Question – ποῖος

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The forms of the question word ποῖος
The syntax and meaning of ποῖος

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ὁ φόνος, -ου	the murder	noun	B.a.β.i
ἡ τάξις, -εως	the order	noun	B.a.γ.v
ἡ κατάπαυσις, -εως	the rest	noun	B.a.γ.v
δωρεάν	freely	adverb
ἐπιτάσσω σοι ποιῆσαι	(I) order you (dat) to do	verb	C.a.ζ
ὑπαντᾷ σοι	(I) meet you (dat)	verb	C.a.γ

MorphologyMorphology: Question – ποῖος

The forms of ποῖος follow the 2nd declension pattern for masc and neut and the -α 1st declension pattern for fem
The following forms are identical or near-identical:
fem nom sg ποία ≈ neut nom/acc pl ποῖα
masc acc sg ποῖον = neut nom/acc sg ποῖον
fem gen sg ποίας = fem acc pl ποίας

Morphology: Question – ποῖος

	Masculine singular/plural	Feminine singular/plural	Neuter singular/plural
Nominative	ποῖος/ποῖοι	ποία/ποῖαι	ποῖον/ποῖα
Genitive	ποίου/ποίων	ποίας/ποίων	ποίου/ποίων
Dative	ποίῳ/ποίοις	ποίᾳ/ποίαις	ποίῳ/ποίοις
Accusative	ποῖον/ποίους	ποίαν/ποίας	ποῖον/ποῖα

SyntaxSyntax-semantics: Question – ποῖος

The question word ποῖος modifies rather than replaces an argument by questioning the specific kind of noun under discussion. In most cases, the noun is explicit in the syntax, though occasionally it is implicit and should be supplied from the context:

Example 643Explicit noun with ποῖος

ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ταῦτα ποιεῖς; (Matt 21:23)

By what kind of authority are you doing these things?

Example 644Implicit noun with ποῖος

εἰ δὲ θέλεις εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν, τήρησον τὰς ἐντολάς. Λέγει αὐτῷ· ποίας; (Matt 19:17–18)

But if you desire to enter life, keep the commandments. He said to him, ‘ Which ones ?’

While ἐξουσία is explicitly being modified in Matt 21:33, Matt 19:18 has no corresponding noun. However, since ποίας is marked for gender, number, and case, it appears to be modifying something, and the obvious option in the context is ἐντολάς, with which ποίας agrees.

In both examples, the thing referred to by the noun plays some role in the eventuality. Jesus is certainly acting with authority – the question is what kind of authority is he acting with. The rich young ruler grants that keeping the commandments is the requirement to enter life, but there are many commandments, so he questions which specific ones he must keep. Between the two examples, however, there is a subtle difference in meaning. When Jesus is questioned about the kind of authority that allows him to do what he is doing, there is not a specific list of “authorities” that the chief priests are referring to. In this sense, ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ does not mean ‘which authority’ (implying a set of known alternatives), but it means ‘what is the authority like that we know you have.’ In contrast, ποίας (ἐντολάς) does refer to a specific set of known commandments, and the rich young ruler expects Jesus to choose some from that set; indeed, Jesus does so. In this case, ποίας does not mean ‘what kinds of commandments’ but ‘which commandments (from the known set of alternatives).’

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