[B-Greek] Matt 16:18 EPI + dative?

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 16 19:33:37 EDT 2008


EPI can be used with the gen, dat or acc.  With the dative it can mean near (see Mk 2.14 below where it clearly means "at") though does not necessarily mean such in all cases.  You should consult a good Greek lexicon such as BDAG or LSJ (accept no substitutes -- yes, not even Louw & Nida).
14Καὶ παράγων εἶδεν Λευὶν τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίου καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ·ἀκολούθει μοι.καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ. 
14 KAI PARAGWN EIDEN LEUIN TON TOU ALFAIOU KAQHMENON EPI TO TELWNION, KAI LEGEI AUTWi, "AKOLOUQEI MOI."  KAI ANASTA HKOLOUQHSEN AUTWi.

 george
gfsomsel


… search for truth, hear truth, 
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth, 
defend the truth till death.


- Jan Hus
_________



----- Original Message ----
From: newsgroupstuff <newsgroupstuff at gmail.com>
To: B-Greek B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 3:54:03 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Matt 16:18 EPI + dative?

Hi.

Matt. 16:18 κἀγὼ δέ σοι λέγω ὅτι σὺ εἶ  Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ  οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ...
= KAGW DE SOI LEGW hOTI SU EI PETROS, KAI EPI TAUTHi THi PETRAi  OIKODOMHSW MOU THN EKKLHSIAN

Regarding Matt 16:18, I have heard some people argue that because it is EPI+Dative, it doesn't mean "upon" but "at" or "in front of". I am not convinced, because Eph 2:20 also uses EPI+Dative and seems to be of related sense, and clearly means "upon". However, in Matt 7:24-26 it is EPI+Accusative, and one might have thought it would be the same form in Matt 7 as Matt 16.

Can someone please explain what difference there is, if any, as to why a Dative is used in 16:18 and an accusative in 7:24-26? Is there any particular reason why one is used and not the other in each case?

Thanks!

--
Craig Johnson
Brisbane, Australia
Blog: http://bloggledegook.blogspot.com/ 

---
B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
B-Greek mailing list
B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek



      


More information about the B-Greek mailing list