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!