[B-Greek] John 1:1
John Fincher
jcfincher at charter.net
Tue Dec 28 16:49:36 EST 2004
> To Mr. Somsel: I thought that gender didn't matter in Greek, just as in German, madchen (which means girl) is neuter. Are you saying that if the adjective is substantive, then gender matters? Is there other times when this is true?
John Fincher
It is not quite correct to say that gender absolutely doesn't matter in Greek. There are cases where an author makes it clear what the gender of his referent is by using a construction called KATA SUNESIN (according to the sense). It is generally the case that words will be used in the grammatical gender determined by the dictionary form of the word. Language, however, is not prescriptive in its development. It is more like case of a city's development. Prior to the establishment of any zoning regulations one might say, "This is my property and I intend to make use of every square inch of it" and then proceed to build right up to the front property line. Others will consider it better to set their building further back from the street. Eventually this becomes the norm and laws are proposed to make this normative for all further building. Meanwhile the first builder says, "You can't make me tear my building down" so his construction is "grandfathered" in. Later the c!
ity may decide to widen the street and take possession by eminent domain, but for the time being his construction is accepted. In the same way there are relics in a language. Later someone may come along and decide to make them conform to the custom, but in the meantime they are used.
george
gfsomsel
Is there any significance, then, for hO LOGOS in John 1:1 being a masculine noun?
John Fincher
McDonough, GA
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