[B-Greek] Plural Subject Singular Verb
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri May 11 12:46:57 EDT 2007
On May 11, 2007, at 12:18 PM, Mark Cain wrote:
> John 2:2
>
> EKLHQH DE KAI hO IHSOUS KAI hOI MAQHTAI AUTOU
>
> I have read where some would argue that the verb agrees with the
> closest
> Noun Phrase (NP). While others have maintained that the New
> Testament data
> actually suggests that Koine Greek normally follows the resolution
> rules
> reflected in the universal tendencies e.g. for the verb to agree
> with the
> plurality of the compound subject.
>
> What is at play in this verse with the singular verb and what
> appears to be
> a compound subject? Is the article in Konie Greek sufficient to
> designate a
> NP? Does Greek utilize an understood verb of existence such as
> Hebrew?
See: http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/2001-July/017593.html
BDF #135 (pp. 74-5) cites: Jn 2:2 EKLHQH DE KAI hO IHSOUS KAI hOI
MAQHTAI
AUTOU, Jn 18:5 HKOLOUQEI DE TWi IHSOU SIMWN PETROS KAI ALLOS MAQHTHS
introducing these (among other illustrative passages) with the note,
"Regarding agreement with two or more subjects connected by KAI, the
same
loose rules are valid for the NT as for classical usage. The following
examples with persons as subject may be noted: (1) When the subject
consists of sing. + sing. or of sing. + plur. the verb agrees (1)
with the
first subject if the verb stands before it, except when the subject-
group
is basically conceived as a whole. ..."
Wallace, p. 401, ("Compound Subject with Singular Verb"), disagrees with
BDF's explanation [see n. 17], and says: "When two subjects, each in the
singular are joined by a conjunction, the verb is usually in the plural
(e.g., in Acts 15:35 ...). However, when an author wants to
_highlight_ one
of the subjects, the verb is put in the singular. (This even occurs when
one of the subjects is in the plural.) The _first_-named subject is
the one
being stressed in such instances."
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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