Genitive Absolute
Structure of the Genitive Absolute
Observe the following sentence from Luke 24:36:
Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτῶν λαλούντων αὐτὸς ἔστη ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν... → “While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them...” (ESV).
• The main clause (αὐτὸς ἔστη ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν = “he stood in their midst”) has as its subject Jesus (αὐτός).
• The initial subordinate clause (Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτῶν λαλούντων = “As they were saying these things”) has another subject — the disciples (αὐτῶν, in the genitive) — accompanied by a participle verb also in the genitive case (λαλούντων).
The Genitive Absolute is a circumstantial subordinate clause formed by:
1. A verb in the Participle in the Genitive case, always WITHOUT an article;
2. A noun or pronoun also in the Genitive case, which functions as the subject of the participle's action.
It receives the name "absolute" (independent/detached) because the subject of this construction is not the same subject as the main clause.
Syntax and Translation
The participle in the Genitive Absolute always has an adverbial function (most of the time temporal, but can be causal or concessive):
• With Present Participle (Simultaneous action → "while / when..."):
ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος ἰδοὺ νεφέλη φωτεινὴ ἐπεσκίασεν αὐτούς (Mt 17:5) → “He was still speaking, when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.”
• With Aorist Participle (Prior action → "after / when..."):
καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ προσῆλθαν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· (Mt 5:1) → “And when he sat down (after he sat down), his disciples came to him.”
Vocabulary
Vocabulário do Capítulo
- ἀμήν: amen, truly
- αἴρω: I raise, I carry, I take away
- ἀποκρίνομαι: I answer
- ἀπολύω: I release, I set free, I dismiss
- ἀφίημι: I forgive, I leave, I forsake
- δικαιόω: I justify, I declare righteous
- δύναμαι: I am able, I can
- ἐλπίζω: I hope
- ἵστημι: I place; I stand
- παραδίδωμι: I hand over, I betray, I pass on
- καλός, καλή, καλόν: good, beautiful
- μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα: great, large
- νεκρός, νεκρά, νεκρόν: dead
- πολύς, πολλή, πολύ: much, many; great
- πρῶτος, πρώτη, πρῶτον: first
- οὐδείς, οὐδεμία, οὐδέν: no one, none, nothing
- τίς, τίς, τί (τίνος): who? what? which? (interrogative)
- τις, τις, τι (τινός): someone, something, a certain one (indefinite)