[B-Greek] Prepositional Phrases

Iver iver_larsen at sil.org
Tue Oct 7 01:35:25 EDT 2003


> At 4:19 PM -0400 10/6/03, Doug Hoxworth wrote:
> >><Carl>
> >>In general I think one OUGHT to try to construe prepositional phrases
> >>with elements that they modify adverbially, if that's possible, before
> >>trying to understand them as construing with a nominal expression.
> >
> ><doug>
> >does placement/location of the prepositional phrase have
> >anything to do with how it is to be understood?
>
[Carl:]> Yes, but ...
<snip> There's another
> factor too, one on which Iver and I have had serious differences of
> opinion: I think that the final position in a clause may often be a
> position of emphasis, whereas Iver has stated frequently his view of
> "frontal prominence" (somehow I don't think that's quite the phrase he
> uses, but perhaps it gets the idea across). I think that Iver's
> right about this as a general rule, but I think that there are differences
from one
> writer to another and that a writer who employs rhetorical devices
> carefully may in fact position a word or phrase at the end of a clause or
> sentence quite emphatically. I don't know whether that's makes it quite
> clear, but all I can answer to your question is, "Yes, but ..."
>
> So in your sentence from Rev 13:8,
>
> Re 13:8 KAI PROSKUNHSOUSIN AUTON PANTES hOI KATOIKOUNTES
> EPI THS GHS, hOU OU GEGRAPTAI TO ONOMA AUTOU EN TWi
> BIBLIWi THS ZWHS TOU ARNIOU TOU ESFAGMENOU APO KATABOLHS
> KOSMOU.

Since Carl mentions our standing difference in analysis, maybe I should
clarify that my analysis is based on what I consider to be a general rule of
the significance of the very free word order in Greek:
"the more to left an item occurs the greater is its relative prominence"
The word "relative" is important since word order placement is not just a
choice between two possibilities, but many.

An alternative description of the same phenomenon is:
"the more to the left an item occurs the less predictable it is"

To take the example of 13:8 as the current test case, I completely agree
that the two prepositional phrases both should be construed with the main
verb GEGRAPTAI. I also agree that the word order is not particularly
significant in deciding which elements modify other elements.

In my analysis, the word PROSKUNHSOUSIN comes first because it has greater
prominence than the object AUTON (the beast) which again has greater
prominence than the subject (all living on earth). (Some analysts suggest
that the unmarked word order for Greek is Verb subject object. I wouldn't
say this is wrong, but I prefer to not hypothesize any unmarked word order,
but rather start with word placement options open, apart from inherent
prominence is some words like PANTES and the fixed position of some other
words.)

In the next clause, the hOU must come first in order to link back to the
subject of the preceding clause, and hOU is part of the phrase hOU TO ONOMA
AUTOU which functions as subject for the verb GEGRAPTAI. A natural
complement to the verb is the place where it is written, and that is then
specified as "in X" where X is "the life book of the slain lamb". This is a
complex prepositional phrase, but it may help to reduce it to "the book of
the lamb" and then see that the book is further qualified by THS ZWHS and
the lamb is qualified by "which is slain". The lamb as being slain occurs
several times in Revelation, but not linked to a time phrase.
The last preposition gives a further description of the time element of the
writing of the name.

Now, IF one assumes that the final position signifies prominence, then one
would translate it as EVER SINCE. However, IF the rule is general left
prominence, a final emphasis position is untenable, because it would cause
the system to break down. (This is different from English which DOES have a
rule of final emphasis in last position).
But I do not see the context support any emphasis on the time element. The
main question about the identity of those who do NOT worship the beast is
whether or not their names are written in the book of life (of the slain
lamb). How long their names have been written is not crucial to the fact
that they will not worship. It is an interesting and supporting detail about
the foreknowledge of God, but IMO not crucial to the main thrust of the
sentence.

I admit that judging emphasis or prominence is rather subjective, but the
problem I have with BOTH preposing and postposing for emphasis in a language
with such a free word order as Greek has, is that both the writer and the
reader would be constantly confused as to what might be the more prominent.

Iver Larsen




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