Thanks to the syntax add-on, we can easily sort out the ὅτι Clauses according to their syntactical function.
We will need to prepare four different searches.
We will search first for Adjunct Clauses introduced by ὅτι. We will proceed as follows:
- Open a new Search Text, choose GNT-T as search text, and choose to search for Words (not Verses) within every Chapter or Book (not Verse, etc)
- Open a new Greek Construct (Command-2), that will be automatically linked to the Search Text
- In the Greek Construct window, drag the LEX element and drop it into the first column
- When prompted, type or select ὅτι, then click OK or press Return
- Drag the element CLAUSE and drop it into the second column
- When prompted, choose Dependent clause only, then Adjunct, then click OK or press Return
- Drag the element WITHIN and drop it between the LEX element and the Adjun. DEPENDENT element
- When prompted, enter 2 (so as to allow for an intervening word), then click OK or press Return
- Press Return or click on the Search button to perform the search
The results will look like this:
Causal hOTI.PNG 181.59K
74 downloadsWe have found Clauses introduced by ὅτι that are Adjunct to the Predicate of the superordinate Clause.
Second, we will search for Complement Clauses introduced by ὅτι. We will modify the existing search as follows:
- In the Greek Construct window, double-click on the element Adjun. DEPENDENT
- When prompted, choose Complement, then click OK or press Return
- Press Return or click on the Search button to perform the search
The results will look like this:
Complement hOTI.PNG 201.4K
77 downloadsWe have found Clauses introduced by ὅτι that are complement of the Predicate of the superordinate Clause.
Third, we will search for Subject Clauses introduced by ὅτι. We will modify the existing search as follows:
- In the Greek Construct window, double-click on the element Compl. DEPENDENT
- When prompted, choose Subject, then click OK or press Return
- Double-click on the element WITHIN and change 2 to 1 (so as to avoid intervening words)
- Press Return or click on the Search button to perform the search
The results will look like this:
Subject hOTI 1.PNG 264.06K
54 downloadsIf we examine the results, we will see that we have found some Clauses introduced by ὅτι that are Subject of the superordinate Clause.
For instance, in Matthew 4:6 the ὅτι Clause is the Subject of the passive Verb γέγραπται. What is written? ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται: “That he will command to His angels etc.” Mark 2:1, 4:38, 7:6; 11:17, etc., fall into the same pattern.
We also have false hits, as in Matthew 17:10; 26:54 or in Mark 9:11. The reason is that we searched for ὅτι followed by a Subject Clause, and the result shows this. In the three false hits that I have quoted, the search didn't take into account that the Subject Clause is actually the Subject of the Verb δεῖ that follows.
This means that the results of any search like this needs to be interpreted. We still need to assess our search results, in order to see if some unexpected factor contributed to them.
The syntax add-on provides another tool to do this: the tool is the Syntax tree. To open it, we will need to click on the symbol in the upped right corner, as in the picture:
Subject hOTI 2.PNG 101.19K
57 downloadsWith the Syntax tree pane open, we can now turn to examine Matthew 17:10, as in the picture:
Subject hOTI 3.PNG 256.27K
59 downloadsIf we look at the end of the verse, we notice a speech Clause, that contains what the scribes say. In that Clause, δεῖ is the Predicate, and the subordinate Clause Ἠλίαν… ἐλθεῖν acts as Subject. So, this is the dependent Subject Clause that was found. Even if it follows ὅτι, it doesn’t directly depend on ὅτι.
Matthew 26:54 and Mark 9:11 are similar.
The search may be refined, of course. Even so, it provides the means to speeds up the process of finding the syntactic pattern that we are looking for: it is a heuristic tool.
Fourth, we will search for Appositive Clauses introduced by ὅτι. We will modify the existing search as follows:
- In the Greek Construct window, double-click on the element Subj. DEPENDENT
- When prompted, choose Appositive, then click OK or press Return
- Double-click on the element WITHIN and change 2 to 1 (so as to avoid intervening words)
- Press Return or click on the Search button to perform the search
The results will look like this:
Appositive hOTI.PNG 257.55K
46 downloadsIf we examine the results, we will see the Clause ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται acts as Apposition to the Subject Phrase τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν (on this Subject Phrase, see the post on Participles in Subject Clauses).
