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Gender of EKEINOS in Joh 16,13

Posted: November 30th, 2012, 7:40 am
by Peter Streitenberger
Dear Friends of Greek,

in John 16,13 it reads: Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν·

πνεῦμα is an Apposition to ἐκεῖνος, but why does the Gender (mask. - neuter) not agree ?

Thank you for a clarification !
Yours
Peter, Germany

Re: Gender of EKEINOS in Joh 16,13

Posted: November 30th, 2012, 8:51 am
by cwconrad
Peter Streitenberger wrote:Dear Friends of Greek,

in John 16,13 it reads: Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν·

πνεῦμα is an Apposition to ἐκεῖνος, but why does the Gender (mask. - neuter) not agree ?
If you'll look closely at the preceding verses in the context (verses 7-11), you'll note the reference to ὁ παράκλητος is spoken of and referred to thereafter as ἐκεῖνος. It would appear that the noun παράκλητος governs the author's choice of the masculine pronoun.

Re: Gender of EKEINOS in Joh 16,13

Posted: December 4th, 2012, 8:39 am
by Peter Streitenberger
Ok, I understand, Dr. Conrad. What do you think of this explantion: “Sometimes the demonstrative pronoun will agree with the natural gender rather than the grammatical gender. For example, the masculine pronoun EKEINOS is used in John 14,26 and 16,13-14 to refer to the neuter noun PNEUMA to emphasize the personality of the Holy Spirit” ( “Intermediate New Testament Greek”, Richard Young S. 78).
Thank you again for a clarification
Yours
Peter, Germany

Re: Gender of EKEINOS in Joh 16,13

Posted: December 4th, 2012, 10:49 am
by Stephen Carlson
In both cited cases, it seems clear that the antecedent to ἐκεῖνος is the masculine ὁ παράκλητος.

Re: Gender of EKEINOS in Joh 16,13

Posted: December 4th, 2012, 11:12 am
by Jason Hare
Peter Streitenberger wrote:Ok, I understand, Dr. Conrad. What do you think of this explantion: “Sometimes the demonstrative pronoun will agree with the natural gender rather than the grammatical gender. For example, the masculine pronoun EKEINOS is used in John 14,26 and 16,13-14 to refer to the neuter noun PNEUMA to emphasize the personality of the Holy Spirit” ( “Intermediate New Testament Greek”, Richard Young S. 78).
Thank you again for a clarification
Yours
Peter, Germany
ἐκεῖνος, as has been aptly explained already in this thread, is NOT referring to πνεῦμα in that verse. I realize that some interpreters want to take this as an instance of constructio ad sensum, but it isn't. It is clearly and definitely referring to the masculine noun παράκλητος in the context.