Lluke 24:15

Polycarp66 at aol.com Polycarp66 at aol.com
Wed Apr 10 01:23:42 EDT 2002


In a message dated 4/10/2002 12:38:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
cc.constantine at worldnet.att.net writes:

This is not a dumb question. I take  AUTOUS as the subject of the infinitive
hOMILEIN. I could be wrong.
___________________________

No, you're absolutely correct.  Wallace, p. 193 has

5. Accusative Subject of the Infinitive
a. Definition
The accusative substantive frequently functions semantically as the subject 
of the infinitive. Though older grammars insist that technically this is an 
accusative of respect, from a descriptive and functional perspective, it is 
better to treat it as subject. This is a common use of the accusative, 
especially with personal pronouns.
b. Clarification

Normally the subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main 
verb and thus is in the nominative case. For example, in Luke 19:47 we read 
hOI GRAMMATEIS EZHTOUN AUTON APOLESAI (“the scribes were seeking to kill 
him”).59 But when the infinitive requires a different agent, it is almost 
always put in the accusative case.60

1) English Analogies

Though this usage of the accusative is difficult to grasp, it is not without 
some parallels in English. In the sentence “She wanted me to learn 
something,” “me” is both the direct object of “wanted” and the subject of 
“to learn.” Greek usage is similar, though more varied (that is to say, the 
subject of an infinitive is not always going to do double-duty as a direct 
object, too). Note, for example, Phil 1:12–13: GINWSKEIN DE hUMAS BOULOMAI . 
. . hWSTE TOUS DESMOUS MOU FANEROUS . . . GENESQAI (“now I want you to know… 
so that my bonds have become manifest”). In v 12 the accusative is both 
object of the verb

george



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