[B-Greek] Mark 4:9 and 4:23 - both subject clauses?

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Mon Sep 13 07:29:42 EDT 2010


On Sep 13, 2010, at 6:52 AM, Morten Hørning Jensen wrote:

> Dear Carl
> Thanks for your speedy reply!
> Just to clarify: When you say, "in terms of traditional grammar", does it then imply that you can take the HOS-clause as a subject clause (as Leedy seems to do)? Is it also possible with the EI-clause?
> 
> Or should we really discard that option altogether and reduce the use of subject clauses to clauses beginning with HOTI, HOS or HINA (in koine) and mostly with impersonal phrases?
> 
> Not a lot is written on this topic in the regular grammars. Wallace hardly touches upon it (p. 453f and 677f).

A quick response, as I'm on my way out. I really think that these two clauses are variants of a present general conditional clause, "Who ever, If anyone ever, He who ... " (I think Luke has an equivalent hO WTA ECWN or the like; in such cases, the subject of the result clause is elliptical and is the referent of the pronominal subjects in any form of the conditional subject. Academic linguistics probably has a simpler way to account for this very common formulation; certainly the traditional grammatical accounting is rather awkward, even if intelligible.

Carl W. Conrad

> -----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
> Fra: Carl Conrad [mailto:cwconrad2 at mac.com] 
> Sendt: 13. september 2010 11:36
> Til: Morten Hørning Jensen
> Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Emne: Re: [B-Greek] Mark 4:9 and 4:23 - both subject clauses?
> 
> 
> On Sep 13, 2010, at 3:19 AM, Morten Hørning Jensen wrote:
> 
>> Hi all
>> 
>> How would you understand the difference between Mark 4:9 and 4:23 in 
>> regards to what is the subject of AKOUETO. The Leedy diagram in 
>> Bibleworks interprets them differently, with the HOS-clause of 4:9 as 
>> subject of AKOUETO, where as the EI-clause of 4:23 is listed as a 
>> regular conditional clause. Can 4:23 not be understood in the same 
>> manner as 4:9 (ie. as a subject clause)?
> 
> Mark 4:9 καὶ ἔλεγεν· ὃς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω. 
> Mark 4:9 KAI ELEGEN· hOS ECEI WTA AKOUEIN AKOUETW. 
> 
> Mark 4:23 εἴ τις ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω. 
> Mark 4:23 EI TIS ECEI WTA AKOUEIN AKOUETW. 
> 
> In terms of traditional grammar, the subject isn't expressed in either of these two instances but is implicit; in both clauses it is the referent of the pronoun (of hOS, of TIS): if it were spelled out, one might expect a hOUTOS, or EKEINOS. In common English versions, that implicit subject is spelled out as "he"; actually, however, hOS ECEI and EI TIS ECEI are alternative phrasings of the very same notion: the person with the capacity to hear.
> 
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> 
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