Re: John 16:15: EMA ESTIN -- why accusative?

Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Wed, 21 Aug 1996 10:44:02 -0500

At 8:48 AM -0500 8/21/96, Jonathan Robie wrote:
> This may be a very basic question, but why is the accusative used
> in the phrase "EMA ESTIN" to say "is mine" in the phrase "all that
> the father has is mine"? The complete verse is:
>
> PANTA hOSA EXEI hO PATHR EMA ESTIN; DIA TOUTO EIPON hOTI EK TOU EMOU LAMBANEI
> KAI ANAGGELEI hUMIN.
>
> I don't think of the accusative as indicating possession, I thought
> that's what we pay the genitive to do.

It's NOT accusative, but nom. pl.;PANTA is the subject, EMA is the
predicate adjective; what's accusative is hOSA in the subordinate clause
hOSA EXEI hO PATHR. It's important to remember that the nominative and
accusative of neuters are identical in the singular and again in the
plural, and also, of course, that neuter plural subjects generally
(although not altogether consistently in the NT) take a singular verb.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/