John 1:12 case of τέκνα
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John 1:12 case of τέκνα
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I understand that in John 1:12 τέκνα completes / is the object of the verb γενέσθαι.
ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι,
τέκνα is not a part of a standard double-accusative, since the indirect object is in the dative (αὐτοῖς).
Is there any pressing reason to argue that τέκνα must be accusative instead of nominative? My parser says is must be accusative, but I can't understand why.
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I understand that in John 1:12 τέκνα completes / is the object of the verb γενέσθαι.
ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι,
τέκνα is not a part of a standard double-accusative, since the indirect object is in the dative (αὐτοῖς).
Is there any pressing reason to argue that τέκνα must be accusative instead of nominative? My parser says is must be accusative, but I can't understand why.
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
The subject of an infinitive is usually in the accusative, unless the subject of the main clause is the same as the subject of the infinitive, which is clearly not the case here.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
ἐγὼ δὲ διδάσκω τε καὶ γράφω ἵνα τὰ ἀξιώτερα μανθάνω
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
ἐγὼ δὲ διδάσκω τε καὶ γράφω ἵνα τὰ ἀξιώτερα μανθάνω
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
Wouldn't the subject of the infinitive be them (with αὐτοῖς its antecedent) and τέκνα be the subject complement?
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
No. τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι qualifies ἐξουσίαν. Both τέκνα and γενέσθαι are in accusative agreement with ἐξουσίαν.timothy_p_mcmahon wrote: ↑March 20th, 2018, 1:55 pmWouldn't the subject of the infinitive be them (with αὐτοῖς its antecedent) and τέκνα be the subject complement?
Tús maith leath na hoibre.
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
This is a different perspective than I've ever encountered. Can you elucidate?Robert Crowe wrote: ↑March 20th, 2018, 2:55 pmNo. τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι qualifies ἐξουσίαν. Both τέκνα and γενέσθαι are in accusative agreement with ἐξουσίαν.
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
The construction is lexically determined by words like ἐξουσία that demand further explanation. It begs the question ´What kind of ἐξουσία?´. The infinitive is sometimes called ´epexegetical’ or ´prolative’.
Tús maith leath na hoibre.
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
I get the concept of the epexegetical infinitive. But I'm not seeing how the subject of γενέσθαι is not identical with the subject of ελαβον earlier in the verse, and τέκνα the predicate of the embedded sentence. I don't see how the accusative case of ἐξουσίαν has anything to do with τέκνα being accusative.
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
This will be your last approved post until you contact a moderator about changing your screen name to your real name. --BH
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I am with Tim McMahon on this.
I suspect we should imagine an autous as the accusative subject of the verb, and treat tekna as the verb’s object, taking the same case (acc).
Would this solve the problem?
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I am with Tim McMahon on this.
I suspect we should imagine an autous as the accusative subject of the verb, and treat tekna as the verb’s object, taking the same case (acc).
Would this solve the problem?
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Re: John 1:12 case of τέκνα
It usually helps to cite the entire verse:
ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ...
Avoid calling the predicates of intransitive verbs "objects" since that can lead to confusion. Other than that, whatever we want to call the usage of the infinitive, It's probably best as noted above to supply αὐτούς as an understood subject and see τέκνα as the predicate. My earlier response was Q&D without looking at the syntax of the verse carefully.
ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ...
Avoid calling the predicates of intransitive verbs "objects" since that can lead to confusion. Other than that, whatever we want to call the usage of the infinitive, It's probably best as noted above to supply αὐτούς as an understood subject and see τέκνα as the predicate. My earlier response was Q&D without looking at the syntax of the verse carefully.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
ἐγὼ δὲ διδάσκω τε καὶ γράφω ἵνα τὰ ἀξιώτερα μανθάνω
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
ἐγὼ δὲ διδάσκω τε καὶ γράφω ἵνα τὰ ἀξιώτερα μανθάνω
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