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Πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι ὄντα

Posted: September 21st, 2015, 2:51 am
by adrianm
Hi,

I have been learning hellenistic Greek since last Sept. On my own, for it is not easy to find any decent course. Unfortunately, learning on one's own means asking when you can't find answer in books.

The question is: In John 1,48 we find:

Πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι

Φίλιππον σε φωνῆσαι - looks like ACI to me (am I right?)

but... what "τοῦ" means here? This is def. art. in genetive neuter (or masc.) but in the whole sentence there is no noun in genetive...

(ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι ὄντα ὑπὸ τὴν συκῆν εἶδόν σε.)

Could anyone explein that to me, please? Thank you in advance.

Re: Πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι ὄντα

Posted: September 21st, 2015, 7:11 pm
by timothy_p_mcmahon
The article τοῦ introduces the infinitive φωνῆσαι. You can research this usage in most any Greek grammar under articular infinitive.

It's genitive because the phrase τοῦ...φωνῆσαι is the object of the preposition πρὸ.

Assuming ACI stands for 'accusative with infinitive' you're correct. Only by context is it certain that Φίλιππον is the subject and σε the object.

Re: Πρὸ τοῦ σε Φίλιππον φωνῆσαι ὄντα

Posted: September 22nd, 2015, 3:09 am
by adrianm
That is what I needed! Thank you very much indeed!