Preposition: Vocative case

GrammarPreposition – ἐκ ‘from’

This lesson has two minor grammar topics: the preposition ἐκ ‘from’ and the comparatively infrequent noun case, the vocative (found 599 times in the NT, accounting for just 2% of the nouns; abbreviated voc).

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MorphologyPreposition – ἐκ + genitive

• When the word after ἐκ begins with a vowel, the final κ changes to ξ, e.g. ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου vs. ἐξ ἀνθρώπου.

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MorphologyNoun – Vocative case

• fem 1st and masc/neut 2nd declension nouns are identical in the nom and voc except for the masc sg
• Identical: ἡ ἀδελφὴ ἔρχεται ‘the sister is coming’ vs. ἀδελφή, σὺ ἔρχῃ ‘sister (voc), you are coming’
• Different: ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἔρχεται ‘the person is coming’ vs. ἄνθρωπε, σὺ ἔρχῃ ‘person, you are coming’
• Most 3rd declension nouns have identical nom and voc forms (e.g. 15.3.3.1, 16.3.3.1).

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SyntaxNoun – Vocative case (1 – naming the addressee; 2 – drawing attention to a statement)

Because the vocative is used to address someone, it is often found near the beginning of the clause, but it may also be found at the end. The vocative itself stands outside the clause, since it is only used to name the addressee, and is normally marked off by commas:

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SemanticsPreposition – ἐκ + genitive

The primary meaning of ἐκ is to come out of something. Since it specifies movement away from something, it takes the genitive case (see 4.4.3.2). Whereas ἀπό refers to movement away from something, ἐκ tends to have the idea of movement out of a container or area, as in John 17:15:

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