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PRONOUNS, 66-71

66. Superfluous Use of Pronoun. A pronoun is sometimes employed superfluously after the object, direct or indirect, has been already expressed, e.g. --

Ex. 12:44 καὶ πᾶν (σιχ) οἰκέτην ἢ ἀργυρώνητον περιτεμεῖς αὐτόν.

Nb. 26:37 καὶ τῷ Σαλπαὰδ υἱῷ Ὄφερ οὐκ ἐγένοντο αὐτῷ υἱοί.


The above may be considered as deflexions of the Nominative of Reference (§ 52) into an oblique case by Attraction.

So in N.T. --


2 Cor. 12:17 μή τινα ω—ν ἀπέσταλκα πρὸς ὑμᾶς, δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐπλεονέκτησα ὑμᾶς;

Mt. 25:29 τοῦ δὲ μὴ ἔχοντος, καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ.

Rev. 2:7, 17 τῷ νικῶντι δώσω αὐτῷ. Cp. 6:4.


In Josh. 24:22 -

ὑμεῖς ἐξελέξασθε Κυρίῳ λατρεύειν αὐτῷ -

Κυρίῳ should be τὸν Κύριον (which A has). Then λατρεύειν αὐτῷ would be an explanatory clause added after the usual manner.


67. Frequent Use of Pronouns. Apart from any Semitic influence there is also a tendency in later Greek to a much more lavish use of pronouns than was thought necessary by classical authors. We have seen already (§ 13) that the missing pronoun of the 3d person was supplied. The possessive use of the article moreover was no longer thought sufficient, and a possessive genitive was added, e.g. -


Gen. 38:27 καὶ τῇδε ἦν δίδυμα ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ αὐτῆς.


So in N.T. --


Mt. 19:9 ὃς ἂν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ.

1 Pet. 2:24 αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ.


68. Ἀδελφός as a Reciprocal Pronoun. The use of ἀδελφός as a reciprocal pronoun is a sheer Hebraism, e.g. -


Ex. 10:23 καὶ οὐκ εἶδεν οὐδεὶς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ = they saw not one another.


69. Hebrew Syntax of the Relative. a. One of the most salient characteristics of LXX Greek is the repetition of the pronoun after the relative, as though in English, instead of saying ‘the land which they possessed,’ we were to say habitually ‘the land which they possessed it,’ and so in all similar cases. This anomaly is due to the literal following of the Hebrew text. Now in Hebrew the relative is indeclinable. Its meaning therefore is not complete until a pronoun has been added to determine it. But the relative in Greek being declinable, the translator was forced to assign to it gender, number, and case, which rendered the addition of the pronoun after it unnecessary. Nevertheless the pronoun was retained out of regard for the sacred text. As instances of the simplest kind we may take the following -


Nb. 35:25 ὃν ἔχρισαν αὐτόν, 13:33 τῆς γῆς ἣν κατεσκέψαντο αὐτήν.

Is. 62:2 ὃ ὀ κύριος ὀνομάσει αὐτό.

Gen. 1:11 οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ.

Dt. 4:7 ᾧ ἐστιν αὐτῷ.

Ps. 18:4 ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν.

Ex. 6:26 οἷς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς.


b. Where the relative is followed by ἐάν the same construction is employed, e.g. -


Nb. 17:5 ὁ ἄνθρωπος ο§ν ἐὰν ἐκλέξωμαι αὐτόν, 19:22 παντὸς οὗ ἐὰν ἅψηται αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀκάθαρτος.


c. Sometimes a demonstrative takes the place of the personal pronoun -


Gen. 3:11 οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι τούτου μόνου μὴ φαγεῖν.


d. In all the foregoing instances the appended pronoun is in the same case as the relative, but this is not necessary.

Nb. 3:3 οὓ ἐτελείωσεν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν ἱερατεύειν.


The construction here, though determined by the Hebrew, happens to agree with the Greek Accusative of the Part Affected.


e. Very often there is the same preposition both before the relative and before the appended pronoun -


Ex. 34:12 εἰς η§ν εἰσπορεύῃ εἰς αὐτήν.

Nb. 11:21 ἐν οἷς εἶμι ἐν αὐτοῖς.

Gen. 28:13 ἡ γῆ ἐφ’ ἧς σὺ καθεύδεις ἐπ’ αὐτῆς.


f. Occasionally the preposition is the same, but the case it governs is different, e.g. -


Jdg. 16:26 ἐφ’ οἷς ὁ οἶκος στήκει ἐπ’ αὐτούς.

Josh. 24:13 γῆν ἐφ’ ἣν οὐκ ἐκοπιάσατε ἐπ’ αὐτῆς.


g. Sometimes the preposition is confined to the appended pronoun. Then the problem arises, Into what case is the relative to be put? -

a problem which is solved differently in different passages. In some the case chosen coincides with that of the pronoun following, e.g. -


Gen. 24:42 τὴν ὁδόν μου, η§ν νῦν ἐγὼ πορεύομαι ἐπ’ αὐτήν.

Ex. 25:28 τοὺς κυάθους, οἷς σπείσεις ἐν αὐτοῖς.

Gen. 21:23 τῇ γῇ ᾗ συ παρῴκησας ἐν αὐτῇ.


In others it does not -


Nb. 14:31 τὴν γῆν η§ν ὑμεῖς ἀπέστητε ἀπ’ αὐτῆς, 19:2 ᾗ οὐκ ἐπεβλήθη ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ζυγός.

3 K. [2 Kings} 17:1 ᾧ παρέστην ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ.


h. Sometimes the relative has a different preposition from the pronoun following -


Nb. 13:20 τίς ἡ γῆ εἰς ἣν οὗτοι ἐνκάθηνται ἐπ’ αὐτῆς . . . τίνες αἱ πόλεις εἰς ἃ οὗτοι κατοικοῦσιν ἐν αὐταῖς.

For other instances see Ex. 6:4: Nb. 15:39: Dt. 1:22, 1:33, 28:49.


i. Sometimes the preposition is the same, but instead of a mere pronoun we have a phrase, e.g. -


Gen. 24:38 ἐν οἵς ἐγὼ παροικῶ ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτῶν.


j. The construction of which we have been speaking is not confined to the simple relative, e.g. -


Gen. 41:19 οἵας οὐκ εἶδον τοιαύτας.

Ex. 9:18, 11:6 ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν.


k. The habitual repetition of the pronoun in the LXX is a mere Hebraism, though a search among Greek writers might reveal traces of a somewhat similar usage arising independently. Here are a few instances -


Plat. Tim. 28 A ὅτου μὲν οὖν ἂν ὁ δημιουργός . . . τὴν ἰδέαν καὶ δύναμιν αὐτοῦ ἀπεργάζηται, Parm. 130 E ὧν τάδε τὰ ἀλλὰ μεταλαμβάνοντα τὰς ἐπωνυμίας αὐτῶν ἴσχειν. Artist. Cat. 5.38 οἷον ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις τὸ τοιοῦτο προενεγκεῖν.


l. In the N.T. this Hebrew syntax of the relative occurs not infrequently.

Philemon 12 ο§ν ἀνέπεμψά σοι αὐτόν.

Gal. 2:10 ὃ καὶ ἐσπούδασα αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιησαι.

Acts 15:17 ἐφ’ οὓ ἐπικέκληται τὸν ὄνομά μου ἐπ’ αὐτούς.

Mk. 7:25 ἧς εἶχε τὸ θυγάτριον αὐτῆς πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον.

Cp. Mk. 1:7: Lk. 3:16: also Mk. 13:19, 9:3.


Instances are most frequent in the very Hebraistic book of Revelation. See Rev. 3:8; 7:3, 9; 13:8; 20:8. Cp. 1 Clem. 21:9 οὗ ἡ πνοὴ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐστίν.


70. ἀνήρ = ἕκαστος. The use of ἀνήρ as a distributive pronoun is a pure Hebraism.

4 K. [2 Kings] 18:31 πίεται ἀνὴρ τὴν ἄμπελον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνὴρ τὴν συκῆν αὐτοῦ φάγεται.

Jdg. 16:5 ἡμεῖς δώσομέν σοι ἀνὴρ χιλίους καὶ ἑκατὸν ἀργυρίου.


71. ὅστις for ὅς. Except in the neuter singular ὅ τι, as in Josh. 24:27, and in the expression ἕως ὅτου, as in 1 K. [1 Sam.] 22:3, or μέχρι ὅτου, which is found only in the Codex Sinaiticus version of Tob. 5:7, ὅστις occurs in Swete’s text only in the nominative, singular or plural. In meaning it is often indistinguishable from ὅς.

Ex. 20:2 Ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος . . . ὅστις ἐξήγαγόν σε. Cp. Dan. Θ 6:27.

Ps. 89:4 ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθὲς ἥτις διῆλθεν. Cp. Nb. 14:8.

1 K. [1 Sam.] 30:10 διακόσιοι ἄνδρες οἵτινες ἐκάθισαν πέραν τοῦ χειμάρρου. Cp. Ex. 32:4, 9: Nb. 1:5: 1 Mac. 13:48.

Jdg. 21:12 τετρακοσίας νεάνιδας παρθένους, αἵτινες οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ἄνδρα.


Οἵτινες = οἵ occurs several times in Aristeaς -

§§ 102, 121, 138, 200, 308.


The same use of ὅστις for the simple relative is found in the N.T., e.g. -


Col. 3:5 τὴν πλεονεζίαν, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρεία.

Acts 8:15 τὸν Πέτρον καὶ Ἰωάννην· οἵτινες καταβάντες κτλ.

1 Tim. 6:9 ἐπιθυμίας . . . αἵτινες βυθίζουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.

Gal. 4:24 ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα.

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