Pronoun – ἐμός and σός

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The forms of the intensifier possessive pronouns ἐμός and σός
• The syntax of intensifier possessive pronouns
• The meaning of intensifier possessive pronouns as focused elements

VocabularyVocabulary

MorphologyMorphology: Pronoun – ἐμός and σός

• The possessive pronouns ἐμός and σός have the typical 2nd declension and 1st declension endings attached to ἐμ- for 1st person and σ- for 2nd person, e.g. ἐμός/ἐμή/ἐμόν and σός/σή/σόν
• The pl forms of these pronouns are ἡμέτερος and ὑμέτερος; both are declined according to the same patterns

SyntaxSyntax: Pronoun – Intensifier possessive pronouns

The intensifier possessive pronoun always comes between the article and the noun it modifies, e.g. MY house = ὁ ἐμὸς οἶκος. The article is always found with intensifier possessive pronouns except when the pronoun itself is the predicate of a copula clause (using either εἰμί or γίνομαι):1

This example also demonstrates the default interpretation for neuter intensifier possessive pronouns without a noun. The phrase πάντα τὰ ἐμὰ is interpreted as ‘all that is mine’ or every thing that is mine. When the gender is masculine, the default interpretation is people that are yours, i.e. relatives:

1 There is also one example in John 4:34 where ἐμόν βρῶμα is the subject of a copula clause and lacks the article. The predicate in John 4:34 is a ἵνα clause, so it seems to be the case that subjects in copula clauses where the predicate refers to content also do not require the article.

SemanticsSemantics: Pronoun – Intensifier possessive pronouns

We described the intensifier use of αὐτός (29.1.3.1) in a very similar way as our description of focus – intensifiers specify that one individual, and not other individuals, participate in the eventuality. In other words, intensifiers negate alternatives just like focused elements (see 48.1.3). The pronouns ἐμός, σός, ἡμέτερος, and ὑμέτερος all serve as intensifier possessive pronouns, so they both mark possession and negate the possession of other salient alternatives in the context.

In (562), the two alternatives are Jesus’ time and his audience’s time, and the two contrasting intensifier possessive pronouns, ἐμός and ὑμέτερος, serve to signal the contrasting alternatives. Jesus’ time is negated with the adverb οὔπω, and his audience’s time is asserted to hold at the present moment. Matthew 7:22 does not explicitly give an alternative name the people know. In this case, what is being “negated” is Jesus’s previous assertion (that the people did not do God’s will). The people’s claim is that because they did their deeds in HIS name, they must logically be doing his will. Despite this, Jesus still responds that he never knew them in the next verse.

This last example shows that the contrast need not be explicitly named in the context. Sometimes these intensifier pronouns are used to introduce something surprising:

That Paul would write with his own hand (instead of using a scribe) is surprising. There is an implicit contrast with the hand of a potential scribe, and Paul uses ἐμῇ to signal that this alternative, though it would be the default, does not hold. The above translations also suggest that there are two basic ways to translate these constructions into English: focal stress may be used or ‘own.’