9 replies to this topic

[Marco V. Fabbri]

Usually we think of syntax searches as something involving the Greek or Hebrew Construct Window. That is true for complex searches, or searches involving a clause o phrase.

However, many interesting things can be found also in the main Search Window.

If I type:

[ANY genitive]@[Subject]

I will find any Genitive that is Subject. In Greek, this happens when the Predicate is a Genitive Participle.

In other words, the result of the search will be a genitive absolute.

Instead of entering [ANY genitive], I could have entered a part of speech, as [NOUN genitive] or [PRONOUN genitive]. This is good if I want to restrict my search to Prononuns or Nouns. But if I want to make it general, [ANY genitive] will fit better my purpose.

[Marco V. Fabbri]

I have suggested a way of searching for a Genitive Absolute. Sometimes we find two of them, connected with a coordinating conjunction (usually καί).

The second Genitive Absolute may be hard to find, as its Subject can be omitted: it is understood that it is the same as the Subject of the first Genitive Absolute.

As a consequence, we cannot search for a [Subject] that is also [ANY genitive]: Accordance can�t find what is not there.

Rather, we need to search for two Genitive Participles, that are part of two Adjunct Dependent Clauses.

In turn, the two clauses will be part of the same Predicate Phrase, as they are both adverbial adjuncts to the same Predicate

We can do this 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 Constuct (Command-2), that will be automatically linked to the Search Text
• In the Greek Construct window, drag the Phrase element and drop it into the first column
• When prompted, choose Predicate Phrase
• Drag the Clause element and drop it into the first column, within the PREDICATE PHRASE
• When prompted, choose Dependent and Adjunct
• Drag the Verb element and drop it into the first column of the Adjun. DEPENDENT Clause
• When prompted, choose Mood: participle and Case: Genitive
• Press the option key, click on Adjun. DEPENDENT and drag the whole clause to the first free column of the PREDICATE PHRASE. This will duplicate the Adjun. DEPENDENT Clause with its content.
• Press Return, or click on the search button.

The results are as follows:

 Screen shot 2011-10-31 at 09.26.34.PNG   273.87KB   18 downloads

Let us examine the results in Search Text Window.

The first hit is Matthew 13:19. The first Genitive absolute is παντὸς ἀκούοντος etc., where παντὸς is the Subject and ἀκούοντος is the Verb in the Predicate. The second Genitive absolute is μὴ συνιέντος. The Verb in the Predicate is συνιέντος. There is no overt Subject, as it is understood that the Subject is still παντός that appeared in the preceding Clause.

The second hit is Mark 6:22. The first Genitive absolute is εἰσελθούσης τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ἡρῳδιάδος etc., where εἰσελθούσης is the Verb in the Predicate and τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ἡρῳδιάδος is the Subject. The second Genitive absolute is ὀρχησαμένης. The Verb in the Predicate is ὀρχησαμένης. There is no overt Subject, as it is understood that the Subject is the same that appeared in the preceding Clause.

And so on.

Edited by Marco Fabbri, 31 October 2011 - 07:03 AM.

[Marco V. Fabbri]

If there are questions on Absolute Genitives, they may be posted as replies to the topic.

[mkzumaeta]

When I entered the [ANY Genitive] @ [Subject] accordance can't find anything.

[דָנִיאֶל]

I get 305 hits doing this against the GNT28-T text. What text are you using and do you have the Greek syntax module ?

 

Thx

D

[Ken Simpson]

Hi  mkzumaeta,

this might be a silly question, but you have purchased and installed the GNT28 Syntax module haven't you? (or GNT Syntax if that's the text you use).

Edited by Ken Simpson, 04 September 2014 - 04:10 PM.

[LeoC1]

 

I don't know why is not working.

Edited by LeoC1, 18 April 2015 - 05:27 AM.

[דָנִיאֶל]

Hi LeoC1,

 

  This is really odd. I can get your results though I hit issues which I'll have to log separately. But I agree the results do not look correct.

 

  In your example Matt 2:19 does not look like it should be included.

  In addition the one reported in Marco's example above Matt 13:19 does not appear with the same highlighting.

 

  Examining these two together which is what I've been puzzling with over the course of the morning, I wonder a couple of things.

  The syntax query appears to only be finding a single adjunct in each predicate phrase. I tried a version of the query with just a single adjunct clause under it and that also fails to highlight 13:19 ἀκούοντος yet the syntax chart shows the structures as essentially identical. I've annotated a fragment of the relevant syntax chart for this case.

 

 Matt13_19Syntax.jpg   41.01KB   0 downloads

 

Apart from the additional adjunct for the negation the structures look the same. There is some nesting of Adjuncts under the Predicate proper but I am not sure whether, or why, that should be relevant.

 

  I suspect a bug here but someone from Accordance will need to check and offer an opinion.

 

Thx

D

[LeoC1]

Thank you so much Daniel!

 

So, I was wondering, is there any other way (any other command) to look for the same grammatical construction in the NT?

[דָנִיאֶל]

Good question. It turns out that it's a business creating searches for some of these seemingly very common structures. I have not tried this one myself in earnest. When I try to do these I start with a definition of the construction - usually Wallace is pretty good for getting these. He also provides lists of such constructions. I start developing something and then see if I get his examples in the hits. Of course his lists are not exhaustive so it only gives you an idea whether you are on track or not. In this case with a bit of mucking around I came up with this based on the three basic properties that Wallace cites for this construction, namely :

 

    a. Structure

    Structurally, the genitive absolute consists of the following:

    1) a noun or pronoun in the genitive case (though this is sometimes absent);

    2) a genitive anarthrous participle (always);

    3) the entire construction at the front of a sentence (usually).

Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: an Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 654-655.

 

 exConstruct.jpg   49.72KB   0 downloads

 

Now of course this might be criticized in a number of ways but I usually start with something and there play with additional variants to handle word order and so on. And because the above is not a syntax search you can set the scope to Sentence which is helpful given 3 above.

 

Oh try the one below - I added pronouns which helps a bit I think.

 

 exConstruct2.jpg   49.54KB   0 downloads

 

Anyhow, have fun

 

thx

D