Syntax in Matt 6:21

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Chris Engelsma
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Syntax in Matt 6:21

Post by Chris Engelsma »

ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου. (Matt 6:21)

I am looking at ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου.

It is clearly an adverbial clause answering the "where?" question. The standard explanation, I suppose, would be that it is modifying εσται. But on second look.....it almost seems to be in apposition to εκει. But εκει is not a noun. or is it a substantive? It certainly seems to make sense;
  • ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου = ἐκεῖ
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Syntax in Matt 6:21

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Chris Engelsma wrote:ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου. (Matt 6:21)

I am looking at ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου.

It is clearly an adverbial clause answering the "where?" question. The standard explanation, I suppose, would be that it is modifying εσται. But on second look.....it almost seems to be in apposition to εκει. But εκει is not a noun. or is it a substantive? It certainly seems to make sense;
  • ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου = ἐκεῖ
I am not sure I understand your question, Chris. ὄπου...ἐστιν is the "where?" question, and ἐκεῖ answers that question. I would say that ὅπου is a relative adverb...
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Chris Engelsma
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Re: Syntax in Matt 6:21

Post by Chris Engelsma »

Barry Hofstetter wrote:
Chris Engelsma wrote:ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου. (Matt 6:21)

I am looking at ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου.

It is clearly an adverbial clause answering the "where?" question. The standard explanation, I suppose, would be that it is modifying εσται. But on second look.....it almost seems to be in apposition to εκει. But εκει is not a noun. or is it a substantive? It certainly seems to make sense;
  • ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου = ἐκεῖ
I am not sure I understand your question, Chris. ὄπου...ἐστιν is the "where?" question, and ἐκεῖ answers that question. I would say that ὅπου is a relative adverb...
I guess my question is more about the relationship between the dependent clause and εκει. They seem to be in apposition, but I am not used to using "apposition" to describe adverbs (like εκει).
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Syntax in Matt 6:21

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Chris Engelsma wrote:ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου. (Matt 6:21)

I am looking at ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου.

It is clearly an adverbial clause answering the "where?" question. The standard explanation, I suppose, would be that it is modifying εσται. But on second look.....it almost seems to be in apposition to εκει. But εκει is not a noun. or is it a substantive? It certainly seems to make sense;
  • ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου = ἐκεῖ
This is what used to be called a "casus pendens" construction or, in more modern terminology, a "left-dislocation," in which the adverbial clause ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου is taken out of its main clause and put in front (i.e. it is dislocated and moved left). Now that left-dislocated is stuck hanging (i.e. "pendens") outside of the main clause, a resumptive pronoun is used to pick it up syntactically. In this case, the resumptive pronoun is ἐκεῖ.

The function of this construction is to make it clear that the left-dislocated material is the topic of the sentence. In this case, the topic of the sentence is "where your treasure is" and what's said about this topic is that "it's where your heart will also be."

Steve Runge's Discourse Grammar has a chapter on this construction. I recommend reading the chapter (and the whole book for that matter).

Stephen
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Chris Engelsma
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Re: Syntax in Matt 6:21

Post by Chris Engelsma »

sccarlson wrote:
Chris Engelsma wrote:ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου. (Matt 6:21)

I am looking at ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου.

It is clearly an adverbial clause answering the "where?" question. The standard explanation, I suppose, would be that it is modifying εσται. But on second look.....it almost seems to be in apposition to εκει. But εκει is not a noun. or is it a substantive? It certainly seems to make sense;
  • ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου = ἐκεῖ
This is what used to be called a "casus pendens" construction or, in more modern terminology, a "left-dislocation," in which the adverbial clause ὅπου ... ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου is taken out of its main clause and put in front (i.e. it is dislocated and moved left). Now that left-dislocated is stuck hanging (i.e. "pendens") outside of the main clause, a resumptive pronoun is used to pick it up syntactically. In this case, the resumptive pronoun is ἐκεῖ.

The function of this construction is to make it clear that the left-dislocated material is the topic of the sentence. In this case, the topic of the sentence is "where your treasure is" and what's said about this topic is that "it's where your heart will also be."

Steve Runge's Discourse Grammar has a chapter on this construction. I recommend reading the chapter (and the whole book for that matter).

Stephen
very helpful, thanks. The reference to Runge is especially helpful. Reading that chapter now.
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