marccortez.com

I have decided to make a small change to how we will be handling the exams for this class. Rather than have you utilize lab time to take the exams, I am going to ask you to complete the exams at home.  So, I will post the Exam 1 on the web site after your Oct 11 lab and you will need to turn it in no later than the beginning of class on Oct 24. Exam 2 will be available online after your lab on Dec 11 and will need to be turned in by Dec 18. I will change the syllabus that is available online if you would like to have an updated version of the course schedule.

A question has come up regarding the function of της Φωνης in John 5:25. We will discuss this in class next weekend, so try to work it through using the information that you have. First, go through all of your genitive categories to see if any of those apply (hint: I am mean and I occasionally throw something in that doesn’t quite fit). If none apply, then try to use your English instincts to see if you can come up with a function that matches what you think is happening in the sentence, even if it doesn’t quite match the categories you’ve been given.

Apparently some questions came up in the lab regarding the function of some of the words in Colossians 1:3. So let’s work through that together. The first term, τω θεω, is the DMS indirect object of the verb (i.e., ‘we give thanks to God). πατρι is a DMS noun standing right next to another DMS noun and, consequently, my first thought is going to be apposition. One way to check that conclusion is to drop the first word and see if the sentence still makes sense (i.e., ‘we give thanks to the father’). If the meaning of the sentence did not change, it is probably apposition.

Now, moving on to the genitives. κυριου is a GMS of possession modifying πατρι (i.e., he is the Lord’s father). (We will see later in the semester that there is a particular subcategory of this kind of possession that we will call a genitive of relationship, but for now it is enough to call it a possessive genitive.) ημων is GP (first and second person pronouns don’t actually have gender; the ‘gender’ is implied by the group of people being referred to) of possession modifying κυριου (i.e., he is ‘our Lord’). Finally, Ιησου Χριστου is GMS of apposition modifying κυριου. Notice that here the noun is not right next to the word it is in apposition to. Though they are often right next to each other, they can be separated if the context makes it clear what is going on. Here, there really is nothing else that Ιησου Χριστου could possibly be doing. It certainly isn’t describing or attributing a quality to anything; it is not possessing anything (note: it cannot be possessing πατρι because πατρι is already being possessed by κυριου); and there is no preposition. So the only option you have left is apposition. Then it’s a matter a finding the word it is apposition to by finding something that is the same case, (usually) number, and (often) gender.

Feel free to discuss this more in the comments if you would like. Otherwise, continue emailing me your questions and I will post my responses here.