[B-Greek] Subject-Verb Agreement in Mark 3:28

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sun Jan 4 04:07:34 EST 2009


On Jan 3, 2009, at 7:48 PM, Jason Kenney wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> This is my first post, and so forgive me if there is any breach in  
> protocol!
>
> I was reading over Mark 3:28 and I noticed that the nominative "all  
> sins" (παντα αμαρτηματα)is plural while the finite  
> verb it corresponds to (αφεθησεται) is third-person  
> singular.
>
> I also noted that none of my commentaries (even my greek one's)  
> mention this...am I missing something?
>
> Can anyone explain why there is no subject-verb agreement, and why  
> no translation/commentator seems to think this is a problem?
>
> Thanks in advance!

Neuter plural subjects generally do take singular verbs in ancient  
Greek; this is something that always surprises beginners, but it is a  
fact that is normally noted early in most first-year texts.

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






More information about the B-Greek mailing list