The Use of the Article in Romans 15:16

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: The Use of the Article in Romans 15:16

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Stephen Carlson wrote: November 24th, 2021, 2:31 pm
It’s a matter of emphasis. Putting the genitive before the noun (as long as the genitive is orthotonic, that is, not enclitic such as μου, σου, etc.) is supposed to emphasize the genitive more.
I'm beginning to hate the word "emphasis" though I've used it myself on many an occasion. What would the genitive emphasized here really mean?
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Stephen Carlson
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Re: The Use of the Article in Romans 15:16

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Barry Hofstetter wrote: November 25th, 2021, 7:52 am
Stephen Carlson wrote: November 24th, 2021, 2:31 pm
It’s a matter of emphasis. Putting the genitive before the noun (as long as the genitive is orthotonic, that is, not enclitic such as μου, σου, etc.) is supposed to emphasize the genitive more.
I'm beginning to hate the word "emphasis" though I've used it myself on many an occasion. What would the genitive emphasized here really mean?
From the Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, sec. 60.15:
The differences between the orders modifier-head and head-modifier are by no means always clear. On the whole, however, head-modifier is the most common and ‘neutral’ order, while the order modifier-head is used to convey that the modifier contains particularly salient information (i.e. the modifier is emphasized). Modifiers can be salient if they are contrastive, unexpected or particularly informative.
I suppose if you don’t like “emphasized” you can go with “salient,” but a rose by any other name…

Contextually, we have a reference to another gospel in v.4 εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον ὃ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε, so the true Gospel, that is the one that comes from God, in contrast to this other one, is salient and emphasizing it thus makes some sense.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Barry Hofstetter
Posts: 2159
Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

Re: The Use of the Article in Romans 15:16

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Stephen Carlson wrote: November 25th, 2021, 4:04 pm
I suppose if you don’t like “emphasized” you can go with “salient,” but a rose by any other name…

Contextually, we have a reference to another gospel in v.4 εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον ὃ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε, so the true Gospel, that is the one that comes from God, in contrast to this other one, is salient and emphasizing it thus makes some sense.
Salient is good, a bit more specific than "emphasized." But:
The differences between the orders modifier-head and head-modifier are by no means always clear.
Leaves a lot of wiggle room (and something for us to think about and do).
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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