[B-Greek] Translating Mark 1:8

Elizabeth Kline kline-dekooning at earthlink.net
Wed Nov 2 12:34:03 EST 2005


On Nov 2, 2005, at 8:38 AM, Jim West wrote:

> Anarthrous phrases are dicey sometimes and definitive statements  
> like "pneumati agiw is definite" may, or may not, be true.

That's right. The whole subject of definate/indefinite in Ancient  
Greek is very complex.

I agree with the general statement "Anarthrous phrases are dicey" and  
I agree that in some contexts PNEUMATI AGIWi might not have a  
specific referent. But the addition of AGIWi makes it highly probable  
in this context that PNEUMATI AGIWi has a specific referent.

The addition of a limiting constituent:  IWANNHS mentioned for the  
first time without introduction is a personal name but has no  
specific referent, however  IWANNHS BAPTIZWN in the NT has a specific  
referent even without an introduction. Floyd is a man's name with no  
specific referent but Pink Floyd has a specific referent. PNEUMATI  
alone is not a name but in the NT when it is limited by AGIWi or QEOU  
it most probably has a specific referent.


There are many other issues that could be discussed here.

Elizabeth Kline







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