[B-Greek] EIMI with no Predicate Nominative

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sat Oct 11 05:43:21 EDT 2008


On Oct 10, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Kenneth Litwak wrote:

>   It is common for a nominativve noun/adjective with ESTI(N) to be  
> followed by a predicate nominative.  If there is not a predicate  
> nominative, but one or more prepositional phrases, how can one  
> determine which prepositional phrase is modifying or related to the  
> supplied form of EIMI?  So, for example,
>
> (OTI EN TOIS LOGOIS DAUID TOIS ESCATOS ESTIN (O ARIQMOS (UIWN LEUI  
> APO EIKOSAETOUS KAI EPANW

Upon first reading it appeared that ESCATOS was a predicate noun, but  
the passage wasn't cited accurately. It would help a lot if the  
passage were cited accurately and referenced properly. It is LXX 1Chr.  
23:27
ὅτι ἐν τοῖς λόγοις Δαυιδ τοῖς  
ἐσχάτοις ἐστὶν ὁ ἀριθμὸς υἱῶν  
Λευι ἀπὸ εἰκοσαετοῦς καὶ ἐπάνω
[hOTI EN TOIS LOGOIS DAUID TOIS ESCATOIS ESTIN hO ARIQMOS hUIWN LEUI  
APO EIKOSAETOUS KAI EPANW]

> I don't recall having ever read anything beyond predicate  
> nominatives about what the object would be of EIMI with a nominative  
> subject. However, I can see this being "In the last words of David  
> is the number of the sons of Levi from twenty and up," or "The  
> number of the sons of Levi from twenty and up is in the last words  
> of David," or "The number of the sons of Levi from twenty and above  
> is [recorded] in the last words of David."  All those are possible I  
> think. Is there a grammatical rule to provide guidance on which one  
> is corret?  Indeed after telling studnets about EIMI taking  
> nominatives, needing to say that EIMI has a prepositional phrase as  
> its object, but not a precise rule for this has proved problematic.   
> Thanks.

Your terminology is also somewhat confusing: EIMI doesn't ever take an  
object; it may take a predicate nominative, to be sure, but in this  
instance, EN TOIS LOGOIS DAUID TOIS ESCATOIS is the predicate  
expression used with EIMI in its existential ("exist") rather than its  
copulative ("be equivalent to") sense. You've understood the sense of  
the sentence, but evidently it's the grammar of it that's bothering  
you. This is the very same usage as in John 1:1a Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν  
ὁ λόγος [EN ARCHi HN hO LOGOS]: "The Logos existed at the  
beginning" -- so, "The number ... exists in the final words of David."

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






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