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Croy Index: Vocabulary - Prosody - Verbs - Nouns - Adjectives - Nominals - Other Topics - Syntax List


7.47 Exercises: Practice Sentences

The following notes should help you in understanding the Practice Sentences provided by Croy. You might also find it very helpful to look at a Segmented Version of the sentences.


1. λέγετε λόγον κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ;

Be sure you understand the difference in meaning between the preposition κατὰ used with the accusative and the same preposition used with the genitive, as here.

2. αἱ ψυχαὶ ὑμῶν ἔχουσιν ἁμαρτίαν ὅτι ἐσθίετε τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων.

Which translation of ὅτι is better for the context of this sentence: ὅτι meaning "that" or meaning "because" (= "on account of the fact that")?

3. ἡ ἀδελφή σου καὶ τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς εἰσιν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἄρτον.

Make sure you understand the antecedent of the pronoun αὐτῆς. Who does this pronoun refer to? (The clue you have is that this is a feminine third person pronoun).

4. ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ σῴζει ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν.

Notice that there is no way to determine in this sentence whether the word θεοῦ is an "objective" genitive (you love God - meaning God is the object of the loving) or whether it is a "subjective" genitive (God loves you - meaning God is the subject of the loving). The phrase "the love of God" is ambiguous in the same way in English. Only the context and your assumptions about the meaning of the sentence allow you to state whether this is a subjective or an objective genitive.

5. προφήτης πιστὸς οὑ διδάσκει κατὰ τοῦ νόμου.

Notice that προφήτης πιστὸς is an indefinite noun phrase (you can tell this becuase there is no definite article with the noun προφήτης, and you know the adjective is not predicative because there is a verb in this sentence, διδάσκει, rather than a form of the verb "to be"). Be sure you understand the difference in meaning between the preposition κατὰ used with the genitive and the same preposition used with the accusative, as here.

6. ἡ ἀγάπη τῆς ἁμαρτίας μένει ἐν σοί, ἐγὼ δὲ πιστεύω ὅτι ὁ κύριος θέλει σῴζειν σε.

Unlike the sentence about the "love of God," there is no ambiguity about the genitive in this phrase "the love of sin" - the word ἁμαρτίας is an objective genitive, because it is the object of the sinning ("love of sin" means you love sin).

7. ἐσθίει ὁ ὄχλος τὸν ἄρτον τῆς γῆς, ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἔχουσι τὰ δῶρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.

Notice the use of the plural verb ἔχουσι, even though the subject of the verb is ὄχλος. The noun ὄχλος is a singular noun, but it "feels" plural, so the verb in the second part of the sentence, where the subject of the verb is implied rather than stated, is a plural rather than a singular.

8. οὐ λαμβάνομεν δῶρα ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ.

Be sure you understand the difference in meaning between the preposition κατὰ used with the genitive and the same preposition used with the accusative, as here. How do you understand the meaning of αὐτοῦ in the phrase τῆν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ, "his love"? Do you think this is a subjective genitive (his love of us) or an objective genitive (our love of him)? This is something you can decide only based on the context and meaning of the sentence, since the form of the subjective genitive and the objective genitive is the same for both (and the same ambiguity is found in English as well).

9. οἱ δοῦλοι ἡμῶν βάλλουσι λίθους εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ὅτι αὐτὸ θέλουσι λύειν.

Make sure you understand the antecedent of the pronoun αὐτὸ. What does this pronoun refer to? The clue you have is that this is a neuter third person pronoun. Also, since this is a neuter pronoun, the nominative form and the accusative form are identical. Is αὐτὸ in the nominative or accusative in this sentence?

10. ἡ δίκαια ἀκούει τῆς φωνῆς τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ σῴζει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῆς ἐκ θανάτου.

Notice that δίκαια is being used substantively here (i.e., the adjective is being used as a noun). The pronoun αὐτῆς must have a feminine antecedent, and you actually have three choices here: δίκαια, φωνῆς and ἀληθείας. Which of these three feminine nouns is the antecedent of αὐτῆς?

11. γινώσκομεν ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ἄγγελος τῆς ζωῆς. μετὰ σοῦ οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς βασιλείας εἰσίν;

Notice the emphatic use of the nominative form of the pronoun σὺ. This is emphatic because the verb εἶ already tells us that the subject is second person singular. The redundant use of the pronoun adds emphasis to the statement.

12. ὁ μαθητὴς οὐκ ἔχει τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, διδάσκει γὰρ κατὰ τὸν νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ.

Notice the use of the postpositive particle γὰρ. A great way to translate this particle is with the words "let me explain..." (unlike the more simple construction with ὅτι, which simply means "because"). Be sure you understand the difference in meaning between the preposition κατὰ used with the genitive and the same preposition used with the accusative, as here.

13. διὰ τὸν ὀχλον τὸν πονηρὸν πέμπει ὁ θεὸς τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν οἶκον.

Be sure you understand the difference in meaning between the preposition διὰ used with the genitive and the same preposition used with the accusative, as here. Notice also that τὸν ὀχλον τὸν πονηρὸν is a braided noun-adjective phrase, with the definite article appearing before both the noun and the adjective.

14. λέγεις ὅτι ἐγώ ὁ ἅγιος, σὺ δὲ οὐ βλέπεις τὴν βασιλείαν μου.

Notice how the adjective ἅγιος is being used substantively ("holy one, holy man"). The phrase ὁ ἅγιος, is being used predicatively here, with an implied form of the verb "to be" ("am"). Notice the nice balance between the pronoun ἐγώ in the first statement and the emphatic pronoun σὺ in the second statement (the verb βλέπεις already lets us know that the subject is second person singular, so the use of the pronoun σὺ is purely for emphasis and to create a parallel construction with the pronoun ἐγώ in the first statement).


Biblical Greek Online. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. Page last updated: April 9, 2005 8:06 PM


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