[B-Greek] Matthew 1:20 EK PNEUMATOS ESTIN hAGIOU / EK PNEUMATOS hAGIOU ESTIN

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Feb 7 16:41:13 EST 2008


On Feb 7, 2008, at 3:09 PM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:

> On Feb 7, 2008, at 11:30 AM, Jonathan Robie wrote:
>
>> Matthew 1:20 τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ ηθὲν ἐκ
>> πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου
>> Matthew 1:20 TO GAR EN AUTH HQEN EK PNEUMATOS ESTIN hAGIOU
>>
>> My poor American brain wants this to read ἐκ
>> πνεύματός ἁγίου ἐστιν (EK
>> PNEUMATOS hAGIOU ESTIN), rather than ἐκ πνεύματός
>> ἐστιν ἁγίου (EK
>> PNEUMATOS ESTIN hAGIOU). Is there any significance to the
>> difference in
>> word order here? Is there any significance to the verb dividing
>> πνεύματός ἁγίου (PNEUMATOS hAGIOU)?
>>
>> Jonathan
>
> I don't know if there is any significance but in earlier greek you
> might have found something like TO GAR EN AUTH HQEN hAGIOU EK
> PNEUMATOS ESTIN with the adjective in front of the preposition.

(1) It appears that the citation itself is corrupted. It should be:
τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ  
πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου.
TO GAR EN AUTHi GENNHQEN EK PNEUMATOS ESTIN hAGIOU.

(2) You might compare Luke 2:25 ... καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος  
οὗτος δίκαιος καὶ εὐλαβὴς  
προσδεχόμενος παράκλησιν τοῦ  
Ἰσραήλ, καὶ πνεῦμα ἦν ἅγιον ἐπ᾿  
αὐτόν·
KAI hO ANQRWPOS hOUTOS DIKAIOS KAI EULABHS PROSDECOMENOS PARAKLHSIN  
TOU ISRAHL, KAI PNEUMA HN hAGION EP' AUTON.

(3) In the GNT the combination of PNEUMA and the adjective hAGION in  
agreement with it is found both with and without the article. I won't  
cite the lengthy article in BDAG but I would urge those interested to  
check s.v.PNEUMA :
	
	5. God’s being as controlling influence, with focus on association  
with humans, Spirit, spirit ...
	alpha. w. the art. τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον TO PNEUMA TO  
hAGION
	beta. without the art. (s. B-D-F §257, 2; Rob. 761; 795)  
πνεῦμα ἅγιον PNEUMA hAGION

(4) I'd also note BDF §257 (2) "TO hAGION PNEUMA sometimes with  
article as more or less a person; sometimes without article as a  
divine spirit entering into man." And, as BDAG notes, A.T. Robertson  
discusses this and says much the same on pp. 761 and 796 of the big  
grammar.

(5) Inasmuch as the adjectival form hAGIOU in Mt 1:20, hAGION in Lk  
2;25 clearly is in agreement with the nominal form of PNEUMATOS/PNEUMA  
respectively, even though separated by a verb, there should be no  
question of whether they belong together.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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