Mastering New Testament Greek Textbook Ted Hildebrandt Baker Academic
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Possessive Case (Greek: Genitive)This indicates who is the possessor. He hit his truck. The possessive case often can be discovered by asking “whose?” Charlie hid his cake. Whose cake? His (possessive).
Declensions: First, Second, ThirdThere are three noun declensions in Greek. A declension is a grouping of nouns that are inflected with a shared set of endings. The difference in endings does not affect the translation procedure for first, second, and third declensions. The second declension nouns are characterized by an o as the final letter of the stem. They are largely masculine or neuter. First declension nouns are characterized by an h or a for the final letter and are mostly feminine. Third declension nouns have stems that end in a consonant. We will learn the second declension before the first because it is more frequent. Second declension nouns are largely masculine, as indicated in lexical lists by placing the masculine definite article o[ (“the”) after the nominative singular form. Each noun should be learned with its definite article that indicates its gender. Second declension nouns that are neuter are marked by placing the neuter definite article to< (“the”) after the root. ArticleIn contrast to English, which uses “a” as an indefinite article (“a book”), Greek has no indefinite article. Thus, the Greek indefinite noun may be translated “book” or “a book.” Greek nouns are assumed to be indefinite unless marked by the article (“the”). The Greek article can actually be used for several functions beyond making a noun definite. For now, simply be aware of the nominative form of the definite article, which will indicate the gender of the noun being learned: o[ = masculine (“the”) h[ = feminine (“the”) to< = neuter (“the”)
GenderGreek nouns are masculine, feminine, or neuter in gender. Often this gender is more a syntactical feature than a metaphysical statement, as many inanimate objects are given grammatical gender. Thus “year” ( e@toj) is neuter, while “day” (h[me Number and AgreementAs in English, Greek has both singular and plural nouns. The verb most often matches the number of the subject noun just as in English: Students (plural) love Greek. The student (singular) loves Greek. Inflectional FormsIn Greek, there are five inflectional forms marking the various cases or roles that nouns play in sentences. Nominative Form Most Often Marks the Subject of the SentenceMusic calms the heart. “Music” is the subject of the sentence. In Greek it would be marked with a nominative inflectional ending. With “is” verbs it can be used as a predicate nominative as in “It is he.” Here “he” (nominative) is used rather than the accusative “him.” Genitive Form Often Expresses a Possessive, Description, Origin, Relation, Limits qualityThe Pharisee went to the house of God (description) The book of the chief was worn (possesive). The writing of the prophet (origin) The son of Mary (relation). Note the different meanings of “of” in these sentences. “Of God” or “God’s” would be marked in Greek with a genitive inflectional ending. We will generally use the keyword “of” when translating the genitive, although the genitive may actually function in many other ways as well. Dative Form Often Marks the Indirect Object, Location, AgencyHe spoke a word to the apostle (Indirect Object) She went to the class (location). He was struck by the catcher (agency)
Accusative Form Indicates the Object of the Sentence.Joy saw the ball. Elliott walked home. “The ball” is the object of the sentence. It would be marked by an accusative inflectional ending in Greek. The accusative’s basic idea is limiting the content, direction, extent or goal of the verb or preposition it is associated with. It limits the quantity while the genitive will limit the quality (Wallace). It can also be used as the subject of the infinitive and some verbs will take a double accusative (e.g. “he will teach you [1] all things [2]”). Vocative Form Is Used for Direct AddressSister, you are the one! O Lord, how majestic is your name. “Sister” receives a direct address and would be marked by a vocative inflectional ending in Greek. You should be able to chant through this declension. Because the vocatives are so few and often the same as the nominative, you need only to chant the Nom.-Acc. The vocative will be recognized when it appears, and it is often the same as the nominative. Masculine Second Declension Forms (Stem Ending in o) lo
Meaning of Inflectional Forms
Another way to look at case (Hansen and Quinn, Greek: An Intensive Course, 20):
Neuter Second Declension Forms (Stem Ending in o) i[ero
Meaning of Inflectional Forms
Note that in the neuter the nominative, accusative and vocative always have the same form. The genitive and dative neuter have the same endings as the masculine. You should be able to chant through this paradigm, lumping the vocative with the nominative. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||