[B-Greek] hA in Col 2:17a

Doug &Val McEachern applejuice at ozemail.com.au
Tue Mar 2 05:51:13 EST 2004


Greetings one and all.  This is my first post here, being at the 'b' part of basic in my efforts to learn at home, NT Greek.

I realise that I am jumping ahead of my knowledge level here, however is it not true that one develops an interest/need which leads to learning rather that the otherway round?

I have limited resources as yet, a text book poorly written I.M.H.O. and a basic-ish lexicon.
In looking at Col 2:17 (a)  I see   hA ESTIN SKEIA TWN MELLONTWN.
I think ESTIN = (it) is, 3rd person singular present tense of the verb, 'to be'; SKEIA = shadow, but I have found no information on what either the meaning or the influence of     hA  has on ESTIN or any other of the text.  If my understanding of ESTIN is correct, hA seems to drastically alter it somehow going by comparison of various English translations.  Also, since ESTIN is followed by SKEIA I gather there is no hard and fast rule regarding the movable (Nu)?
One more question please, since Paul is talking about the observance of holy days, feasts and Sabbaths, why is ESTIN used and not EISTIN 3rd person plural?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Doug McEachern
applejuice at ozemail.com.au



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