be barking because he hears the thief, and the class is taking notes, presumably, because a teacher is talking. But the relationship is not a grammatical one; more specifically, the subject of the first phrase of the sentence is not the subject of the second.

The genitive absolute was used in both classical and koine Greek: it exists in modern Greek as well, but less commonly, and generally within stereotyped phrases or a formal context.

In Matthew 1:18 (unfortunately for pedagogy!) the genitive absolute is an exception: its subject (Mary) is the same as the subject of the sentence; i.e., Mary was betrothed, and Mary was found to be pregnant. Such is Greek.

We'll finish the rest of the verse on Monday. Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:18, continued

Mνηστευθείσης της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας τῳ Ιωσήφ,
πριν ή συνελθείν αυτούς ευρέθη εν γαστρί έχουσα
εκ πνεύματος αγίου.

This is a difficult passage in terms of sentence structure. We start with the word 'μνηστευθείσης', which is a participle, that is, a part of speech with both verb and adjective aspects (see the post of 21 October 2008 for a fuller discussion of participles).

In this case the participle comes from the verb 'μνηστεύω', meaning (in the active sense) 'to ask in marriage'. But in the New Testament this verb is found only in passive forms; i.e., 'to be asked in marriage, to be betrothed'.

A participle agrees with the noun it modifies, which in this case is 'της μητρός . . . Μαρίας', 'the mother . . . Mary'. The participle itself (μνηστευθείσης), plus the words for 'mother' (μητρός), and 'Mary' (Μαρίας) are all in the feminine, genitive, singular form. We will discuss why they are in the genitive in a moment. But for now, look at the word 'αυτού', which is between 'μητρός' and 'Μαρίας'.

The word 'αυτού' is the genitive singular form of a masculine pronoun, here meaning 'his'. So we have:

της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας
the mother his Mary

i.e., 'his mother Mary'.

What about his mother Mary? The participle explains:

μνηστευθείσης της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας
being betrothed the mother his Mary

i.e., his mother Mary being betrothed.

Betrothed to whom?

μνηστευθείσης της μητρός αυτού Μαρίας τῳ Ιωσήφ
being betrothed the mother his Mary to the Joseph

i.e., his mother Mary being betrothed to Joseph.

The definite article/noun combination 'τῳ Ιωσήφ' is in the dative case; that case often indicates that we should add the word 'to' or 'for'.

But we still haven't addressed the problem mentioned above: why are the words of the phrase 'μνηστευθείσης της μητρός . . . Μαρίας' all in the genitive? The answer is that this phrase is our first example of a genitive absolute, an odd Greek construction in which a subject and a modifying participle--both in the genitive case--form a clause which is set off from the rest of the sentence.

More on the genitive absolute on Friday . . . .

Χαίρετε!

The Lord's Prayer

Here's the Lord's Prayer in Greek, together with a more-or-less word for word translation. To hear the prayer read using a modern Greek pronunciation, click on the title of this post. You should be directed to a page on box.net, where you can click on a file named 'Lord's Prayer.wma'. Click on that, then click 'open', and you should be able to hear the reading.

My apologies if this does not work as I hope. I am just now learning to add audio to the blog.

Πάτερ ημών, ο εν τοις Ουρανοίς,
Father of us, who [is] in the Heavens

αγιασθήτω το όνομά Σου,
be holy the name of You

ελθέτω η βασιλεία Σου,
let come the kingdom of You

γενηθήτω το θέλημά Σου,
be accomplished the will of You

ως εν Ουρανώ και επί της γης.
as in Heaven also on the earth.

Τον άρτον ημών τον επιούσιον
The bread ours for the coming day

δος ημίν σήμερον,
give to us today,

και άφες ημίν τα οφειλήματα ημών,
and forgive to us the trespasses ours

ως και ημείς αφίεμεν τοις οφειλέταις ημών.
as even we forgive the debtors ours

Και μη εισενέγκης ημάς εις πειρασμόν,
And do not lead us to temptation

αλλά ρύσαι ημάς από του πονηρού.
but deliver/save us from the evil one.

Matthew 1:18

We start with:

Του δε Ιησού Χριστού η γένεσις ούτως ην.

Of the and/_ Jesus Messiah the birth thus was.

With the English word order mimicking the Greek, the meaning is a bit obscure. We move the 'δε' to the beginning of the phrase, as usual:

And of the Jesus Messiah the birth thus was.

Also note that 'του' ('the'), 'Ιησού', and 'Χριστού' all belong together; they are all genitive, singular, masculine, and refer to Jesus: of the Jesus Messiah. If we are reading this phrase word by word, without looking for the sense of the whole, this is confusing; why genitive? why 'of'? But that becomes clear shortly. In the meantime, English does not generally use 'the' before proper names, so we can translate these three words as:

of Jesus Christ, or (putting the 'the' back in, in a different place):
of Jesus the Messiah

Remember that the word 'of' must be included here. There is no separate word meaning 'of' in the Greek, but the possessive meaning is inherent in the ending of the pronoun and noun.

ο Ιησούς . . . . . (the) Jesus (nominative form)
του Ιησού . . . . . of (the) Jesus (genitive)
τῳ Ιησού . . . . . . to/for (the) Jesus (dative)
τον Ιησούν . . . . (the) Jesus (accusative)

In this case the 'ς' of the nominative case is dropped in the genitive and dative case, and changes to a 'ν' in the accusative.

The next two words form the subject of the phrase: 'η γένεσις'. In Matthew 1:1, this word is often translated 'genealogy'; here, it can be translated 'birth'.

So, the subject of the phrase is 'the birth' (of Jesus the Messiah).

The word 'ούτως' means 'thus', 'so', 'in this manner'.

And finally, the verb: 'ην'. This form is the imperfect indicative, third person singular of the Greek verb 'ειμί' ('I am'). It means, in other words, 'was'. So we have:

And the birth of Jesus the Messiah was thus-- (implying an explanation to follow).

The explanation begins in the next part of the verse, which we will look in a few days.

Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:17; a few final words

There are only two words left that we haven't seen before:

πάσαι and δεκατέσσαρες

The first word - πάσαι - is an adjective meaning, generally, 'every' or 'all'. (Don't forget to check Matthew 1:17 on www.greekbiblestudy.org for all forms of this adjective.)
The adjective's exact meaning depends on context, and particularly whether or not the modified noun is accompanied by the definite article. For example:

1) When the noun is not accompanied by an article, the meaning is 'every', 'all', 'each':

πας άνθρωπος
each/every person

πάσα πόλις
each/every city

πάσαι πόλεις
all cities

2) When a singular noun is accompanied by an article, the meaning is more 'the whole of':

πάσα η πόλις
all the city (the whole city)

3) But when a plural noun is accompanied by an article, as it is in Matthew 1:17 ('πάσαι αι γενεαί') the meaning is 'all', as in 'all of a group'.

Thus 'πάσαι αι γενεαί' simply means all the generations taken together as a group.

The second word, δεκατέσσαρες, is the word 'fourteen': it is a combination of the Greek word for ten ('δέκα') and the Greek word for four ('τέσσαρες').

So - all the generations from Abraham to David - taken together - are fourteen; but where is the verb? In fact, there is no verb at all in this verse. The Greek 'I am' or 'to be' verb ('ειμί' - we haven't seen it yet) is understand from the context and must be added in an English translation; in classical and koine Greek it is common for this verb to be left out when its meaning can be assumed.

Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:17

Πάσαι ούν αι γενεαί από Αβραάμ έως Δαυίδ γενεαί δεκατέσσαρες,
και από Δαυίδ έως της μετοικεσίας Βαβυλώνος γενεαί δεκατέσσαρες,
και από της μετοικεσίας Βαβυλώνος έως του Χριστού γενεαί δεκατέσσαρες.

All therefore the generations from Abraham until David generations fourteen,
and from David until the carrying away of Babylon generations fourteen,
and from the carrying away of Babylon until the Messiah generations fourteen.

Let’s start with a preposition and an adverb. The word ‘από’ is a preposition; in this case, one which is always followed by the genitive. The reason you don’t see a genitive form of ‘Αβραάμ’ or ‘Δαυίδ’ is because these names are indeclinable; they are spelled the same regardless of case. However you do see the genitive in the final instance:

από της μετοικεσίας
from (the time of) the carrying away

‘Από’ has a general sense involving separation; it can be translated ‘out of’ or ‘from’ or ‘away from’.

The adverb is ‘έως’, which here means ‘until (the time of)’. The difference between a preposition and an adverb is (at least, to me) a subtle one, and in any case does not seem to produce any issues in translation.

The word ‘ούν’ is a postpositive conjection; like ‘δε’, it cannot stand as the first word in its phrase. It can be translated as ‘so’, or ‘therefore’.

A key word in this verse is the noun ‘γενεά’, meaning ‘generation’. This noun is feminine, and is declined as follows:

η γενεά . . . . . . . . . the generation (nominative singular)
της γενεάς . . . . . . .of the generation (genitive singular)
τῃ γενεᾴ . . . . . . . . .to/for the generation (dative singular)
την γενεάν . . . . . . the generation (accusative singular)

αι γενεαί . . . . . . . . the generations (nominative plural)
των γενεών . . . . . . of the generations (genitive plural)
ταις γενεαίς . . . . . . to/for the generations (dative plural)
τας γενεάς . . . . . . . the generations (accusative plural)

In Matthew 1:17 we see this noun four times in the nominative plural: once with the definite article (‘αι γενεαί’) and three times without (‘γενεαί’).

Incidentally, the on-line New Testament at www.greekbiblestudy.com has some extremely useful features. Not only are the Greek words color-coded (blue for nouns, red for verbs, etc.) but if you mouse over a word you get its definition, and parsing, and all the forms in which this word is found in the New Testament (click on ‘Show NT Forms’). For ‘γενεά’, for example, you will get all the forms I’ve just listed above.

More on this verse tomorrow. Χαίρετε!

Matthew 1:16, continued

Ιακώβ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωσήφ τον άνδρα Μαρίας,
εκ ης εγεννήθη Ιησούς ο λεγόμενος χριστός

Jacob fathered the Joseph the husband of Mary,
from whom was born Jesus the one called Messiah

We've already seen that 'Jesus' ('Ιησούς') is the subject of the last phrase. The word 'ο' is the masculine singular nominative definite article, here being used somewhat as a pronoun:

Jesus, the one called
Jesus, he who is called

The next word, 'λεγὀμενος', is our first example of a participle, a part of speech which is very important in Greek. In the sentence

'The woman walking down the street is my mother.'

the word 'walking' is a participle. It is verb-like, in that it refers to an action; but also adjective-like, in that it modifies a noun ('woman'). Participles can be thought of, then, as verbal adjectives. They agree with the noun they modify in number, gender, and case.

Consider the following three examples:

Ο απόστολος λεγόμενος Πέτρος εστίν πιστός.
The apostle called Peter is faithful.

H γυνή λεγομένη Σοφία εστίν πιστή.
Τhe woman called Sofia is faithful.

Βλέπω τον απόστολον λεγόμενον Πέτρον.
I see the apostle called Peter.

In the first example, the participle 'λεγόμενος' is in its masculine, singular, nominative form, to agree with 'ο απόστολος', which is also masculine, singular, and nominative.

In the second example, the participle, while still meaning 'called', changes its form to 'λεγομένη', indicating that the word it modifies ('γυνή', 'woman') is feminine, singular, and nominative.

In the third example, the participle is in the masculine, singular, accusative form, because in this sentence 'τον απόστολον', which the participle modifies, is the direct object as opposed to the subject of the sentence.


A final word about the word 'Χριστός'. English speakers tend to read this word as 'Christ' and let it go at that. 'Christ' has become a standard epithet for Jesus - just another name. A koine Greek dictionary, however, will tell you that 'Χριστός' is the equivalent of the Hebrew word which we read as 'Messiah.' In addition, the Greek word is related to the verb 'χρίω', which means 'to annoint (with scented oil)'. Thus, Χρίστος can also be thought of as having the meaning 'the anointed one.'

I've no doubt much more has been written on this single word, and would welcome additional enlightenment from any reader.

Matthew 1:14-16

Now we come to the end of the begats:

14 Αζώρ δε εγέννησεν τον Σαδώκ,
Σαδώκ δε εγἐννησεν τον Αχίμ,
Αχίμ δε εγέννησεν τον Ελιύδ,

15 Ελιούδ δε εγέννησεν τον Ελεάζαρ,
Ελεάζαρ δε εγέννησεν τον Ματθάν,
Ματθάν δε εγέννησεν τον Ιακώβ,

16 Ιακώβ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωσήφ τον άνδρα Μαρίας,
εκ ης εγεννήθη Ιησούς ο λεγόμενος χριστός.

The first two verses above are a list of fathers and sons, as before:

14 Azor fathered Zadok,
Zadok fathered Achim,
Achim fathered Eliud,

15 Eliud fathered Eleazar,
Eleazar fathered Matthan,
Matthan fathered Jacob

But in the final verse we come to the point. Word-for-word we have:

16 Jacob and/_ fathered the Joseph the husband of Mary,
out of (from) whom was born Jesus he (who is) called Messiah.

The first part ('Jacob fathered Joseph') is the same as in previous verses, but then we get to the phrase

τον άντδα Μαρίας
the husband of Mary.

This reads 'of Mary' because her name is in the genitive; the dictionary form is η Μαρία, without the final 'ς'. In many feminine nouns, the genitive singular is formed by adding a sigma (but not in all). The 'η' before her name is simply the feminine form of the nominative singular definite article: 'the'.

You might have trouble finding the word 'άνδρα' in a dictionary. It is in the accusative singular form because it refers to Joseph, who is the direct object of the verb εγέννησεν. But the nominative singular (dictionary) form has this spelling: ο ανήρ.

The full declension of this word in the singular is as follows:

nominative . . . . . . . . ο ανήρ
genitive . . . . . . . . . . .του ανδρός
dative . . . . . . . . . . . .τω ανδρί
accusative . . . . . . . . .τον άνδρα
vocative . . . . . . . . . . άνερ

Ο ανήρ means 'man', as opposed to a woman or a child; it can also mean 'husband'. This word (although spelled slightly differently) has retained both meanings in modern Greek.

Moving on, the next two words of the verse are

εκ ης
out of whom

The word 'εκ' is a preposition followed by the genitive; it means something like 'out of'. The word 'ης' is the feminine, genitive singular form of the relative pronoun (in this case, 'whom'). Note that in this case the Greek ης, unlike the English 'whom', is able to specify that the person in question is a woman.

Then--finally--we get to the verb and its subject. In Greek, correctly identifying the subject of the sentence can save much flailing about and misunderstanding. Here the subject of the verb 'εγεννἠθη' is neither Joseph nor Mary, but Jesus. The verb, therefore, is in the passive:

εγεννήθη he/she was born

This particular form of the verb γεννἀω, which we have not seen before, contrasts with the active form of the same verb, which we have seen:

εγέννησεν he fathered/she bore
εγεννήθη he/she was born

The verb εγεννἠθη is in the aorist passive, here indicating a simple, completed occurrence. The full conjugation of γεννάω in the aorist passive indicative is as follows:

εγεννήθην . . . . . . . . I was born
εγεννήθης . . . . . . . . you were born
εγεννήθη . . . . . . . . .he/she/it was born
εγεννήθημεν . . . . . . we were born
εγεννήθητε . . . . . . . you (plural) were born
εγεννήθησαν . . . . . . they were born

In English we are not likely to say 'was born Jesus': in Greek this word order is a common and natural phrasing.

We will leave the final phrase, and a discussion of the term Χρίστος, until tomorrow.

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Matthew 1:12-13

12 Μετἀ δε την μετοικεσίαν Βαβυλώνος Ιεχονίας εγέννησεν τον Σαλαθιήλ,
Σαλαθιήλ, δε εγέννησεν τον Ζοροβαβέλ,

13 Ζοροβαβέλ δε εγέννησεν τον Αβιούδ,
Αβιούδ δε εγέννησεν τον Ελιακίμ,
Ελιακίμ δε εγέννησεν τον Αζώρ

The very first word - μετά - is another preposition. Like a number of prepositions, it can be followed by a different noun case, with resulting variations in meaning.

When μετἀ is followed by a noun in the genitive case, it means something more like 'with, among, in company with'.

μετά των αγγέλων
with the angels

But when μετά is followed by a noun in the accusative, as it is here, it means something like 'after', or 'behind'. So we have a temporal meaning:

μετά δε την μετοικεσία Βαβυλώνος
and after the carrying-away of Babylon

(I've translated 'δε' as 'and', and changed its position to be first in the phrase.)

Then we return to the straightforward listing of begats, although--once again--some of the names are difficult:

Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel,
Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel fathered Abiud,
Abiud fathered Eliakim,
Eliakim fathered Azor

In this translation, I've omitted translated the 'δε' in each line, and omitted the definite article before names (i.e., 'Shealtiel' and not 'the Shealtiel').

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Matthew 1:11

In verse 11 we come to the end of the second group of 'begats':

Ιωσίας δε εγέννησεν τον Ιεχονίαν και τους αδελφούς αυτού
επί της μετοικεσίας Βαβυλώνος.

Word-for-word this reads:

Josiah and/_ fathered the Jechoniah and the brothers of him
upon (at the time of) the carrying off of Babylon.

We've seen the word 'αδελφούς' before (v. 2): it means 'brothers', in the accusative case. The word 'αυτού' after 'αδελφούς' also means the same as it did in verse 2: it is a genitive, possessive form of a pronoun, meaning 'of him', i.e., 'of Jechoniah.'

The word 'μετοικεσίας' is new; the only meaning given in my Greek New Testament (the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece) is 'carrying off', but it has also been translated as 'deportation'. (from 'μετα' with the sense of change, and 'οίκος', house). This word is in the genitive case, although here the reason is not to denote possession, but because it follows the preposition 'επί' ('on, upon, at the time off').

Actually, επί has a slew of meanings, which you can see in any dictionary of koine Greek. Some prepositions can only be followed by nouns in one case (e.g., 'εκ', 'out of', can only be followed by the genitive, whereas 'εις', 'in, into', can only be followed by the accusative).

But 'επί' can be followed by the genitive, dative, or accusative. In this case, being followed by the genitive, the meaning will be something like 'upon', or 'at the time of'. According to Zerwick and Grosvenor's A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament (see Amazon gadget on this blog) this is the only instance in the New Testament where επί has a temporal use (that is, a use relating to time as opposed to position).

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Matthew 1:7-10

The next verses continue with the descendants of King David:

7 Σολομών δε εγέννησεν τον Ροβοάμ,
Ροβοάμ δε εγέννησεν τον Αβιά,
Αβιά δε εγέννησεν τον Ασάφ,

8 Ασάφ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωσαφάτ,
Ιωσαφάτ δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωράμ,
Ιωράμ δε εγέννησεν τον Οζίαν,

9 Οζίας δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωαθάμ,
Ιωαθάμ δε εγέννησεν τον Αχάζ,
Αχάζ δε εγέννησεν τον Εζεκίαν,

10 Εζεκίας δε εγέννησεν τον Μανασσή,
Μανασσής δε εγέννησεν τον Αμώς,
Αμώς δε εγέννησεν τον Ιωσίαν

If we omit the postpositive 'δε' in each phrase, and also omit the definite article before the second individual in each phrase (Solomon fathered the Rehoboam) we have:

7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam,
Rehoboam fathered Abijah,
Abijah fathered Asaph,

8 Asaph fathered Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat fathered Joram,
Joram fathered Uzziah,

9 Uzziah fathered Jotham,
Jotham fathered Ahaz,
Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh,
Manasseh fathered Amos,
Amos fathered Josiah


A couple notes on the names. (1) Most of these names are not, of course, typical Greek names. This presents a problem in transliteration: how to represent the sound of a non-Greek name using the Greek alphabet?

(2) Not all the names are inflected for case; in fact, most of them are not. For example, in the two phrases

Solomon fathered Rehoboam,
Rehoboam fathered Abijah

Rehoboam appears first as the object of a verb, and the second time as its subject. In Greek, a proper name is inflected for case like any other noun, and we would normally expect a difference in spelling between the first instance of Rehoboam (which would be in the accusative case) and the second (in the nominative case).

But there is no difference here, presumably because it is a foreign name (foreign to Greek, that is).

On the other hand, in the phrases

Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,
Hezekiah fathered Manasseh

Hezekiah does show inflection: Εζεκίαν in the first instance (accusative case) and Εζεκίας in the second (nominative case).

Why are some names inflected and others not? I'm not sure, other than to say that a name ending in sigma (ς) lends itself easily to a common pattern of noun inflection in Greek, with a standard change to 'ν' in the accusative. Perhaps other names (such as Ροβοάμ, 'Rehoboam') did not fit as easily into a pattern of declension.

I will continue researching this point, and welcome any comments from readers.

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