[b-greek] Re: Romans 5:15

From: B. Ward Powers (bwpowers@optusnet.com.au)
Date: Thu Mar 28 2002 - 00:30:43 EST


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At 07:05 AM 020327 -0500, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>At 11:17 AM +0000 3/27/02, Jack Stewart wrote:
> >Thanks Glen - quite right, I now see a little bit clearer. However, should
> >'THi' not be instead thought of as the f.sg.dat. definite article
> >functioning as a substantive noun, and thus working as a relative particle
> >in this context, rather than, as you have suggested, a relative pronoun
> >proper (I was under the impression that the fem.sg.dat. rel. pronoun did
> >indeed differ in form from the fem.sg.dat. article).
> >
> >Jack Stewart,
> >>hH DWREA EN CARITI THi TOU hENOS ANQRWPOU IHSOU CRISTOU
>
>Yes, and in more traditional grammatical language, THi is an article in the
>attributive position making the whole phrase THi ... CRISTOU an attribute
>of CARITI.
>--
>
>Carl W. Conrad
>Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)


Let me endorse and add a little to what Carl has said. He is correct of
course in his comments. This THi is definitely not a relative pronoun, but
the use of the article in an attributive construction. An adjective can
occur in the attributive intermediate position (between the article and its
noun) or the attributive post position (after the noun to which it refers)
- and in the latter construction the article in front of the noun is
repeated after it in front of the adjective. So that you get two
occurrences of the article: once in front of the noun and a second time
after it in front of the adjective. In place of the adjective you can also
have an adjectival expression. The verse cited in this discussion, 2
Timothy 2:1, is an excellent example of the normal construction with the
noun's article repeated for the following attributive adjective or (here)
adjectival expression.

But this construction can even occur when the first article is omitted. An
example is John 14:27, EIRHNHN THN EMHN DIDWMI hUMIN: here in front of EMHN
we have a "repeat" of the article which in fact does not occur in front of
EIRHNHN. Even so, THN EMHN is the attributive post use of the article. And
that is exactly the same kind of construction which we have in Romans 5:15.
The THi is the attributive post occurrence of the notional article which
would have occurred in front of CARITI if it had one. Thus (as Carl has
pointed out) it ties the phrase TOU hENOS ANQRWPOU IHSOU CRISTOU closely to
CARITI as an attributive expression.

Ward
                                http://www.netspace.net.au/~bwpowers
Rev Dr B. Ward Powers Phone (International): 61-2-8714-7255
259A Trafalgar Street Phone (Australia): (02) 8714-7255
PETERSHAM NSW 2049 email: bwpowers@optusnet.com.au
AUSTRALIA. Director, Tyndale College


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