Page 1 of 1

agreement with θεός and υἱός used as vocatives

Posted: February 19th, 2023, 11:41 am
by Jason Hare
Simple question...

Over on B-Hebrew, the unclear nature of Genesis 49:22 («בֵּן פֹּרָת יוֹסֵף וגו׳») was brought up. The only thing clear about this passage is that everyone scratches their heads with regard to its real meaning. In Israel, it is often quoted almost as a spoken charm against the evil eye (עַ֫יִן הָרַע).

In an attempt to get at its meaning, Ste Walch brought up the translations in the Vulgate and Septuagint. What struck me as specifically odd about the LXX quote is how it rendered the vocative in the second half of the verse. Here it reads: υἱός μου νεώτατος.

My question is this: Is it normal for an adjective to appear in the nominative when we have the nominative for vocative as often happens with the nouns θεός and υἱός? Should we not expect the adjective to still appear in the vocative (perhaps υἱός μου νεώτατε rather than what we actually see in the text)?

εὐχαριστῶ ὑμῖν σφόδρα, ὦ φίλοι.

Re: agreement with θεός and υἱός used as vocatives

Posted: February 19th, 2023, 6:58 pm
by Jason Hare
In Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Wallace specifically mentions with regard to John 17:25 («πατὴρ δίκαιε») that “the adjective that modifies the nom. is voc.” (p. 57). I would have thought the same would be true of Genesis 49:22.