[B-Greek] Adverbs

=) p1234567891 at gmail.com
Sat Mar 26 02:43:30 EDT 2011


Dear all,


Can I ask if there is any way to tell what an adverb modifies? It seems to
me that it can modify one or more of:
a complete clause, a verb clause, another adverb (including adjectival or
prepositional or dative clause), and even a noun clause.
If so, how do I differentiate between the various possibilities when the
adverb can be used in more than one way?
Or is my concept of adverbs inaccurate?
For example I wanted to classify the following:

"prwteron" = "firstly / initially" (adv.) / "former" (adj.)
 "prwton" = "first" (adv.) / "first" (adj.)
"prwtos" = "first / foremost" (adj.) / "first" (adv.)

So I considered these to have the following meanings:

[John 6:62] "ean oun qewrhte ton uion tou anqrwpou anabainonta opou hn to
proteron"
 = "therefore { if { you behold { the son ( of man ) ( going up ( where {
[he] was ( initially ) } ) ) } } ? }"
(where "initially" modifies the verb "[he] was")

[Heb 7:27] "... proteron uper twn idiwn amartiwn qusias anaferein epeita twn
tou laou ..."
 = "... to offer up { sacrifices } ( firstly ) ( for ( [their] ) ( own )
sins ) ( subsequently ) ( [for] the [sins] ( of the people ) ) ..."
(where "firstly" modifies the adverbial prepositional clause "for [their]
own sins" and also "subsequently" similarly)

[Rom 1:16] "... dunamis gar qeou estin eis swthrian panti tw pisteuonti
ioudaiw te prwton kai ellhni"
 = "... for { [it] is { power ( of God ) ( for salvation ) } ( to ( all )
the [ones] ( who believe ) ) ( both ( to Jew ) ( first ) and ( to Greek ) )
}"
(where "first" modifies the adverbial dative clause "to Jew")

But I do not quite understand the following:

[Rom 1:8] "prwton men eucaristw tw qew mou dia ihsou cristou uper pantwn
umwn ..."
 ?= "( first ) ( indeed ) I thank { ( my ) God } ( through Jesus Christ ) (
for you ( all ) ) ..."
(where "first" and "indeed" both modify the complete clause "I thank my God
...")

[1 Cor 15:46] "all ou prwton to pneumatikon alla to yucikon epeita to
pneumatikon"
 ?= "but { [it] [is] not ( first ) { the spiritual } but { the soulish } } {
[it] [is] ( subsequently ) { the spiritual } }"
(where "first" modifies "[it] [is]")
 ?= "but { { first } [is] not { the spiritual } but { the soulish } } (
subsequently ) [it] [is] { the spiritual }"
(where "first" is an adjective)

[2 Pet 1:20] "touto prwton ginwskontes oti pasa profhteia grafhs idias
epilusews ou ginetai"
 ?= "knowing { this } ( first ) { that { { ( every ) prophecy } does not
come to be ( of ( [one's] ) ( own ) explanation ) } }"
(where "first" modifies "knowing")
 ?= "knowing { ( first ) this } { that { { ( every ) prophecy } does not
come to be ( of ( [one's] ) ( own ) explanation ) } }"
(where "first" modifies "this")

And I cannot figure out what "prwtos" means when it is declined as an
adjective but used as an adverb...

[John 1:41] "euriskei outos prwtos ton adelfon ton idion simwna ..."
 ?= "{ this [one] ( first ) } finds { ( [his] ) ( own ) brother } { Simon }
..."
(it does not mean "this first [one]", does it?)
(but what then is the difference between "euriskei outos prwtos" and "prwton
euriskei outos"?)

[Luke 2:2] "auth h apografh prwth egeneto hgemoneuontos ths surias kurhniou"
 ?= "{ this enrollment ( first ) } came to be ( when { { Cyrenius } governed
{ Syria } } )"
(if it means "this first enrollment", as ASV interprets it, why is John 1:41
interpreted differently?)

Is the difference between "prwton" as an adverb and "prwtos" declined as an
adjective not semantic but purely grammatical?


Thanks a lot,

David Lim



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