[B-Greek] collective entity vs collection of individuals
Susan Jeffers
susan at read-the-bible.org
Sat Jul 22 08:39:17 EDT 2006
Greetings b-greekers!
Is there a technical term for a plural that refers to a group as a
group, vs a plural that refers to a group as a collection of
individuals? And is there a way in Greek to tell which is in play?
For example, EN with a plural object is sometimes translated "in
_____" and sometimes "among _______"
Or, in English one might say
"y'all need to get it together and elect your new president!"
(meaning y'all as a corporate entitiy)
vs
"y'all be sure to put on your hats and coats before you leave the
building." (meaning that each individual in the group needs a coat and hat).
I've wondered about this in connection with CRISTOS EN hUMIN - is it
Christ in each of you, or is it Christ among y'all -- in your
midst. I don't so much care to resolve this particular question, I
mostly want to know if there's a name for the difference between
collection-of-individuals vs corporate-entity/group-as-a-whole, and
where to look for some further discussion of the difference, as
reflected in Greek or in general. I used to think of it as nuance of
the preposition EN, but now I'm starting to see the issue with other
plurals as well -- e.g. 1 John 4:1:
AGAPHTOI, MH PANTI PNEUMATI PISTUETE ALLA DOKIMAZETE TO PNEUMATA...
Is John telling the community to corporately "test the spirits" or is
each of the beloved ones to do so, individually? Maybe there are
languages that clearly distinguish corporate from
collection-of-individuals -- I don't know of any -- it doesn't seem
to me that or Greek does -- anyway is there a name for what I'm
wondering about? (besides "too much free time" :-) )
Thanks so much --
Susan Jeffers
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EMail: susan at read-the-bible.org
Peace Church Bible Study Home Page: www.read-the-bible.org
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