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ho thronos sou ho theos
To David Moreau: I fear that a very short time studying Greek
would have set you straight. The use of the nominative in a
vocative sense (ie simply to address someone) is common enough
for the translations to be quite unremarkable, though certainly
your alternative appositional form is possible. All Ted
Brunner's remarks apply, mutatis mutandis, to your query too.
And indeed, Glenn Wooden's objection misses the point. Certainly
koine is very different from classical Greek. But because there
is so little of it (and much of it not easily accessible to the
layman) there is a real danger, if we over-stress the differences,
that like 19th century divines we shall view NT Greek as a sort
of "holy tongue", and be in danger of perpetrating all sorts of
linguistic howlers. Like Bob Kraft I am *not* a classicist; but I
think he would be in full agreement with me here.
Could I ever-so-politely suggest that if possible we check with
the grammars or our Greek teachers to see if our interpretations
are plausible before we unleash them on the group?
Sincerely,
Douglas de Lacey, Cambridge.