[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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