[B-Greek] Genitive of Subordination and Revelation 1:5
Vasileios Tsialas
tsialas78 at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 30 13:05:43 EDT 2009
In the phrase Ο ARXWN TWN BASILEWN THS GHS,
ARXWN (the one ruling) is a participle of the verb ARXW (to rule),
and thus the genitive is objective,
which means that this phrase is equal to saying: he rules the kings (object).
Objective or subjective genitive is constructed
with words that denote some action
(another paradigm of objective: "fear of God" = "to fear God").
On the other hand, PRWTO'TOKOS cannot be constructed
with objective or subjective genitive because it does not denote any action.
As far as I understand, the genitive "over all creation" is grammatically baseless,
and the only case for PRWTO'TOKOS is either partitive or possessive genitive.
As always, corrections or comments on my thoughts are welcome.
Vasileios Tsialas,
Athens, Greece
> Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:08:36 -0700
> From: edgarfoster2003 at yahoo.com
> To: cwconrad2 at mac.com
> CC: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Genitive of Subordination and Revelation 1:5
>
>
> Thanks for your help, Carl. I thought that Revelation 1:5 could be understood another way, even if it does meet the criteria for a genitive of subordination. I now better understand what Wallace is doing in categorizing the genitive this way.
>
> Just a couple of points. The NET Bible translates Revelation 1:5: "and from Jesus Christ - the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth."
>
> I assume that this Bible is treating hO ARXWN TWN BASILEWN THS GHS as a genitive of subordination. However, it does not explain the rationale for rendering the verse thus. I looked up Colossians 1:15 in the NET. It reads: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." Hence, the Greek construction PRWTOTOKOS PASHS KTISEWS is also treated as a genitive of subordination. The NET does contain a footnote for this part of Colossians 1:15. Interestingly, it is a reference to Daniel Wallace's GGBB.
>
> I like the quote from Milton. It reminds me of what we find in Plato's Republic where Socrates quotes poetic verse, then he suggests that the verses should not be allowed in the ideal republic:
>
> "I would rather be a serf on the land of a poor and portionless man than rule over all the dead who have come to naught."
>
> Best regards,
>
> Edgar Foster
>
_________________________________________________________________
Εξασφαλίστε το ολοκαίνουριο Messenger 2009 τώρα!
http://download.live.com/messenger
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list