[b-greek] Re: Nominative in Appositon

From: Randy Leedy (Rleedy@bju.edu)
Date: Thu Jul 05 2001 - 10:52:39 EDT


Clay,

Thanks for yesterday's posts. Glad to be of some service.

As I walked away from my office yesterday, it occurred to me that my
model DOES have a problem. (But not the one you initially thought you
saw.) I suggested that the presence of a copula would provide one
objective basis for distinguishing between an appositive and a
predicate nominative. But sometimes the copula is existential (it
means "exists"), in which case a second nominative could not be a
predicate nominative. So KURIOS hO QEOS ESTIN might admit two
different senses: "The Lord (i.e., Yahweh) is God" or "The Lord God
exists." In the latter case hO QEOS is simply appended to the subject,
even though the sentence contains a copula.

So there is just one basis for distinguishing between the two:
whether the context demands that the second nominative express the
clause's assertion, or that it express an appendage to the first
nominative regarding which the clause makes some other assertion. The
presence or absence of an explicit copula becomes irrelevant.

This way of thinking appears to me to bring together what is correct
in both your thinking reflected in your original question and in my
initial response. You're right that the copula is not a valid basis
for distinction, and I'm right that there is nevertheless a
distinction that can and ought to be made.

Don't know whether this is the final word on the question, but I
think it's getting close.

I'd be interested to see your simple and elegant model when you get
it finished, even if it does end up manifesting Menken's third
attribute as well. :-)

Blessings! (Acts 3:26)

Randy Leedy
Bob Jones University
RLeedy@bju.edu

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