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John 16.23: ἐμὲ

Posted: May 29th, 2025, 4:04 pm
by tghagen
One last question for this round:

I have a question on John 16.23: “καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε οὐδέν·”

I would like to know if the position of “ἐμὲ” lends a particular emphasis to the word or if that is the normal position for a direct object.

If there is no particular emphasis, it would seem to mean that in that day the disciples will simply not ask. If there is a special emphasis, perhaps the idea is that they will ask, but not to Jesus. The following sentence seems to support this: “ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἄν τι αἰτήσητε τὸν πατέρα δώσει ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου.”

Thank you,
Thomas Hagen

Re: John 16.23: ἐμὲ

Posted: May 29th, 2025, 7:47 pm
by Jason Hare
tghagen wrote: May 29th, 2025, 4:04 pm One last question for this round:

I have a question on John 16.23: “καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε οὐδέν·”

I would like to know if the position of “ἐμὲ” lends a particular emphasis to the word or if that is the normal position for a direct object.

If there is no particular emphasis, it would seem to mean that in that day the disciples will simply not ask. If there is a special emphasis, perhaps the idea is that they will ask, but not to Jesus. The following sentence seems to support this: “ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἄν τι αἰτήσητε τὸν πατέρα δώσει ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου.”

Thank you,
Thomas Hagen
I do think (again, IMO) that ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε has a bit more emphasis on the object than does οὐκ ἐρωτήσετέ με.

Re: John 16.23: ἐμὲ

Posted: May 29th, 2025, 8:14 pm
by MAubrey
Jason Hare wrote: May 29th, 2025, 7:47 pm
tghagen wrote: May 29th, 2025, 4:04 pm One last question for this round:

I have a question on John 16.23: “καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε οὐδέν·”

I would like to know if the position of “ἐμὲ” lends a particular emphasis to the word or if that is the normal position for a direct object.

If there is no particular emphasis, it would seem to mean that in that day the disciples will simply not ask. If there is a special emphasis, perhaps the idea is that they will ask, but not to Jesus. The following sentence seems to support this: “ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἄν τι αἰτήσητε τὸν πατέρα δώσει ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου.”

Thank you,
Thomas Hagen
I do think (again, IMO) that ἐμὲ οὐκ ἐρωτήσετε has a bit more emphasis on the object than does οὐκ ἐρωτήσετέ με.
It necessarily does. The form με is enclitic and doesn't have an accent. You can't emphasize words that don't have accents. Accentual stress is the method for communicating emphasis. That said: "emphasis" is a really slippery word that we should probably move away from. Sentence stress can mark a number of different communicative functions are get grouped under "emphasis", such as topicality, assertion/focus, and contrast.

There once was a man named *John* (stress = assertion/focus).
*John* (stress = topic) was from Chicago.
John's roommate *Steve* (stress = contrast) was a librarian.