Greek I; Lesson 9

John 1:18

Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε·

οὐδεὶς

This word is a merger between ουδε and the number εις (don’t confuse εις with the preposition of the same spelling).  The numeral εις is inflected, and this is the nominative singular form of ουδεις (see the entire paradigm on BBG p. 350).  It is translated “No one…”

Note the tense formative in εωρακεν;  this means perfect tense (BBG 25.5).

 

ἑώρακεν

This verb is from οραω. Even though this verb is highly irregular, there are a few clues you should pick up on:

• The kappa which is the tense formative of the perfect active tense.
• The -εν ending which almost always means third singular.

The only difficult thing here is figuring out the lexical form. For this, you should use some kind of Bible software or this. Optional: If you want to understand the εω and you are feeling sufficiently brave, feel free to read footnote #1 on page 270 of MBG.

 

πώποτε

What part of speech is πώποτεadverb; answering the when? question? Remember the adverbial questions? the adjectival questionsadverb: how? when? where? why? adjective: which one? how many? what kind??

 

μονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν είς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο.

μονογενης is an adjective modifying θεος.  There is considerable debate about the meaning of this adjective. The older translators thought this word came from μονο and γενναω (hence, “only begotten”).  More contemporary translators think it comes from μονο and γενος (hence, only one of its kind or “unique”).  Recently, this debate has sprung up again with a return to the traditional view; see here.

 

ὁ ὢν είς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς

This entire set of words is a participial phrase. ων is the participle (from the verb ειμι) Is it articularyes? Why does this matterIt means this participle must be either attributive or substantive.? Which noun is this phrase modifyingThis participle is modifying θεὸς.?

Inside this participial phrase is the prepositional phrase είς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς. What word is this phrase modifyingThe phrase is adverbial modifying the participle ὢν.? κολπον is a noun functioning as the OP of είς.

 

ἐξηγήσατο

Watch εξηγησατο evolve:

ηγε-        stem
εξηγε         preposition + stem = compound verb
εξεηγε         add the augment
εξηγε            contraction
εξηγεσα           add the tense formative
εξηγησα              principle 12
εξηγησατο            add the verb ending

In your English translation, you will need to supply a DO; “…that One revealed [Him].” Who is the antecedent of εκεινοςJesus?

 

John 1:19

Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μαρτυρία τοῦ Ἰωάννου,

How do you know that αὕτη is not from αυτοςαυτη has a rough breathing mark which shows that it is not a form of αυτος but rather a form of ουτος.?

Is Ιωαννου an objective genitive or a subjective genitive? Whichever meaning best fits the context. Here it almost certainly is a subjective gentive.

 

ὅτε ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευίτας

οτε is a DMW. What kindThe DMW here is a subordinating conjunction.? Why does it matterIf the DMW is a relative pronoun, then the clause is likely adjectival. If the DMW is a subordinating conjunction, then the clause is likely adverbial.?

ἀπέστειλαν

The verb ἀπέστειλαν undergoes some interesting changes which we will not take time for now. You should recognize the augment and the third plural ending (which you also could have gathered from the fact that Ἰουδαῖοι is the subject).

στελ-         the stem
αποστελ-         add the preposition
απεστελ-           add the augment
απεστελα            tense formative (why not σα?This verb is an aorist liquid verb and the tense formative for liquid verbs is α, not σα (cf. BBG 354).)
απεστειλα             the epsilon vowel lengthens to ει (MBG 300)
απεστειλαν             verb ending Recall that verbs ending in -αν are third plural.

 

ἵνα ἐρωτήσωσιν αὐτὸν· σὺ τίς εἶ;

How does principle 27 apply to this verseWe expect a verb in the subjunctive mood after ινα.?

In Greek, a semi-colon is a question mark.

What is the lexical form of ει?  of ἐρωτήσωσιν?  Here is the evolution of ἐρωτήσωσιν:

ἐρωτα-         stem
ἐρωτασα          tense formative
ἐρωτησα           principle 12
ἐρωτησαω         lengthened connecting vowel (cf. subjunctive mood)
ἐρωτησω            contraction
ἐρωτησωσι           verb ending
ἐρωτησωσιν           movable nu