[B-Greek] Mt 9.18a Indefinite articles

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Mon Mar 17 05:21:39 EDT 2008


On Mar 16, 2008, at 11:20 PM, Mitch Larramore wrote:

>
> TAUTA AUTOU LALOUNTOS AUTOIS IDOU ARCWN hEIS ELQWN
> PROSEKUNEI AUTWi LEGWN....
>
> To take ARCWN hEIS as "one leader" seems awkward in
> this context. I note many translations prefer "a
> leader/ruler." It would seem then that this is pretty
> clearly to be taken as an indefinite article. Why,
> since this indefinite use was readily available to
> first century Greeks, did they use it in only rare
> instances? Obviously ARCWN itself could have been
> used, but at the risk of it being understood as
> Monadic or Well-Known, etc. As it is quite obvious
> from my questions, I only can "think" in English so
> many of my questions come from how an American in the
> 21st century looks at things. But it just seems like
> having a sure-enough indefinite article would come in
> rather handy now and then.

As someone keeps saying on this list in message after message, Koine  
Greek is a language in flux: older forms and usages co-exist with  
newer forms and usages -- nor is this true of Greek only. Any English- 
speaker who has lived long enough is aware that the language he/she  
speaks daily differs more or less depending on the individual or group  
one is talking to and the circumstances of the words spoken. The fact  
is that hEIS was just coming into usage as an indirect article in the  
Koine of the NT:

BDAG, hEIS, #3. "3. an unspecified entity, some/one = τὶς [TIS],  
whereby εἷς [hEIS] can mean exactly the same thing as the indef.  
art. "

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






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