From: Iver Larsen (iver_larsen@sil.org)
Date: Sat Jul 21 2001 - 05:33:43 EDT
> In Luke 612b, how ought we to understand the genitive
> TOU QEOU?
>
> KAI HN DIANUKTEREUWN EN TH PROSEUCH TOU QEOU
> This doesn't really fit any category I've learned,
> unless Luke is making a very lofty christological
> statement here that the prayer of Jesus is the "prayer
> of God."
>
> Ken Litwak
Rather than inventing labels for the genitives, I find it more helpful to
look at the genitive as a grammatical way of connecting two nouns or nominal
forms together. Languages vary greatly in how they connect such nominals,
but I have not yet heard of a language that does not have some way of
associating two nouns. The intended meaning behind the association is not a
grammatical, but semantic issue, and there are very many different
associations possible. The meaning of the relationship is always derived
from context.
When one of two nouns is a verbal noun like here, it is helpful to look at
the corresponding verb and see what kind of nouns can be used with the verb
in agent (subject), patient (object) and recipient (indirect object)
position. The noun associated with the verbal noun is a candidate for any of
these semantic roles.
In Greek PROSEUCOMAI takes the dative of the person to whom one prays (PROS
can also be used), so PROSEUCH TOU QEOU could have two basic meanings: a)
God is doing the praying or b) God is receiving the praying. Obviously, b)
is the intended meaning in this context.
It might help to think of the English word "give" which is tri-valent, that
is, it can have an agent (subject) a patient (object) and a recipient
(indirect object). Look at an example: John gave Peter some money. The noun
"gift" can be construed with a genitive of any of the three participants in
the action:
a) John's gift - the gift given by John
b) Peter's gift - the gift received by Peter
c) a gift of money - the gift was in the form of money.
I understand PROSEUCH TOU QEOU like "Peter's gift" since both God and Peter
fill the recipient slot.
Is this any help, Ken?
Iver Larsen
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