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Chapter 43 · Lesson 43.4 · Preposition
Preposition – πρός + Dative, genitive & Quantifier – ἕκαστος
ObjectivesLearning objectives
- The semantics of the preposition πρός with genitive and dative
- The syntax and semantics of the quantifier ἕκαστος
VocabularyVocabulary
| Greek | Gloss | Part of speech | Paradigm |
|---|---|---|---|
| τὸ σκάνδαλον, -ου | the trap | noun | B.a.β.ii |
| ἡ κληρονομία, -ας | the inheritance | noun | B.a.α.ii |
| νήπιος, -α, -ον | small child | noun | A.a.β |
| ἀμφότεροι, -αι, -α | both | adjective | A.a.β |
| ἀθετεῖ τινα | (he) rejects something/one (acc) | verb | C.a.β |
| ἐμβαίνω εἴς τι | (I) get into something (acc) | verb | C.a.στ |
GrammarGrammar Topic: Prep – πρός + dative, genitive
In 2.4.3.1, πρός was introduced only with the accusative case, but it is also (rarely) used with the dative and genitive as well (the dative is found 6 times and the genitive is found once in the NT).
Noteπρός + dat, gen
Although we do not have enough examples to rule out πρός + dat being used with people, it is only used in the NT to indicate nearness to or at a location (this describes Peter’s location at Jesus’ trial):
πρὸς τῇ θύρᾳ ἔξω (John 18:16)
At the door outside
After Paul urges the people on the ship to eat food before the ship sinks, he employs the only use of πρός + gen in the NT:
- (445) A possible result of something (gen):
- τοῦτο γὰρ πρὸς τῆς ὑμετέρας σωτηρίας ὑπάρχει (Acts 27:34)
- For this is for your salvation
In other words, the food that they eat will lead to them being rescued from the shipwreck. Thus, πρός with the genitive refers to a result.
SyntaxSyntax-semantics: Quantifier – ἕκαστος
The quantifier ἕκαστος ‘each’ has several unique syntactic characteristics. There are no examples in the NT of it co-occurring with the definite article, and it is almost always found in the singular. It also often takes a plural verb despite being in the singular:
καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ (John 7:53)
And each went to his own home
Although ἕκαστος is singular, ἐπορεύθησαν is plural.
ἕκαστος may be used like other quantifiers to modify a noun, or it may act like a pronoun and stand on its own. When used with another noun or pronoun, it agrees in gender and case with that noun and sometimes number, and it may either come before or after the noun or pronoun:
- (447) ἕκαστος agreeing with a noun in gender, case, and number ἕκαστον…δένδρον (Luke 6:44)
- Each … tree
The pronoun ἕκαστον is neut nom sg just like δένδρον, the noun it modifies. On the other hand, (448) shows disagreement in number where the pronoun ὑμῖν is plural and ἑκάστῳ, which follows, is singular:
To each of you
When used without another noun, it is sometimes found with ‘one’ as in εἷς ἕκαστος ‘each one’ (Rev 21:21), and it is also fairly common in the partitive construction. This is where ἕκαστος is followed by a genitive, and it gives one member of the group referred to by the genitive:
ἕκαστος ὑμῶν (Luke 13:15)
Each of you
Here, ἕκαστος is followed by the genitive ὑμῶν which gives the group that each person belongs to, namely the group of people being addressed.
Besides having these syntactic characteristics, ἕκαστος falls into the category of distributive quantifiers in terms of its meaning. These quantifiers are “distributive” in the sense that each entity referred to participates in the relevant event:
ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τῷ σαββάτῳ οὐ λύει τὸν βοῦν αὐτοῦ (Luke 13:15)
Each of you does not untie his ox on the Sabbath?
The use of ἕκαστος means that every individual member of the addressees unties his ox. Although a word like πᾶς ‘all’ may also have this reading, it need not always be distributive. Sometimes, ‘all’ has what is called a collective reading. For example, if Jesus had said ‘all (πᾶς) of you untie his ox on the sabbath,’ it could mean that the entire group participates in the same event of untying someone’s ox. This kind of reading is not possible with ἕκαστος, which requires each person to participate in the event being described in the same way.
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New Testament text shown on hover: Greek from the SBLGNT, © 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0; English from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain).