[B-Greek] subject in Rev 1:1

John Sanders john.franklin.sanders at gmail.com
Fri Aug 15 02:03:03 EDT 2008


Beata Urbanek,


I would analyze this sentence in this fashion (not that I should be an
authority on such subjects or even considered knowledgeable, but this is my
method):



APOKALUYIS IHSOU CRISTOU is the topic that is being introduced (this is not
to be considered as some form of linguistically nomenclature),



hHN referring back to APOKALUYIS and introducing the following



EDWKEN AUTWi hO QEOS which gives more information concerning the APOKALUYIS,



DEIXAI TOIS DOULOIS AUTOU which is a continuation to the more information
given above,



hA which references that just given which itself refers back to the
APOKALUYIS.



DEI GENESQAI EN TACEI wich is giving us more information,



KAI is quite often problematic in languages, because it can operate on
several levels and our minds hold of making a judgement as to what is being
"KAI"ed until we have further information,



ESHMANEN is a verb, insufficient data as to what is being coordinated,

APOSTEILAS the word that helped me place the level or coordination.  We had
two possible subjects of this coordination, APOKALUYIS which is feminine and
hO QEOS which is masculine.  This sentence gives us a clear cut choice as to
what is being "KAI"ed.  Since APOSTEILAS is masculine normative, my mind
associates it with hO QEOS and therefore, to answer your question, hO QEOS
is ESHMANEN.



As to whom the AUTOU of the phrase AGGELOU AUTOU referrs, I think that will
be a function of the common understanding that the readers have in the
relationship between IHSOUS and QEOS.  For my part, I did not and do not
think about the specacivity of ANGELLOS allocation, I just assume that what
is of IHSOUS is of QEOS and vice versa.  You may have other ideas, the
grammar of the text will not be able to support one supposition from
another.



I apologize for the long and perhaps tedious accounting of my thought
process, but I think that rather than attempting to go back over and parse a
sentence it is easier to develop, or at least to attempt to develop some
form of intuitive association of the parts of the sentence as I read along.




from :



Dear List,

Rev 1:1 says: APOKALUYIS IHSOU CRISTOU hHN EDWKEN AUTWi hO QEOS DEIXAI TOIS
DOULOIS AUTOU hA DEI GENESQAI EN TACEI KAI ESHMANEN APOSTEILAS DIA TOU
AGGELOU AUTOU TWi DOULWi AUTOU IWANNHi


My question is: what is the subject of the verb ESHMANEN? Is it hO QEOS
because it is the nearest possible noun and in nominative? Or is it Jesus
Christ because APOKALUYIS was given to him and he can give it to others?
Consequently, whose AGGELOS is it?

-- 
John Sanders
Suzhou, China



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