[B-Greek] Word Emphasis in Matthew 9:32

spencerj76 at aol.com spencerj76 at aol.com
Tue Mar 29 11:50:06 EDT 2011



29 March 2011

Friends:

I was wondering about a matter of emphasis that may or may not be implied in the word order of Matthew 9:32:

Αὐτῶν δὲ ἐξερχομένων ἰδοὺ προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ ἄνθρωπον κωφὸν δαιμονιζόμενον

AUTWN DE EXERCHOMENWN IDOU PROSHNEGKAN AUTWi ANQRWPON KWFON DAIMONIZOMENON

Does the word order of the adjective κωφὸν (KWFON) before the participle δαιμονιζόμενον (DAIMONIZOMENON)  communicate, as an older commentator like Alfred Plummer thinks it does, that the man's muteness is primary, while the fact that he is demon-possessed is secondary? Or is that pressing the Greek word order too far? For the sake of discussion, I'd like to note Matthew 12:22:

Τότε προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ δαιμονιζόμενος τυφλὸς καὶ κωφός.

TOTE PROSHNECHQH AUTWi DAIMONIZOMENOS TUFLOS KAI KWFOS. 

In this case, would the placement of the participle before the two adjectives indicate that the demon-possession of the man contributed to the person's blindness and muteness, demon-possession being primary?  

These are specific textual questions. However, my larger question has to do with whether word order or word placement in a sentence indicates nuances of meaning. In this context, I thought I'd quote A. T. Robertson and W. Hersey Davis:

"It is possible in Greek to express the most delicate shades of an idea by means of voice, tense, mode, cases, prepositions, particles, conjunctions. Often an idea in Greek can be expressed in various ways that are substantially alike, but yet differ in ways that the sensitive Greek mind understands. So the Greek has liberty where the Latin has bonds. The Greek may use coordinating clauses or subordinating clauses with conjunctions, or the infinitive, or the particple. His sentences may be short or long. He may use prepositions freely or not. Only do not accuse a Greek of using one construction for another. Freedom is the glory of the Greek language. Each writer has his own style and flavor" (A New Short Grammar of the Greek Testament, 10th ed. [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958], pp. 318-319). Robertson doesn't specifically mention worder order or word placement here as a factor in nuanced Greek, but might it be a factor?

This matter of word order or word placement interests me, but I don't have many recent resources dealing with the topic. I'd be interested in the comments of list members.

Best wishes,
Jeremy Spencer



More information about the B-Greek mailing list