[B-Greek] Genitive Absolute - a fresh look

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Oct 31 05:59:52 EST 2006


A paper by on genitive absolute constructions in NT Koine Greek, "The  
'Genitive Absolute' in New Testament/Hellenistic Greek: A Proposal  
for Clearer Understanding" has appeared in the newly accessible  
Volume 3 of Journal of Greek and Roman Christianity and Judaism at

http://divinity.mcmaster.ca/jgrchj/volume3

Her conclusion: ÒMy study of the use of Genitive Constructions in the  
New Testament has demonstrated that being `absoluteÕ is not one of  
their essential characteristics. Thus, there is no need to explain  
why they are often not absolute. They are adverbial constructions,  
and their main uses in narrative are (1) to signal important prior  
background information that provides necessary context for the  
action, and (2) to provide cohesion. Another relatively common use,  
usually in exposition, is (3) to give accompanying conÞrming  
circumstances. They have various other adverbial functions as they  
combine the work of circumstantial participle and genitive adverbial  
phrase. How frequently they are used may in some cases be linked to  
regional dialect or writing conventions (for example, in the petition  
form). When Genitive Constructions are seen in this way, many  
passages that seemed to be grammatical anomalies can be understood as  
following understandable principles.Ó

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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