[B-Greek] Adjectival and Adverbial Prepositional Phrases in Biblical Greek.

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Wed May 11 23:47:20 EDT 2005


On May 11, 2005, at 11:11 PM, JAMES DAVIS wrote:


> This discussion concerns the question: In Biblical Greek is
> the prepositional phrase "meta with the genitive" ever
> adjectival or is it always adverbial?
>
> Dana and Mantey argue,
>     "It is incorrect...to say that prepositions govern cases,
> But it is true that as cases limit and define the relations
> of verbs to substantives, so also prepositions help to
> express more exactly and effectively the very distinctions
> for which cases were created."...
>
> Wallace argues,
>     "Prepositions are used with cases either to clarify,
> strengthen, or alter the basic case usage."
>
> A friend argues,
>     "Whether in Greek or in English, prepositional phrases
> typically function as do adverbs: They usually modify the
> main verb."  So, prepositional phrases are adverbial and
> not adjectival with a very few exceptions.
>
> If, true, how are we to know if and when "meta" is being used
> to alter the basic case usage of the genitive? The Greek
> grammars that I have do not really address this issue.
>
> I am an amateur, but I have believed that "meta with the
> genitive" can be adjectival because of the case and
> that "meta with the genitive" is an example of an adjectival
> prepositional phrase.  Am I wrong?

META with the genitive can be an adjectival phrase ONLY if it is  
found in a context where that prepositional phrase can be said to  
characterize a noun. In the sentence, HLQEN hO IHSOUS META TWN  
MAQHTWN AUTOU, META TWN MAQHTWN AUTOU can only be construed with  
HLQEN and so is adverbial. On the other hand, if we have the  
prepositional phrase within an article-noun phrase, hH MET' EKEINOU  
TOU ANQRWPOU GUNH, the phrase MET' EKEINOU TWO ANQRWPOU is  
adjectival--but I think the adverbial function is far more common.

More controversial is the OT text cited by Paul in Rom 1:17 hO DE  
DIKAIOS EK PISTEWS ZHSETAI. Some will insist that EK PISTEWS is  
adjectival and qualifies hO DIKAIOS, and it may well be the case that  
this is how Paul understood it, but the case can be made for the  
proposition that EK PISTEWS is adverbial and qualifies ZHSETAI. Is it  
"will live as a result of faith" or is it "the one who is righteous  
by faith will live"?

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




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