John 1:48
Paul O. Wendland
wendlanp at wls.wels.net
Wed Oct 30 12:10:44 EST 2002
Chris:
You wrote:
> Could anyone help me understand the syntax behind this passage:
>
> PRO TOU SE FILIPPON FWNHSAI ONTA UPO THN SUKHN EIDON SE.
>
> What is the TOU doing there? It seems incredible that it would agree with
> ONTA which appears to be part of the next clause. Can anyone help me on
> this? What am I missing?
>
TOU is marking out the function of the infinitive FWNHSAI as being a noun.
This is called the "articularized infinitive" construction by grammarians,
which construction has multiple uses. In thise case it functions as a
substitute for a temporal clause with the addition of the preposition PRO.
Its case is, of course, genitive since it follows PRO
PHILIPPON is the subject of the articularized infinitive and SE is its
object. ONTA the participle either agrees with the SE that's the object of
FWNHSAI, or with the SE that follows the EIDON as its direct object.
Literally translated, the whole sentence would read:
Before the "Philip calling you" when you were under the fig tree" I saw you.
[or]
Before the "Philip calling you"--when you were under the fig
tree--[frontshifted for emphasis] I saw you.
Since I prefer the latter option, I will only put that one into better
English--Before Philip called you, I saw you--when you were still under the
fig tree!!
Here's what Wallace says pp. 596 ff:
3. Subsequent (p??` t??, p??4?, or p??`? ?4 + infinitive) [before ]
The action of the infinitive of subsequent time occurs after the action of
the controlling verb. Its structure is p??` t??, p??4?, or p??`? ? + the
infinitive. The construction should be before plus an appropriate finite
verb.
There is confusion in some grammars about the proper labels of the temporal
infinitives. More than one has mislabeled the subsequent as the antecedent
infinitive.?22? This confusion comes naturally: If we are calling this use
of the infinitive subsequent, why then are we translating it as before? The
reason is that this infinitive explicitly tells when the action of the
controlling verb takes place, as in ?the rabbit was already dead, before he
aimed his rifle.? In this sentence, ?he aimed? is the infinitive and
?was (already dead)? is the main verb. The dying comes before the aiming,
or conversely, the aiming comes after the dying. Thus the action of the
infinitive occurs after that of the controlling verb.?
========================
Best of luck with the Greek!
Paul
===============================
Paul O. Wendland
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
wendlanp at wls.wels.net
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