I'm interested in thoughts on why the word order Πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; as opposed to Πόσους ἄρτους ἔχετε;Mark 8:5 wrote:καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτούς· Πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· Ἑπτά.
Word order in Mark 8:5 Πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους;
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Word order in Mark 8:5 Πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους;
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Re: Word order in Mark 8:5 Πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους;
It's in its normally expected position post-verb, isn't it. It's activated/known so it isn't focal (and in questions the question word is always the focus anyway) and it's non-contrastive. It would be more difficult to explain its position if it were moved forward.
Mike Aubrey, Linguist
SIL International
Koine-Greek.com
SIL International
Koine-Greek.com
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Re: Word order in Mark 8:5 Πόσους ἔχετε ἄρτους;
The synoptic parallel provides one an opportunity to do that.
Matthew 15:34 wrote:Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Πόσους ἄρτους ἔχετε;
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)