9
SYNTAX: PART 2
PREPOSITIONS
9.1. In this second part of our study of Greek syntax, we will look at several additional topics, including prepositions and the use of the article as a function marker.
Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Prepositions are a key part of both English and Greek. We will begin with a look at English prepositions and then compare the function of prepositions and prepositional phrases in Greek. Some aspects of Greek prepositions are very similar to English, others quite different.
English Prepositions
9.2. A preposition is a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a modifying phrase. Remember that function words indicate relationships between words in a clause, so we could say, in general terms, that prepositions are words that indicate relationships between words in a sentence.
Using the sentence and the list of words following figure 9.1, notice how the meaning changes when you insert into the blank the various words, all of which are English prepositions.
Figure 9.1
| The man ran _______ the woods. | ||||||
| in | through | to | under | above | ||
| from | into | out (of) | beside | around | ||
Not all prepositions can be illustrated in this “woodsy” way; not all express a spatial relationship. For example, the preposition before can indicate a spatial relationship but is more often a temporal relationship; until is only temporal, never spatial.
The noun or pronoun with which the preposition combines is always in the objective case and is referred to as the object of the preposition. The phrase that consists of a preposition and its object is called a prepositional phrase.
| The man | ran | into | the woods. |
| subject | verb | preposition | object of the preposition |
| prepositional phrase | |||
Greek Prepositions
9.3. You will quickly discover that Greek prepositions function very much like English ones. If we were to rewrite the sentence above in Greek, we would be able to pick from the following list to describe the same set of relationships between the word ran (which would be a form of τρέχω) and the word woods (a form of ὕλη) as depicted in figure 9.1.
| ἐν | διά | πρός | ὑπό | ἄνω |
| ἀπό | εἰς | ἐκ | παρά | περί |
Although there is a significant (and very helpful) overlap in the function of prepositions between English and Greek, we can be more specific in regard to Greek prepositions since Greek is an inflected language. A Greek preposition is a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun in a particular case to form a modifying phrase that clarifies the meaning of that case. Frequently case alone is adequate to indicate the function of a noun or pronoun in a sentence, but for greater clarity a preposition may be added to make it less ambiguous. Compare the following examples, which make similar statements, one using just a dative case, the others with a preposition and the accusative or dative case.
| Acts 18:8, Κρίσπος δὲ ἐπίστευσεν τῷ κυρίῳ. | Now Crispus believed in the Lord. |
| Acts 11:17, ἡμῖν πιστεύσασιν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν | To us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ |
| Ps. 77:22 (78:22 Eng.), οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν ἐν τῷ θεῷ. | They did not believe in God. |
Syntax and Meaning of Greek Prepositions
9.4. Prepositional phrases usually modify the verb. For example, in Mark 7:6, Jesus says, ἐπροφήτευσεν Ἠσαΐας περὶ ὑμῶν. The prepositional phrase, περὶ ὑμῶν, modifies the verb, ἐπροφήτευσεν: “Isaiah prophesied concerning you”; it does not modify the noun adjacent to the preposition—it was not the “concerning-you-Isaiah” who prophesied. For now, think of prepositional phrases as adverbial modifiers. Later in this chapter you will learn how to identify prepositional phrases that function adjectivally.
The meaning of a Greek preposition depends on the case of its object. The preposition does not have any case of its own (it is indeclinable); it is incorrect to say that a preposition is in the genitive case. A preposition is said to govern a case (or, take a case), but that case is the case of its object, not the case of the preposition. Some prepositions always govern the same case and therefore always have the same meaning (e.g., ἐν always governs the dative case and means “in”). Other prepositions may take their object in two or three cases and so may have two or three different meanings. The following table illustrates this with prepositions that govern one, two, or three cases.
| ἐν | διά | πρός | |
| Genitive | — | through | for |
| Dative | in | — | at |
| Accusative | — | on account of | to |
For example, if you encounter a sentence in which the preposition πρός is used, you must check the case of its object before you can determine correctly what it means. If its object is in the dative case, you would understand it to mean “at,” rather than “for” or “to.”
Sometimes the various meanings of a preposition are fairly close, even if used with a different case; other times the difference in case makes a significant difference in meaning. Although the table above shows only a single meaning for each combination of preposition and case, you should conceptualize the meanings of prepositions not as illustrated in figure 9.2 (narrow, distinct meanings) but as seen in figure 9.3 (broad, overlapping areas of meaning).[1]
Figure 9.2
Figure 9.3
9.5. What you learn as vocabulary glosses of a preposition are only the more common uses of that preposition. If you were to look up each preposition in a basic lexicon, you would find a much broader range of translation options (and a full-fledged lexicon such as BDAG would give you even more). The context is the determining factor in selecting which English word best represents the sense of the Greek statement. For now, learn the basic glosses given in the vocabulary list, and remember that they are only general guidelines.
When you first learned the basics of the cases, you learned that a preposition was often used to help represent the meaning of the genitive and dative cases in English. When there is already an explicit preposition in Greek, however, you do not need to add another one in English to represent the meaning of the case. The explicit preposition makes the statement even more specific.
ὁ λόγος θεοῦ = the word of God
But: ὁ λόγος ἀπὸ θεοῦ = the word from God [not: the word from of God]
In this example the addition of ἀπό makes the statement more explicit than the simple genitive-case noun by itself. Although ὁ λόγος θεοῦ could mean “the word from God” in an appropriate context, there is no ambiguity in the second statement.
Form of Greek Prepositions
9.6. The form of a preposition does not decline. That is, prepositions do not use case endings; they are not inflected. There are, however, some minor changes in their spelling from time to time. Prepositions that end with a vowel may drop that vowel or change the spelling slightly.[2] This change is for euphony—to make it easier to pronounce. The two most common spelling changes are π ► φ and τ ► θ. You do not have to know the rules as to why these changes occur,[3] nor do you need to memorize the list of examples below; just be able to recognize the abbreviated forms. They are quite obvious.
| ἀπό | ► | ἀπ’ or ἀφ’ | |
| ὑπό | ► | ὑπ’ or ὑφ’ | |
| ἐπί | ► | ἐπ’ or ἐφ’ | |
| μετά | ► | μετ’ or μεθ’ | |
| κατά | ► | κατ’ or καθ’ | |
| ἀντί | ► | ἀντ’ or ἀνθ’ | |
| παρά | ► | παρ’ | |
| ἀνά | ► | ἀν’a | |
| διά | ► | δι’ | |
| ἐκ | ► | ἐξ | |
a The shortening of ἀνά to ἀν’ is very rare in Koine (never in the NT or LXX), though it was common in Classical Greek.
Changes of this sort may be seen scattered throughout the examples given below.
A Visual Representation of Prepositions
9.7. To help you visualize the meanings of prepositions that express a spatial relationship, study the illustration of the apple that is riddled with “wormy prepositions” in figure 9.4.[4]
Figure 9.4
| Mark 1:23, ἦνa ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ αὐτῶν ἄνθρωπος. | A man was in their synagogue. |
a ἦν is a form of εἰμί, “he/she/it was.” |
|
| Mark 5:21, ἦν παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. | He was alongside (or, near) the lake. |
| Matt. 19:26, ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Παρὰ ἀνθρώποις τοῦτο ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν, παρὰ δὲ θεῷ πάντα δυνατά. | Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” |
| Gen. 36:33, ἀπέθανεν (he died) δὲ Βάλακ, καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν ἀντ᾿ αὐτοῦ Ἰωβὰβ υἱὸς Ζάρα ἐκ Βοσόρρας. | Now Balak died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah from Bozrah, reigned instead of him. |
| Mark 2:27, Τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο (was made) καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον. | What is the verb for the second clause? How does each of the prepositional phrases function in the sentence? What do they modify? What case is the object of διά? What would be different if the sentence had τοῦ ἀνθρώπου instead of τὸν ἄνθρωπον? |
| John 4:39, πολλοί (many) ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν τῶν Σαμαριτῶνa διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς γυναικός.b | What case is the object of διά? Why did many of the Samaritans believe? How is the “word” (λόγον) described? |
|
a τῶν Σαμαριτῶν modifies πολλοί. This use of the genitive is called a partitive genitive; it specifies the larger group of which the head word is a part. That is, the larger group is “the Samaritans,” and the part is the “many.” It is not common for a genitive to be separated this far from its head word, but it does happen. b “woman” (go by the article); this is a third-declension form that you will learn later. |
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| Rom. 5:14, ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως. | How do you parse ἐβασίλευσεν? Two prepositions are paired here; check your lexicon for the meanings of the prepositions. |
| 2 Chron. 1:1, ἐνίσχυσενa Σαλωμὼν υἱὸςb Δαυὶδ ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐμεγάλυνενc αὐτὸν εἰς ὕψος.d | |
|
a The aorist form of ἐνισχύω does not lengthen the initial epsilon as you would expect to reflect the augment; this is called an implicit augment. In this context, “I establish” would be a good way to express the meaning in English. b Apposition; see the sidebar near §8.8. c μεγαλύνω, “I make great, exalt”; the aorist form marker you expect is missing (you will learn why in chap. 21). d εἰς ὕψος, idiom, “greatly” (Yes, ὕψος is an accusative-case noun [third declension, see chap. 11]; prepositions are not used with nominative-case objects.) |
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Prepositions Used with Adverbs
9.10. Most instances of prepositions occur with a substantive (noun, pronoun, etc.) as the object, and that by a very wide margin. Prepositions can, however, take an adverb as an object. This is unusual in that adverbs do not have case. Many of these instances are used in set phrases (idioms). Consider the following examples.
| Mark 14:54, ὁ Πέτρος ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ. | Peter followed him from a distance. |
| Luke 16:16, Ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται μέχρι Ἰωάννου· ἀπὸ τότε ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ εὐαγγελίζεται. | The Law and the Prophets [were preached]a until John; from thenb the kingdom of God is being preached. |
|
a The first half of the verse is a verbless clause, so a verb must be supplied. Most such instances take some form of the verb εἰμί, but here the parallel with the second clause suggests that we should understand the verb εὐαγγελίζω. b ἀπὸ τότε is formally translated “from then,” but in idiomatic English it means “since that time.” |
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| John 14:7, ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι γινώσκετε αὐτόν. | From now on you know him. |
| 1 Kgdms. (1 Sam.) 7:12, Ἕως ἐνταῦθα ἐβοήθησεν ἡμῖν κύριος. | Until now the Lord has helped us. |
| 3 Kgdms. (1 Kings) 1:4, ἡ νεᾶνις καλὴ ἕως σφόδρα. | The girl was beautiful to the extreme [i.e., The girl was very beautiful]. |
Prefixed Prepositions
9.11. Prepositions may be prefixed to verbs and nouns to form compound words.[5] Thus you will find forms such as ἐκβάλλω (ἐκ + βάλλω) and εἴσοδος (εἰς + ὁδός). Occasionally two prepositions are prefixed—for example, ἐπισυνάγω (ἐπί + σύν + ἄγω). When a preposition ending with a vowel is prefixed to a word that begins with a vowel, the final vowel of the preposition is typically elided; thus δία + ἐγείρω becomes διεγείρω. If the word to which the preposition is attached begins with a rough breathing mark, the spelling of some prepositions may change slightly; thus ἀπό + ὁρίζω becomes ἀφορίζω.[6] Other prepositions may have a different spelling when prefixed to a word beginning with certain consonants. This is for purposes of pronunciation (euphony). For example, σύν may be spelled συμ-, συλ-, or συγ-, and ἐν is typically ἐμ- in such compounds.
The effect of the preposition on the meaning of the word with which it is compounded is generally unpredictable. Some such compounds have no effect at all; both ἐνδοξάζω and δοξάζω mean “I bless.” In other instances the combination is transparent in that the common meanings of both elements can be seen (e.g., ἐκπέμπω, “I send out”). In other cases there is a significant change of meaning, though how the meaning changes is not predictable based only on the typical meaning of the preposition. For example, ἀναστρέφω does not mean “I turn up” (ἀνά, “up” + στρέφω, “I turn”). Depending on the context, it may mean “I turn upside down” or “I turn back, return.” Some prepositions may give the verb to which they are joined a durative (e.g., διαμένω) or intensive (e.g., κατακρίνω) meaning. The only sure way to determine such things is to consult a good lexicon; CL, BDAG, and LN will all provide the necessary information. If you do not find any indication in the lexicon of what might seem to be the obvious meaning, then you should not base your understanding on a presumed etymology.
The Article as a Function Marker
9.12. The article can be used not only with a noun or adjective but also as a function marker. In these situations an article can be used to change the function of another part of speech or a phrase to make it function like an adjective or a noun. The most common example of this use of the article is found with prepositional phrases, though the article can be used similarly with other constructions as well. The illustrations here use prepositions.
The Article as an Adjective Marker
9.13. An article can govern not only a noun (ὁ λόγος) or an adjective (ὁ καλός) but also a prepositional phrase—for example, τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ. Remember that most prepositional phrases are adverbial (they modify the verb). The normal way to indicate that a prepositional phrase is modifying a noun is to add the article in front of the preposition.
For example, the two following statements say something quite different.[7]
ὁ ἵππος (horse) ἐν τῇ κώμῃ (village) ἐστὶν μικρός.
ὁ ἵππος ὁ ἐν τῇ κώμῃ ἐστὶν μικρός.
Although we might represent both of them in English as, “The horse in the village is small,” that is somewhat ambiguous in English (though from what we know of the world and how things are, we would likely make the correct assumption). Does the English statement mean that the horse is small when he is in the village (but large when he is not), or that the horse, which is in the village, is a small horse? Greek makes this distinction explicit. The first sentence asserts that the horse is small when he is in the village. Since prepositional phrases are normally adverbial, the phrase ἐν τῇ κώμῃ (“in the village”) modifies the verb ἐστίν. The second statement, however, adds something to clarify the meaning. Note that the article is added on the front of the prepositional phrase, indicating that the reference is to “the horse that is in the village.”
9.14. This is the first time that you have seen an article used with something other than a noun or a substantival adjective. (There are other options you will meet in due time, but do not worry about them now.) What the article does in this situation is essentially convert the prepositional phrase into an adjective; it tells the reader that the prepositional phrase ἐν τῇ κώμῃ modifies not the verb but the noun.[8] Which noun? And can you identify the adjective position that is used?
ὁ ἵππος ὁ ἐν τῇ κώμῃ = article ► noun ► article ► modifier
This is the second attributive position, and in this instance the modifier is a prepositional phrase rather than a simple adjective. When the prepositional phrase functions as an adjective, the article will always agree with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case. In the examples that follow, the relative phrase “which is” is supplied for clarity; it may often be omitted if the adjectival nature of the prepositional phrase is clear without it.
| John 5:44, τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ | The glory which is from God |
| Luke 6:41, Τί δὲ βλέπεις τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου, τὴν δὲ δοκὸν τὴν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀφθαλμῷ οὐ κατανοεῖς; | Why do you see the speck which is in your fellow believer’s eye but do not notice the log which is in your own eye? |
| Gen. 37:22, ἐμβάλετε (throw!) αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦτον τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. | Throw him in this pit which is in the wilderness. |
A prepositional phrase may also occur in the first attributive position.
| 2 Cor. 7:10, ἡ κατὰ θεὸν λύπη . . . ἡ δὲ τοῦ κόσμου λύπη | The “according to God” grief . . . but the “of the world” grief (or in better English, godly grief . . . but worldly grief) |
In this example the first phrase illustrates an article governing a prepositional phrase (κατὰ θεόν), but in the second phrase the article governs a genitive noun phrase (τοῦ κόσμου). Both function the same way: to describe the noun λύπη.
9.15. Other times the article converts the prepositional phrase, not into an adjective, but into a noun. It functions like a substantival adjective, taking the place of a noun.[9] For example, in Acts 1:3 we are told that during his postresurrection ministry, Jesus was speaking τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ (“the things concerning the kingdom of God”). The entire prepositional phrase functions as the direct object of the verb “speaking.”[10] The neuter plural article in this instance means “the things,” and it is accusative since it functions as the object. When a prepositional phrase functions as a noun, the article will always be in the case appropriate to its function in the sentence (subjects are nominative, objects are accusative, etc.).
| Rom. 9:6, οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ | The ones from Israel |
| Rom. 4:14, οἱ ἐκ νόμου | The ones from the law (= the ones who live by/follow the law) |
| 1 Cor. 9:20, τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον | The ones under the law |
| Gen. 7:23, κατελείφθη (he was left) μόνος Νῶε καὶ οἱ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ. | Only Noah was left and the ones with him in the ark.a |
a For smoother English we could translate with a compound subject and the verb as a plural: “Only Noah and the ones with him in the ark were left.” |
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Examples of the Article as a Function Marker
9.16. Many of the examples in the next two sections are not complete sentences. (Watch for the period or lack of it at the end of each example.) Instances of the article used as a function marker both as adjective and noun are included here.
| Matt. 6:9, Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς | Our Father who is in heaven |
So long as I tell you that πάτερ is a vocative noun,[11] you can understand that the prepositional phrase modifies πάτερ (“Father”). In sentences like this it is sometimes helpful to translate the article as a relative pronoun: “who,” “which/that,” and so on—for example, “Our Father who is in heaven” (traditionally, “Our Father which art in heaven”).
| Mark 3:22, οἱ γραμματεῖς οἱ ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων | The scribes from Jerusalem |
| Mark 15:43, Ἰωσὴφ ὁ ἀπὸ Ἁριμαθαίας | Joseph who was from Arimathea (traditionally translated “Joseph of Arimathea”) |
| John 15:25, ὁ λόγος ὁ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ | The word which is [written] in the Law |
| Exod. 3:7, εἶπεν (he said) δὲ κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν, Εἶδον (I have seen) τὴν κάκωσιν (oppression) τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ. | But the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt.” |
| Rom. 7:10, ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωήν | |
| Rom. 8:39, τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν | |
| Acts 8:14, οἱ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἀπόστολοι | |
| Rom. 10:5, Μωϋσῆς γὰρ γράφει τὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου. | |
| Gen. 3:1, τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς | |
| Gen. 13:13, οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἐν Σοδόμοις πονηροὶ καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ σφόδρα. | You will have to supply a form of εἰμί in this sentence. What is the subject and what is the predicate nominative? How is the second οἱ functioning in this sentence? |
Advanced Information for Reference:
Special Uses Involving Prepositions
9.18. There are some particular instances involving prepositions that are important to recognize. Many of these are idiomatic in nature; that is, you would not be able to predict the meaning simply from recognizing the individual words. Only a catalog-style list is given here with one example for each, but it is sufficient to alert you to the type of meanings involved and give you a place to check them later when you encounter them in a text.
ἀνὰ μέσον (a compound preposition): “among, between, in the midst of”
| Matt. 13:25, ἦλθεν αὐτοῦ ὁ ἐχθρὸς καὶ ἐπέσπειρεν ζιζάνια ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ σίτου. | His enemy came and sowed weed seed among the grain. |
διὰ τοῦτο: “because of this, on account of this”
| John 15:19, διὰ τοῦτο μισεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ κόσμος. | On account of this the world will hate you. |
ἐπί + genitive: in a temporal context usually refers to a point of time
| Luke 4:27, πολλοὶ λεπροὶ ἦσαν (there were) ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπὶ Ἐλισαίου τοῦ προφήτου. | There were many lepers in Israel at the time of Elisha the prophet. |
ἐπί + dative: in a temporal context usually implies the time during which something happens
| Eph. 4:26, ὁ ἥλιος μὴ ἐπιδυέτω (let it go down) ἐπὶ τῷ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν. | Do not let the sun go down during your wrath [i.e., while you are angry]. |
ἐπί + accusative: in a temporal context usually references an extent of time
| Luke 4:25, πολλαὶ χῆραι ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἠλίου ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ὅτε ἐκλείσθη ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία καὶ μῆνας ἕξ. | There were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months. |
9.19. Advanced Information for Reference:
Diagramming Prepositional Phrases
| John 1:1, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. | The Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
Figure 9.5
9.20. Reading Passage: Colossians 1:1–8
Paul’s Thanksgiving
1Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος (will) θεοῦ καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφὸς 2τοῖς ἐν Κολοσσαῖς ἁγίοις καὶ πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ, χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς (Father) ἡμῶν.
3Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ (Father) τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι (praying), 4ἀκούσαντες (having heard) τὴν πίστιν (faith) ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν (which) ἔχετε εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους 5διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα (hope) τὴν ἀποκειμένην (reserved) ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἣν προηκούσατε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας τοῦ εὐαγγελίου 6τοῦ παρόντος (which has come) εἰς ὑμᾶς, καθὼς καὶ ἐν παντὶ (all) τῷ κόσμῳ ἐστὶν καρποφορούμενον (producing fruit) καὶ αὐξανόμενον (growing) καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐπέγνωτε (you understood) τὴν χάριν (grace) τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ· 7καθὼς ἐμάθετε (you learned) ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ συνδούλου ἡμῶν, ὅς (who) ἐστιν πιστὸς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν διάκονος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 8ὁ καὶ δηλώσας (who declared) ἡμῖν τὴν ὑμῶν ἀγάπην ἐν πνεύματι (Spirit).
9.21. You may need to plan a bit more time than usual to learn the vocabulary for this chapter. The most common prepositions are included in this list to enable you to compare and contrast their range of meaning. Although this facilitates understanding the concepts involved, it may be a bit more difficult to learn a list with a number of short, sometimes similar words.
| Part of Speech | Definition | Possible Glosses | Frequency | |
| Word | NT | LXX | ||
| Adjectives | ||||
| ὅλος, η, ον | Being complete in extent | whole, complete (adj.); entirely (adv.) | 109 | 272 |
| ἀγαθός, ή, όν | Achieving a high standard of excellence, positive moral qualities | good, useful, beneficial, helpful | 102 | 599 |
| καλός, ή, όν | Of high quality and therefore satisfying; a positive moral quality that is favorably valued; attractive in outward form; fitting | good, beautiful | 100 | 235 |
| ἕτερος, α, ον | Distinct from another item, sometimes indicating dissimilarity [often synonymous with ἄλλος]; one’s neighbor | other, another, different; neighbor | 98 | 258 |
| Noun | ||||
| βιβλίον, ου, τό | Written document regardless of size (one or multiple sheets or pages) or format (loose sheet, scroll, or codex form) | book, scroll; document | 34 | 186 |
| Prepositions | ||||
| ἐν | A preposition used with the dative case that generally refers to position within, but usage is quite varied with many possible English equivalents, depending on the context | (prep. + dat.) in, on, among | 2,752 | 14,275 |
| εἰς | A preposition used with the accusative case that generally refers to entrance into, direction, or limit (these can be spatial or temporal), but usage is quite varied with many possible English equivalents, depending on the context; in Koine, often overlaps with ἐν in meaning [Note the smooth breathing: this is not εἷς.] | (prep. + acc.) into, in, among; until | 1,768 | 7,438 |
| ἐκ, ἐξ | A preposition used with the genitive case that generally refers to separation or derivation, but usage is quite varied with many possible English equivalents, depending on the context | (prep. + gen.) out of, from | 914 | 3,823 |
| ἐπί | A preposition used with any of three cases that generally refers to location (“on” or “over”) or time (“at” or “in”); some English equivalents are usable with all three cases, others are appropriate for only one of the cases [see CL or BDAG] | (prep. + gen.) on, over, when; (prep. + dat.) on the basis of, at; (prep. + acc.) on, to, against | 890 | 7,297 |
| πρός | A preposition most commonly used with the accusative case to indicate destination or goal (“to, toward”), but occasionally with the genitive (“in the interest of”) or dative (“at, near”) case | (prep. + acc.) to, toward, with; (prep. + gen.) in the interest of; (prep. + dat.) at, near | 700 | 3,338 |
| διά | A preposition used with the genitive (spatial, temporal, instrumental) and accusative cases (spatial or causal) | (prep. + gen.) through, during; (prep. + acc.) because of, on account of | 667 | 1,427 |
| ἀπό | A preposition used with the genitive case that generally indicates separation or source, sometimes temporal or causal | (prep. + gen.) from | 646 | 4,150 |
| κατά | A preposition used most commonly with the accusative case (sometimes with the genitive), expressing measure in terms of extension or correspondence | (prep. + acc.) according to, throughout, during; (prep. + gen.) down, against | 473 | 2,140 |
| μετά | A preposition used with the genitive case to indicate association or accompaniment, or with the accusative case to indicate position or sequence (either temporal or spatial) | (prep. + gen.) with; (prep. + acc.) after | 469 | 2,534 |
| περί | A preposition used with the genitive and accusative cases that describes various aspects of being near or related to something (spatial, temporal, logical) | (prep. + gen.) about, concerning; (prep. + acc.) around | 333 | 852 |
9.22. Key Things to Know for Chapter 9
What do prepositional phrases usually modify?
Can you explain the relationship between prepositions and case?
What is the usual way of indicating that a prepositional phrase modifies a noun or takes the place of a noun?