Re: Article-Article-Noun-Noun
Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Mon, 16 Dec 1996 16:16:36 -0600
At 3:52 PM -0600 12/16/96, M. Palmer wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Dec 1996, Carl W. Conrad wrote regarding the Genitive Absolute:
>
>> [SNIP] . . . it always involves a subject--noun or
>> pronoun--in the genitive and a predicate which is usually a participle (b=
ut
>> may be a predicate noun or adjective linked to the subject with an implic=
it
>> participle of EIMI), and it is grammatically independent of the other
>> structures in the sentence, although it could be said to function like an
>> adverbial clause governing the main predicate.
>
>Carl has raised an interesting point in his parenthetical statement. Do
>any of you know of any good examples IN THE NEW TESTAMENT of a genitive
>absolute construction with a predicate noun or adjective instead of the
>participle? I can't think of any clear examples in the New Testament (but
>maybe my memory is just failing me here).
I was thinking that Luke did it, but on checking the obvious passages
regarding the census in Lk 2 and the preaching of JBpt in Lk 3, I see that
Luke uses verbs rather than nouns: e.g. hHGEMONEUONTOS PONTIOU PILATOU,
etc., where I would expect something like hHGEMONOS (ONTOS) PONTIOU
PILATOU. On the other hand, in 3:2 he has EPI ARXIEREWS hANNA KAI KAIAFA,
perfectly intelligible as a genitive of time within which, but also looking
a bit like the older genitive absolute with the title and the names in the
genitive. I don't know of other examples, and I think Luke probably uses
the construction of the genitive absolute more consistently than any other
NT author.
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/