Re: Hoping to shed more light.

To: GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU <WHEIDLER@buscis.trevecca.edu>
Subject: Re: Hoping to shed more light.
From: Richard Wevers <weve@ursa.calvin.edu>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 13:05:16 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: B-GREEK@virginia.edu
In-Reply-To: <01HB5VOMD742000B7A@BUSCIS.TREVECCA.EDU>

In answer to your straightforward question: Does the negative ou always
and automatically negate the next indicative verb? the answer is No.
Clauses may intervene, as in the sentence you mention, where the main
clause is interrupted by a relative clause. Hardly anything in Greek word
order is so straightforwardly simple.

As a matter of fact, it is also not the case that ou is the negative for
indicatives and mh for all non-indicatives. That rule does cover a
lot of the cases, however. But again, it is not that simple. Hardly anything
in language is. And the ou mh usage was in development in koine times. In
Classical times it was more complicated, and more helpful to the reader.


 Richard F. Wevers
 Calvin College

References:

Hoping to shed more light.

From: GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU <WHEIDLER@buscis.trevecca.edu>