[B-Greek] Neuter Gender strips Personality, or not?
Robert George
4examp at gmail.com
Wed Jun 17 14:18:13 EDT 2009
{{In the related thread, some are investigating arthrous/anarthrous –
with the grammatically unexpected result that the presence or absence
of the definite article, dramatically influences the choice & nature
of the verbs used with “holy pneuma” -- in a predominate,
overwhelming, majority-of-cases way.}}
The nature of the topic makes it impossible to stick to one text.
Responders have opened up various side trails (i.e. neuter gender, etc.).
My goal here is to collect any further comments about Neuter Gender in
this separate thread.
Neutered Pneuma ???
Vasileios Tsialas wrote (Jun 15/09, 4:12pm): I forgot to say that the
most elementary thing is that the word “spirit” is neuter and means
“the thing blown, wind”. The word by itself, contrary to “man,” does
not denote a person. Only additional information in the context can
show that the spirit means a person in a specific passage.
Your 1st sentence really surprises & confuses me. Why would you say:
“the most elementary thing is that the word “spirit” is neuter” ???
Here’s what I think I know. Please correct me where I’m wrong.
Isn’t it true that the most elementary thing about any Greek NEUTER
noun is that “IT” means nothing regarding the concepts of “Person”, &
male/female what-evers?
Grammatically & therefore ‘naturally’, ALL pneuma are from the Tribe
of Pneuma-its.
Some genderly-challenged pneuma-its, really are purist-its -- as
revealed when they are covered up -- in other-words (i.e. context).
Speaking of “elementary”:
- THEOS is a neuter-gender Pneuma-IT (Jn.4:24)
- (Masculine) Angels are neuter-gender, “publicly working”, Pneuma-ITS
(Heb.1:14)
- Demons are neuter-gender, evil-working, Pneuma-ITS (G4151,45x)
- Demons are double-neuter-gender, evil-working, Daimonion-ITS (G1140,60x).
You also know about these neuter nouns.
-G1025(8x) βρέφος =infant
-G1133(1x) γυναικάριον =idle woman
-G2365(2x) θυγάτριον =little daughter
-G2877(8x) κοράσιον =girl
-G3808(2x) παιδάριον =child, boy
-G3813(51x) παιδίον =child (Mk.5:40=maiden; Lk.1:59=John the non-Denom.)
-G5040(9x) τεκνίον =little child
-G5043(99x) τέκνον =child (Mt.9:2=man; 21:28=grown son; 23:27=children)
Please provide further explanation?
Thanks. / Robert George
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