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!