[B-Greek] Absent Definite Article strips Personality from The Holy Spirit
Elizabeth Kline
kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Tue Jun 16 02:51:44 EDT 2009
Iver,
On Jun 15, 2009, at 9:59 PM, Iver Larsen wrote:
> I suppose you are being sarcastic here?
Yes, sarcastic.
> When Cooper can use 200 pages to discuss the usage of the article,
> it shows that
> it is a complex issue.
Very complex.
> However, it has nothing to do with the personality.
I agree.
> It is
> related to definiteness and uniqueness, which is better treated
> under discourse
> and pragmatics. If you only look at the syntax, you cannot perceive
> the subtle
> distinctions.
Well, the quote from Cooper out context doesn't do him justice. I was
amazed at the subtlety and insight he brought to the topic. I found
that a lot of what Levinsohn talks about in Discourse Features was
addressed by Cooper who doesn't do text linguistics even though he
published recently. I think Carl has pointed out on occasion that
numerous insights that linguists bury under obscure meta language have
been expounded by traditional grammar people for eons, perhaps using a
less "scientifically rigorous" framework, I am not sure about that,
but none the less getting the job done by other means. I think Cooper
has covered the territory of the greek article reasonably well.
> If your quote "As a result the article is used, or omitted,
> usually though not always without any distinction" is Cooper's
> conclusion
It is only his conclusion on a very minor point having to do with QEOS
and ANQROPOS.
> Usually, when it is part of a genitive construction, there is no
> article, since
> the genitive in itself supplies a certain definiteness and
> uniqueness. (Consider
> also in English the difference between "the Spirit of God" and
> "God's Spirit" Is
> the Spirit of the first more personal, because it has the article?).
That is an interesting suggestion. That would explain a host of
genatives w/o the article which I discovered.
>
> It is useful to compare the instance of PNEUMA QEOU with TO PNEUMA
> TOU QEOU in
> the GNT. As far as I can tell, the form without article is used when
> it is clear
> from context that the Spirit of God is being referred to and there
> is no
> particular focus on God's Spirit as opposed to any other spirit.
>
> Paul uses both, but the form with article only in 1 Cor 2:11, 12,
> 14; 3:16;
> 6:11. In 2:11 TO PNEUMA TOU QEOU is compared to and contrasted with
> TO PNEUMA
> TOU ANQRWPOU. In 2:12 the contrast is to TO PNEUMA TOU KOSMOU. The
> whole section
> deals with such contrasts between human/worldly spirits and God's
> Spirit.
> In 3:16-17 the topic is the temple/sanctuary of God, and only one
> Spirit should
> live there, namely God's Spirit.
Elizabeth Kline
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list