[B-Greek] Predicate Nominative in 1 John 2:7
Elizabeth Kline
kline-dekooning at earthlink.net
Wed Oct 26 12:03:34 EDT 2005
On Oct 26, 2005, at 6:38 AM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>> HH: It seems to me to be the context. The subject before this
>> sentence is the "the old commandment." The subject of the next verse
>> (v. 8) is "a new commandment." The topic is the commandment, and "the
>> word which you heard" seems to be the predication made about it.
>>
>
> I don't really disagree with what Harold has said, but I'd call
> attention to a couple general points:
> (1) Normally when two substantives are linked by an explicit (or an
> implicit) copula (ESTIN/EISIN) the subject is the substantive with
> the article, regardless of which substantive comes first (cf. John
> 1:1c KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS, where the subject is hO LOGOS rather than
> QEOS).
> (2) When both substantives have the article, it doesn't really matter
> which of the two you deem to be the subject and which the predicate
> nominative. Therefore there is no difference at all between the
> alternative formulations (a) "The message that you heard is the old
> commandment" or (b) "The old command is the message that you heard."
> That is to say, in this formulation we simply have an equation as in
> the mathematical formula, X = Y.
>
hH ENTOLH hH PALAIA ESTIN hO LOGOS
I would agree with Harold on this one. If we choose to divorce syntax
from pragmatics then one might suggest that "there is no difference
at all between the alternative formulations" but hH ENTOLH is the
TOPIC and as TOPIC it ties what follows into the preceding paragraph.
Note that TOPIC is not always identical with grammatical subject but
it often is.
Elizabeth Kline
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