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