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Chapter 50 · Lesson 50.3 · Noun
Noun – Special uses of the genitive
ObjectivesLearning objectives
- Various uses of the genitive and how they relate to its core meaning
VocabularyVocabulary
| Greek | Gloss | Part of speech | Paradigm |
|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ κοινωνός, -οῦ | the partner | noun | B.a.β.i |
| ἡ πλάνη, -ης | the deception | noun | B.a.α.i |
| καθάπερ | just as | conjunction | |
| ἐξουθενεῖ τινα | (he) despises something/one (acc) | verb | C.a.β |
| μετρεῖ τινα | (he) measures something/one (acc) | verb | C.a.β |
| ζηλοῖ τινα | (he) is passionate about something/one (acc) | verb | C.a.δ |
SyntaxSyntax-semantics: Noun – Special uses of the genitive
The uses of the genitive covered so far are summarized in the below table:
| Use | Examples | Section |
|---|---|---|
| As argument of some verbs | ἐγὼ ἅπτομαιτοῦ λίθου | 3.2.3.2 |
| Relating two nouns | ὁ οἶκοςτοῦ λίθου | 3.2.3.2, 26.3.3.2 |
| Possession | ὁ γὰρ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μέλλει παραδίδοσθαι εἰς χεῖραςἀνθρώπων(Luke 9:44) | 7.2.3.2 |
| Temporal | οὗτος ἦλθεν πρὸς αὐτὸννυκτὸς(John 3:2) | 28.4.3.2 |
| Genitive absolute | μὴ ἔχοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποδοῦναι ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος πραθῆναι (Matt 18:25) | 19.2.3.3 |
| Event participant | ἵνα καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψειτῆς δόξηςαὐτοῦ χαρῆτε (1 Pet 4:13) | 40.2.3.2 |
| Partitive | ἕκαστος ὑμῶν (Luke 13:15) | 43.4.3.1 |
In addition to these uses, the genitive is used for things like reference to a fraction of a whole, indication of one’s age, and location near something:
καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῆς γῆς κατεκάη (Rev 8:7)
And a third of the earth was burned up
Καὶ ὅτε ἐγένετο ἐτῶν δώδεκα (Luke 2:42)
And when he turned twelve years old
καθίσατε αὐτοῦ ἕως οὗ ἀπελθὼν ἐκεῖ προσεύξωμαι (Matt 26:36)
Sit here while I go over there and pray
When words that refer to portions of something (such as τρίτον ‘third’) are followed by a noun in the genitive, we can predict whether the interpretation will be members in a group (what we called the partitive construction) or parts of the whole based on whether the noun in the genitive is [+count] or [-count]. Since the genitive is compatible with both interpretations, it does not contribute either meaning.
Indeed, the genitive can sometimes refer to opposite relationships. Logically incompatible temporal relationships hold in the following clauses even though the same verb, εἰσέρχομαι, is used:
Καὶ εἰσερχομένου αὐτοῦ εἴς τινα κώμην ἀπήντησαν αὐτῷ δέκα λεπροὶ ἄνδρες (Luke 17:12)
And as he was coming into some village, ten leprous men met him
Εἰσελθόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἑκατόνταρχος (Matt 8:5)
And after he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him
In (606), the event of the ten lepers meeting Jesus occurs while Jesus is coming to a village, but in (607), the event of the centurion coming to Jesus occurs after Jesus has already come into Capernaum. The aspect of the genitive absolute distinguishes these two meanings – the imperfective form (εἰσερχομένου) normally specifies that there is temporal overlap between the event referred to by the genitive absolute and the event referred to by the finite verb, and the perfective form (εἰσελθόντος) specifies that the event referred to by the genitive absolute occurs prior to the event referred to by the finite verb. Crucially for our purposes, the genitive specifies neither. What, then, does the genitive do in this kind of construction? It signals to the reader to interpret the genitive clause as being related to the clause that follows. The actual relationship is determined by the semantics of the verb and the verb form.
As many other grammars have done, we may multiply the many possible relationships between a genitive and the other syntactic element to which it is related, but this gives the (false) impression that the genitive may contribute all kinds of different meanings. This is not the case. The genitive contributes a very simple meaning – it relates two things. Two characteristics make the genitive’s uses so variable: 1) it can relate many different kinds of things, and 2) many different relationships can hold between the two related things. For example, both the partitive and the fraction use relate an entity to a number. This is parameter 1. The kinds of things related are the same, but a different relationship holds in each use because entities can be countable things or non-countable things. This is parameter 2. Likewise, whether the genitive is used for temporal overlap or precedence (parameter 2), it is still relating two eventualities (parameter 1). The genitive’s many uses are a consequence of it being underspecified for both the things it relates and the types of relationship.
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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).