Preposition – μετά + Genitive, accusative

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The morphology, syntax, and semantics of the preposition μετά

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη, -ης	the charitable giving	noun	B.a.α.i
προσεύχομαί σοι	(I) pray to you (dat)	verb	C.a.ζ
νίπτω τήν	(I) wash the (acc)	verb	C.a.η
ὁ ἐχθρός, -οῦ	the enemy	noun	B.a.β.i
δίκαιος, -α, -ον	righteous	adjective	A.a.β
αἰώνιος, -α, -ον	eternal	adjective	A.a.β

MorphologyMorphology: Prep – μετά + genitive, accusative

The preposition μετά is an elision preposition (see 4.4.3.1), e.g. μετά σκηνῆς (μετά + consonant), μετ’ ἀνθρώπου (μετ’ + smooth vowel), μεθ’ ἵππου (μεθ’ + rough vowel)

Noteμετά + gen

With the genitive case, μετά means ‘with’, which may mean that the noun after the preposition refers to someone in the same location as someone else:

Example 141Being with someone in a location

ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων (Rev 21:3)

The tabernacle of God is with people

You can also do an activity with someone, as we see when the Pharisees question Jesus’ disciples:

Example 142Doing an activity with someone

Why is your teacher eating μετά [with] tax collectors and sinners? (Matt 9:11)

Μετά can also introduce an emotion that accompanies a situation. This is illustrated when Paul praises the Thessalonians:

Example 143Emotion that accompanies a situation

(You) received the word of God during much affliction μετὰ χαρᾶς [with joy] (1 Thess 1:6)

Noteμετά + acc

When used with a noun in the accusative case, μετά means ‘after.’ There is only one example of it meaning ‘after’ spatially in the NT; it is normally used temporally. The noun may refer to a time period, such as when Jesus foretells his resurrection:

Example 144After a time period

I will rise again μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας [after three days] (Matt 27:63).

A bare adjective may also be used to give the length of the time period, as in μετὰ μικρόν ‘after a little while’ in Matt 26:73. An event, such as a meal, may also come after the preposition, as we see in Acts 12:4 with the phrase μετὰ τὸ πάσχα‘ after the passover.’ Events generally may be referred to in the common phrase μετὰ ταῦτα ‘after these things.’

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