[B-Greek] Genitive in Romans 6:6c

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Sat Jul 15 07:50:34 EDT 2006


I find this almost incomprehensible.  How can one begin with semantics (meaning) before one has first determined what is actually being said (syntax).
   
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Iver Larsen <iver at larsen.dk> wrote:
  <SNIP>

I find it helpful to start from semantics rather than just syntax. I make a distinction between primary semantic roles
and secondary roles. Secondary roles are additional and optional, while primary roles are required, although they can be
left implicit in some contexts. Let me illustrate by an example of a verb that requires the genitive case for a primary 
role,
such as METECW:
BAGD explains this verb as "share, have a share, participate w. gen. of the thing in or of someth."
Compare:
1 Co 10:21 OU DUNASQE TRAPEZHS KURIOU METECEIN KAI TRAPEZHS DAIMONIWN
(You cannot share [in] the Lord's table and (also) [in] demons' table)
The agent is "you" and the patient is one or other of these "tables" - a metonymy)

Heb 5:13 PAS GAR hO METECWN GALAKTOS (for every one who is drinking milk)
The agent is PAS and the patient is milk (in genitive, governed by the META of the verb).

1 Cor 10:30 EI EGW CARITI METECW
(if I eat/partake with thanksgiving)
The agent is "I" and the patient is not specified, but implied from the previous context. The dative CARITI adds a 
secondary
semantic role, indicating an attendant circumstance or manner (BDF 198: "associative dative"). It is equivalent to a 
preposition with EN.

There is a so-called "genitive of separation" (BDF 180), but BDF says that this "has been driven out for the most part
by APO and EK." APALLOTRIOW (Eph 2:12, 4:18) is an example. It is a small group of verbs that take such genitives and
most of them have APO as part of the verb. KATARGEW does not belong to this group, and there is no way the genitive 
hAMARTIAS in Rom 6.6 can be considered a primary role for the verb.

I hope this clarifies a bit,

Iver Larsen 


george
gfsomsel
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