ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο (Gal 1:7)

[Gregory Hartzler-Miller]

""Ετερον is an adjective, but ἄλλο is a pronoun as their morphology makes clear since adjectives have a final ν in the neuter nominative/accusative singular while pronouns do not." (Troy W. Martin, The syntax of surprise, irony, or shifting of blame in Gal 1:6-7, Biblical Research, 2009).

Is Martin right?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%8 ... E%BB%CE%BF

If so, inasmuch as it can be granted that ἄλλο (άλλο) may not be an adjective, could άλλο be an adverb (i.e. a gospel different in kind "which does not exist anymore")?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%AC%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%BF

Cf. "Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer" (2 Cor 5:16); and also, ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι (Rev. 21:1).

[Gregory Hartzler-Miller]

PS. Regarding "the repeated assertion that άλλο as a synonym to έτερον is used pleonastically to introduce εί μή." Martin writes: "This assertion is no longer a viable explanation of the syntax if Gal 1:6-7 is understood as a θαυμάζω ει μή expression."

[Gregory Hartzler-Miller]

The OP is an inadvertent affirmative response to a post by cwconrad made in 2013 in the Galatians reading group:
https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/vi ... 053#p12053

cwconrad wrote:

"I can see two ways of construing these elements:
(1) We should understand ὃ as representing the noun εὐαγγέλιον and we should understand ἄλλο as an attributive adjective (English: “There is no other gospel.”
(2) We may understand ὃ as a relative pronoun with εὐαγγέλιον as its antecedent and we might understand ἄλλο as an adjective functioning adverbially (English: “which doesn’t exist alternatively.”

Thoughts? (I confess I haven’t looked at commentaries).
Is there any parallel to this construction to which anyone can point"

[Jonathan Robie]

(I confess I haven’t looked at commentaries).

The Exegetical Summaries is always a good place to start ...

1:7 which is not another,
LEXICON—a. ἄλλος (LN 58.37) (BAGD 1. p. 40): ‘another’ [BAGD, Herm, LN, Mor; KJV, NASB, NET, NRSV, REB], ‘other’ [BNTC, LN; NCV, TEV], ‘different in kind’ [BAGD], ‘altered’ [SSA], not explicit [GW, NIV, NLT]. The phrase οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλο ‘is not another’ is translated ‘when there is really only one true message’ [CEV], ‘is not the same’ [WBC].
QUESTION—In what way is ἕτερος ‘different’ in 1:6 different in meaning to ἄλλος ‘another’ in 1:7?
1. There is a significant difference between the words [Alf, ICC, Lns, Lt, Mor, NIBC, NTC, SSA, WBC]. The word ἕτερος means another of a different kind and ἄλλος means another of the same kind [Mor, NIBC, WBC]. ‘Different’ distinguishes between the two while ‘other’ adds to one [Lt]. The gospel is different because there is not another gospel [Lns].
2. There is no significant difference between the two words [BNTC, Herm, NIC, TH]. Paul had called the false teaching another version of the gospel in the previous verse, but here Paul denies that it can even be called that since there is no other substitute for the gospel that Paul had preached [TH].

Stutzman, R. (2008). An Exegetical Summary of Galatians (2nd ed., p. 20). Dallas, TX: SIL International.

[Barry Hofstetter]

""Ετερον is an adjective, but ἄλλο is a pronoun as their morphology makes clear since adjectives have a final ν in the neuter nominative/accusative singular while pronouns do not." (Troy W. Martin, The syntax of surprise, irony, or shifting of blame in Gal 1:6-7, Biblical Research, 2009).

Is Martin right?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%8 ... E%BB%CE%BF

If so, inasmuch as it can be granted that ἄλλο (άλλο) may not be an adjective, could άλλο be an adverb (i.e. a gospel different in kind "which does not exist anymore")?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%AC%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%BF

Cf. "Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer" (2 Cor 5:16); and also, ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι (Rev. 21:1).

You have already gotten some good if partial answers to your question. But to answer directly, Martin is not right about ἄλλος. It is not considered a pronoun, but an adjective, which, like all adjectives, can also be used substantively, so ἄλλὸ δένδρον, another tree, or τὸ ἄλλό, another thing. His comment about morphology is simply wrong. It's true that pronouns such as ἐκεῖνος and οὖτος use the -ο ending for the neuter nominative and accusative, but it's simply an alternate form that persisted for these particular words. And fun fact, while ἐκεῖνος and οὖτος are used almost strictly as pronouns in the NT, in older and other Greek literature they are also used as adjectives, much like ille and hic in Latin.

[Stephen Carlson]

I'd have to read Martin's article, but even if he's right about whether it's an adjective or pronoun, these categories are not as discrete as we'd like and I don't see how anything really relevant to the interpretation follows from that.

[Gregory Hartzler-Miller]

In another thread, cwconrad wrote:

"...we might understand ἄλλο as an adjective functioning adverbially (English: 'which doesn’t exist alternatively.')
...Is there any parallel to this construction to which anyone can point"

----------------

Here is my revised exegetical thesis statement (modeled on one of the options previously explored by cwconrad):

In Gal 1:7 (ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο) ἄλλο is an adjective functioning adverbially (English: "which does not exist anymore.")

Parallels (of various kinds):

In Gal 5:10 (ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄλλο φρονήσετε·) ἄλλο is again, arguably, an adjective functioning adverbially (English: "that you will not think otherwise...")

2 Cor 5:16 offers a conceptual parallel for an outmoded gospel that existed in the past, but "does not exist anymore": "Therefore from now on we recognize no human being according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we don't know him this way anymore."

For a similar use of οὐκ ἔστιν with an adverb, there is Rev. 21:1 (ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι... English: "the sea does not exist anymore."

Your comments are appreciated.

[Jonathan Robie]

In Gal 5:10 (ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄλλο φρονήσετε·) ἄλλο is again, arguably, an adjective functioning adverbially (English: "that you will not think otherwise...")

Something in me resists reading it that way. I want to see οὐδὲν ἄλλο as the object of the verb φρονήσετε:

ὅτι
o: οὐδὲν ἄλλο
v: φρονήσετε·

For a similar use of οὐκ ἔστιν with an adverb, there is Rev. 21:1 (ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι... English: "the sea does not exist anymore."

I count 73 times that οὐκ ἔστιν occurs in clauses together with a word used adverbially. ἔτι, of course, is an adverb, ἄλλος is an adjective, so they pull οὐκ ἔστιν in different directions. Other clauses that contain οὐκ ἔστιν and ἄλλος:

Mark 12:31 μείζων τούτων ἄλλη ἐντολὴ οὐκ ἔστιν.
Acts 4:12 καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ ἡ σωτηρία· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὄνομά ἐστιν ἕτερον ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν τὸ δεδομένον ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς.

Using Randall Tan's analysis of Nestle 1904, I can count the clauses that directly contain οὐκ, ἔστιν, and a word functioning in the role of an adverb, which looks like this:

$Nestle1904.lowfat//wg[w[. = 'οὐκ'] and w[.='ἔστιν'] and w[@role='adv']]
=> count()

That gives me 77 instances. I can also narrow that to count only clauses where a word that functions in the role of an adverb actually is not an adverb, traditionally understood:

$Nestle1904.lowfat//wg[w[. = 'οὐκ'] and w[.='ἔστιν'] and w[@role='adv' and @class!='adv']]
=> count()

That gives me 5 clear instances. And two I want to think about before posting. The first three are closely related:

Matt.10.37
Ὁ φιλῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος·

Matt.10.37
καὶ ὁ φιλῶν υἱὸν ἢ θυγατέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος·

Matt.10.38
καὶ ὃς οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος.

This is different:

Mark.12.31
μείζων τούτων ἄλλη ἐντολὴ οὐκ ἔστιν. Note that ἄλλη is used adjectivally here.

Acts.25.14-16
ὡς δὲ πλείους ἡμέρας διέτριβον ἐκεῖ, ὁ Φῆστος τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀνέθετο τὰ κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον λέγων Ἀνήρ τίς ἐστιν καταλελειμμένος ὑπὸ Φήλικος δέσμιος, περὶ οὗ γενομένου μου εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἐνεφάνισαν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τῶν Ἰουδαίων, αἰτούμενοι κατ’ αὐτοῦ καταδίκην· πρὸς οὓς ἀπεκρίθην ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἔθος Ῥωμαίοις χαρίζεσθαί τινα ἄνθρωπον πρὶν ἢ ὁ κατηγορούμενος κατὰ πρόσωπον ἔχοι τοὺς κατηγόρους τόπον τε ἀπολογίας λάβοι περὶ τοῦ ἐγκλήματος.

[Jonathan Robie]

I'm not sure how much bearing this has on Galatians 7, but here are a few sentences where I think ἄλλος is used adverbially.

Luke 9:7-8

Ἤκουσεν δὲ Ἡρῴδης ὁ τετραάρχης τὰ γινόμενα πάντα καὶ διηπόρει διὰ τὸ λέγεσθαι ὑπό τινων ὅτι Ἰωάννης ἠγέρθη ἐκ νεκρῶν, ὑπό τινων δὲ ὅτι Ἠλίας ἐφάνη, ἄλλων δὲ ὅτι προφήτης τις τῶν ἀρχαίων ἀνέστη.

1 Cor 9:2

εἰ ἄλλοις οὐκ εἰμὶ ἀπόστολος, ἀλλά γε ὑμῖν εἰμι· ἡ γὰρ σφραγίς μου τῆς ἀποστολῆς ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν κυρίῳ.

2 Cor 8:13

οὐ γὰρ ἵνα ἄλλοις ἄνεσις, ὑμῖν θλῖψις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἰσότητος·

[Barry Hofstetter]

In another thread, cwconrad wrote:

"...we might understand ἄλλο as an adjective functioning adverbially (English: 'which doesn’t exist alternatively.')
...Is there any parallel to this construction to which anyone can point"

It's extremely common in Greek for neuter accusatives (both singular and plural) to function adverbially.