[B-Greek] question regarding the article as it relates to compound substantives

Elizabeth Kline kline-dekooning at earthlink.net
Wed Sep 21 13:05:44 EDT 2005


On Sep 21, 2005, at 9:35 AM, Gary Smith wrote:

> In Acts 8:4 we have "they that were scattered abroad went every  
> where preaching." The English pronoun "they" is derived from the  
> Greek article `oi which is nom. masc. pl. Should this be understood  
> as "the men and women" of the previous verse? Should the `oi be  
> understood as the males of the previous verse thereby excluding the  
> females. Normally there is agreement in gender if the article or  
> pronoun refer to a previous substantive. I have searched to find a  
> similar situation in the Greek text and have found none. I hesitate  
> to apply this `oi to the men and women of the previous verse---I  
> likewise hesitate to apply a nom. masc. pl. article to embrace the  
> women of the previous verse.

ACTS 8:4 hOI MEN OUN DIASPARENTES DIHLQON EUAGGELIZOMENOI TON LOGON.

hOI functions as a nominalizer for DIASPARENTES. The question you  
raise cannot be answered on this list because it involves issues from  
the social cultural religious framework of both the author and the  
original audience. As for hOI DIASPARENTES the referent could be  
mixed gender group.


Elizabeth Kline







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