[B-Greek] IDIAi in 1 Cor 12:11
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Nov 19 06:50:09 EST 2004
At 11:09 AM +0200 11/19/04, Kevin Smith wrote:
>Hi everyone
>
>Can someone explain the use of the dative *feminine* singular here?
Text: it always helps to have this before one's eyes: PANTA DE TAUTA
ENERGEI TO hEN KAI TO AUTO PNEUMA DIAIROUN IDIAi hEKASTWi KAQWS BOULETAI.
IDIAi functions here adverbially and could as well be tagged as an
adverb--but in origin it is indeed a dative feminine singular adjective
governing an implicit noun, here probably DUNAMEI "capacity", so that the
text means: meting out to each one in his own capacity as it (the spirit)
wishes."
There are in fact several Greek adjectives in the dative or accusative of a
particular gender functioning as adverbs without an explicit noun in the
expression; it's a fairly common linguistic phenomenon.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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