Pronouns – πώς, ποτέ, πώποτε

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The syntax and meaning of the indefinite pronouns πώς, ποτέ, and πώποτε

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ἡ ἔρις, -ιδος	the argument	noun	B.a.γ.iv
ἄζυμος, -ον	unleavened	adjective	A.a.γ
ἡ αἵρεσις, -εως	the sect	noun	B.a.γ.v
τὸ τεῖχος, -ους	the wall	noun	B.a.γ.viii
σιγᾷ	(he) is quiet	verb	C.a.γ
ἐπιτελεῖ τι	(he) finishes something (acc)	verb	C.a.β

Noteπώς

The enclitic pronouns πώς and ποτέ (and the non-enclitic πώποτε) are the indefinite counterparts to the question words πῶς and πότε (and the two combined) just as the enclitic τὶς is the indefinite counterpart to the question word τίς. Instead of questioning how something is done like πῶς, πώς refers to an unspecified manner or way in which an eventuality takes place. It can be used with the optative to refer to events that might somehow happen:

Example 648Epistemic use of πώς

οἱ πλείονες ἔθεντο βουλὴν ἀναχθῆναι ἐκεῖθεν, εἴ πως δύναιντο καταντήσαντες εἰς Φοίνικα (Acts 27:12)

The majority decided to sail on from there, that somehow they might be able to reach Phoenix

This use is epistemic in the sense that it refers to the likelihood of an eventuality taking place (based on the speaker’s knowledge) and not the manner in which it takes place. Other uses refer to an unspecified manner:

(649) Manner use of πώς μή πώς ἐπείρασεν ὑμᾶς ὁ πειράζων καὶ εἰς κενὸν γένηται ὁ κόπος ἡμῶν (1 Thess 3:5)
Lest the tempter somehow tempted you and our labor became worthless

Paul does not know the means by which the tempter would have tempted the Thessalonians, but whatever unspecified means was used would have made his labor worthless.

Noteποτέ

Just as πώς can be used to refer to an eventuality that the speaker is uncertain will occur, ποτε can be used to refer to an unspecified time period in which an eventuality will occur:

Example 650Epistemic use of ποτέ

καὶ σύ ποτε ἐπιστρέψας στήρισον τοὺς ἀδελφούς σου (Luke 22:32)

And whenever you yourself turn back, strengthen your brothers

The time during which Simon will turn back is an unknown future time referred to by ποτέ. In other uses, ποτε refers to a past known time, but it is irrelevant when exactly that past time is:

Example 651Inspecific past time

ὁ διώκων ἡμᾶς ποτε νῦν εὐαγγελίζεται τὴν πίστιν (Gal 1:23)

The one who was formerly persecuting us is now preaching the faith

The specific past time period in which Paul was persecuting the church is irrelevant here. What is important is that Paul was formerly persecuting the faith which he is now preaching.

Noteπώποτε

Finally, πώποτε ‘ever’ is always found with negation (suggesting it is an NPI; see 50.1.3.1) and negates all time past time periods in which the eventuality might have occurred:

Example 652Negated time period

θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε (John 1:18)

No one has ever seen God

While the addition of πώποτε ‘ever’ does not change the truth conditions of the statement, it strengthens the claim. No one has ever seen God at any time.

End of Chapter 52Take the Chapter 52 exam9 questions covering all 4 lessons in this chapter

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