[B-Greek] 1 Cor. 6:20, the meaning of hATINA ESTI TOU QEOU

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Apr 27 16:30:28 EDT 2006


On Apr 27, 2006, at 4:11 PM, Laurence Schell wrote:

> Please correct my ignorance of things that may seem basic to most  
> of you. But is ESTI supposed to mean are or is? Would it mean your  
> spirit, who is God or who is from God? Regardless of doctrinal  
> opinions, might one of these be possible?

You're evidently reading from TR or MT, as KAI EN TWi PNEUMATI hUMWN  
hATINA ESTI TOU QEOU isn't in UBS4/NA27.

ESTI is 3d sg. pres. indic. of EIMI, "be." Inasmuch as the subject of  
the clause is a neuter plural, the common rule, generally although  
not universally observed in NT Koine Greek, applies that netuer  
plural subjects take a singular verb. That is to say, ESTI is  
singular, but accords properly with the subject hATINA. English  
versions would use "are." hATINA in this phrase, since it is plural,  
must refer back both to SWMATI and PNEUMATI.

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





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