Lesson 50: Nominal Word Clusters/Determiners

DEMONSTRATIVES: Οὗτος, Ἐκεῖνος

0725. The demonstrative pronominal adjectives οὗτος (this, referring to something relatively nearer at hand) and ἐκεῖνος (that, referring to something relatively more remote) appear in both simple and complex nominal word clusters, and alone as a grammatical item in the sentence (like the pronouns). Their uses are so nearly identical that they may be conveniently considered together.

725. The contrast between the demonstratives as pointers can be observed in the following two common clusters:

(1) ἐν τούτῳ τῷ αἰῶνι Mt 12:32
in this (present) age
(2) ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ Mt 7:22
on that (last) day

Οὗτος generally points to something present, proximate, or under discussion, while ἐκεῖνος refers to persons absent or to the more remote, although the two demonstratives are not often contrasted in the same context.

726.1 Οὗτος may point to someone (or something) present:

(3) οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς ὁ ὑιὸς Ἰωσήφ; Jn 6:42
Is this man not Jesus the son of Joseph?
(in the presence of Jesus)

726.2 To a subject just introduced:

(4) οὗτός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον ... Jn 1:30
This is (he) concerning whom I said ...
(The subject was introduced in 1:29.)

726.3 Or to a series of preceding events (items, words) collectively:

(5) ταῦτα ἐν Βηθανία ἐγένετο Jn 1:28
These things happened in Bethany
(referring to what is narrated Jn 1:19-27)

Cf. comparable uses in Jn 3:22, 8:20.

726.4 Οὗτος may also be used to refer to what follows:

(6) καὶ αὕτη ἐστιν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ Ἰωάννου Jn 1:19
And this is the testimony of John
(which is then narrated)

727.1 Ἐκεῖνος may point to someone (or something) absent or assumed to be absent:

(7) οἶδα ὅτι Μεσσίας ἔρχεται ... ὅταν ἤλθῃ ἐκεῖνος ... Jn 4:25
I know that the messiah is coming ...
when he (that one) comes ...

Note: ἐκεῖνος (and οὗτος) are sometimes best translated in English by the simple personal pronoun where the antecedent is unambiguous.

727.2 To contrast someone present or speaking with someone else:

(8) ἐκεῖνον δεῖ αὐξάνειν,
ἐμὲ δὲ ἐλαττοῦσθαι
Jn 3:30
He (that one) must increase,
but I must decrease

727.3 Ἐκεῖνος may refer to the more remote item in a dialogue or narrative:

(9) ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ
σώματος αὐτοῦ
Jn 2:21
But he (that one) spoke of the temple
of his body

(referring to Jesus' remark in 2:19; the Jews, meanwhile,
had interposed a question.)
(10) ἐκ δἐ τῆς πόλεως ἐκείνης πολλοί Jn 4:39
Many out of that city
(referring to the city last mentioned in 4:30; another
conversation had meanwhile taken place.)

727.4 Or to what is temporally more remote (from the standpoint of the narrative):

(11) καὶ παρ' αὺτῷ ἔμειναν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην Jn 1:39
and they stayed with him that day
(that day is referred to the past by the tense of the verb.)

728. Οὗτος and ἐκεῖνος may be used in combination in order to distinguish antecedents:

(12) κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτόν
and I myself did not know him (him = Jesus)
ἀλλ' ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ἐν ὕδατι ἐκεῖνὸς μου
εἶπεν ...
but the one who sent me to baptize in water (he,
that one) said to me ...

(a new subject is introduced, identified by εκείνος)
ἐφ' ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς ... οὗτός ἐστιν ... Jn 1:33
upon whomever you see ... this one is ...
(referring once again to Jesus; cf. ούτος in 1:34 as well.)

Cf. the use of οὗτος and ἐκεῖνος in Jn 1:6-8, where both demonstratives have the same antecedent, but a new subject intervenes between them.

729. Demonstratives appear in simple word clusters, both with a noun as head term and with themselves as head terms. In simple clusters with a noun as head term, the noun is nearly always articular and the demonstrative always takes predicate position. This means that the demonstratives do not modify anarthrous nouns as a rule (exceptions, Bl-D §292) and that they never occur in attributive position.

729.1 The demonstratives may appear in either predicate position:

(13) ὁ λόγος οὗτος Jn 7:36
this word
(14) οὗτος ὁ λαός Mk 7:6
this people
(15) οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι Mt 22:10
those servants
(16) ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρα Jn 5:9
on that day

Other modifiers may appear in the cluster:

(17) αὕτη [οὖν] ἡ χαρὰ ή ἐμή Jn 3:29
this joy of mine
(18) ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχή Lk 21:3
this poor widow
(19) Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος οὗτος Acts 6:14
this Jesus the Nasarene

Even two modifiers in predicate position:

(20) ὅλην τὴν χώραν ἐκείνην Mk 6:55
that whole region

729.2 The simple cluster in which the demonstrative appears may, of course, be a subcluster within a complex word cluster:

(21) συζητὴς / τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου 1 Cor 1:20
debater of this age
(22) τὸ φῶς / τοῦ κόσμου τούτου Jn 11:9
the light of this world
(23) οὗτος ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου Jn 12:34
this son of man

730.1 Since the demonstratives always appear in predicate position, careful attention must be given to the structure of word clusters, especially in S-II (§507; sentences with a copulative verb). In (24) what is subject and what is predicate is readily discernible:

(24) οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υῖὸς ὑμῶν Jn 9:19
This is your son

Even when the copula is lacking the subject and predicate can be readily isolated:

(25) ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων οὗτος Mk 3:35
this is the king of the Jews

Assuming (25) to be a complete sentence, no other division of words is possible. If (25) were a sentence fragment, it would of course read:

this king of the Jews

730.2 When, however, οὗτος appears with an anarthrous noun or adjective, one must stand in predicate relation to the other, since the demonstratives rarely modify anarthrous nouns or adjectives. In (26) the equative verb is present:

(26) οὗτος ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν Mk 3:35
this is my brother and sister and mother

In (27) an equative verb is lacking:

(27) οὗτος τέλειος ἀνήρ Ja 3:2
this is a perfect man

Example (27) is more readily identified as a complete sentence than (25), since (25) is a possible nominal word cluster, whereas (27) is ordinarily not grammatically acceptable as a word cluster.

730.3 Predicate adjectives are recognizable by the same rules of structure applying to nominal word clusters:

(28) οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν Jn 9:24
this man is a sinner

ἁμαρτωλός (an adjective) does not stand in attributive relation to ἄνθρωπος and so must belong to the predicate. Similarly, ἐκεῖνος ἁγνός cannot be a word cluster in

(29) ἐκεῖνος ἁγνός ἐστίν 1 Jn 3:3
that one is pure

but must be subject and predicate.

731. The few simple word clusters with demonstratives as head terms (s. §729) are illustrated by the following:

731.1 With πᾶς (ἅπας) as a modifier (cf. §§741.3, 744):

(30) οὗτοι, πάντες Acts 1:14
all these
(31) ἅπαντες οὗτοι Acts 2:7
all these

731.2 With ὅλος as a modifier:

(32) τοῦτο [δὲ] ὅλον Mt 1:22
all this

731.3 With μόνος as a modifier (cf. §690.4):

(33) τοῦτο μόνον Gal 3:2
only this

731.4 For examples with αὐτός as a modifier, s. §721.4.

732.1 Demonstratives also appear as a subcluster in complex word clusters, most often as a modifying genitive.

   -> <-
(34) σὺ μαθητὴς / εἶ / ἐκείνου Jn 9:28
you are a disciple of that man

Note: The complex cluster is here separated by the verb.

(35) ἵνα ὑμεῖς τῇ / ἐκείνου / πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσητε 2 Cor 8:9
in order that you, by the poverty of that one, might become rich
(36) ὡς ἕν / τούτων Mt 6:29
as one of these

With a genitive of comparison (§702):

(37) μείζονα / τούτων ποιήσει. Jn 14:12
Greater things than these shall he do

On the order of subclusters with a modifying genitive, s. §696.3.

732.2 A demonstrative occasionally appears in a complex cluster with an attributive adverb (cf. §705.3).

(38) ἐκεῖνοις [δὲ] τοῖς ἔξω Mk 4:11
to those outside

733. As an independent grammatical item in the sentence, the demonstratives may serve all the functions served by pronouns. The following are merely illustrative.

733.1 The demonstrative may serve as subject:

(39) ἐκεῖνός με ἀπέστειλεν Jn 8:42
That one sent me
(40) οὗτοι δέ εἰσιν oἱ παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν Mk 4:15
These are the ones along the path

Cf. §726 (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), etc.

733.2 As object:

(41) ἄρατε ταῦτα ἐντεῦθεν Jn 2:16
take these things away
(42) ἐκεῖνο δὲ γινώσκετε Mt 24:43
but know this

733.3 As indirect object:

(43) καὶ ἐκείνους εἶπεν ... Mt 20:4
and to them he said ...

733.4 As a genitive object:

(44) τούτου ἀκούει Jn 9:31
he listens to him

733.5 With a preposition:

(45) μετὰ ταῦτα Jn 3:22
after these things
(46) ἐν ταύταις Jn 5:3
in these (porticoes = αἱ στοαί)

734. Οὗτος is used with prepositions in a number of crystallized phrases.

(47) διὰ τοῦτο Jn 8:47
for this reason
(48) ἐκ τούτου Jn 19:12
for this reason, therefore
(49) ἐν τούτῳ 1 Jn 3:19
for this reason, by this

Cf. Bauer s.v. 1.b.