the category article
I found another use for the Greek article, the grammatical name of which I do not know. I'm going to call it the 'category article'. However, because its function can also apply to neuter pronouns, either relative or demonstrative where they function like articles, it probably has a different official name. If anyone knows its real name, please let me know. The translation of the "category article" reveals more meaning.
As we have seen in the explanatory "A Mystery" page, there are many uses of the Greek article. These are partly listed in the TENT Lexicon entry for NT3588, and others can also be seen in the TENT Commentary on the Greek article (NT3588). This page is specifically about the "category article" as a further interesting function of the Greek article when it sometimes occurs in its neuter form but without a referent.
Without it referring to any following noun, that is, when a following noun or gerund (verbal noun) is absent, the neuter article can be used all by itself to indicate something in the category of 'creature', 'spirit', 'thing', or 'place'. Which category it is, should be obvious from its context.
So sometimes biblical Greek, without stating specifically whether creature, spirit, thing, or place is meant, can do just that by using the neuter article alone. This Greek idiomatic use can occur in either singular or plural forms of the article. Translating these into literal English often results in awkward phrasing, but at times they can clarify certain things which seem to have been obscured in traditional translations.
Listed below are examples for each of the four categories: things, places, creatures and spirits. For each category the first quote will be a literal English translation of a NT Greek verse and below that will be the same verse as found in the King James Version. The categories appear below, numbered from one to four. The category articles and demonstrative or relative pronouns will be underlined.
1. Thing(s):
An example of the category article as "the thing" occurs two times in Luke 20:17b, first below is a wonky literal English translation from the literal NT Greek:
"...He said, 'What then is the(-thing; neut. sing. of NT3588), that(-thing; neuter sing. of NT3778**) having been written, that, "[a] stone, this one which the ones building rejected, came to be for [a] cornerstone's authority/headship?"'"
[** denotes a Greek relative pronoun like 'who/which/whose', or a demonstrative pronoun like 'this/that' or 'these/those' which can also function as category articles, as also in #4 at bottom]
Here it is in the KJV: "What is this then that is written, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner'?"
For those unfamiliar with ancient building practices, the first stone for any large building must be laid perfectly. Since all the folllowing stones had to be aligned with it, it was important to get it right or the results might be costly to fix. This cornerstone must give the correct alignment in three directions, so "the cornerstone" was usually the very-carefully-laid first stone.
In this instance, the 17th century KJV translation chooses a word, "head", which 21st century readers might not understand in this context. The KJV uses "head" instead of "headship" or figuratively, "authority" to indicate the stone's use. In English the word "head" can also figuratively indicate an example used for the following of guidelines. The metaphor of Yeshua being the "head" of His body of believers is now connected with this idea of alignment. He is the "head" by which His children strive spiritually to live in perfect alignment with Him.
We see in the above example that a neuter Greek article or neuter relative or demonstrative pronoun can be used to mean, "the-thing(s)/". In the following three examples we will see how the neuter article might also mean "the place(s)", "the creature(s)", or "the spirit(s)".
_____________________________
2. Place(s):
Luke 2:49b (lit. Eng.) - "Why [is it] that you were searching for Me? You knew not that it is necessary for Me to be in the(-places; neuter plural of NT3588) of/for My Father?"
Luke 2:49b (KJV) - "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"
Yeshua spoke this to His parents in the Temple precincts. The fact that the neuter article used here is in the plural may mean that it is referring to the various courts of the Temple precinct. Much of the High Priest's ministry involved rituals performed among these three "places". Yeshua is our High Priest. He was right at home among the sacred spaces found at the center of Hebraic worship.
Jude 7a (lit. Eng.) - "As Sodom(-places neuter plural of NT4670) and Gomorrah (feminine singular) and the cities (feminine plural) around them,..."
Jude 7a (KJV) - "... Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them..."
____________________________
3. Creature(s):
John 10:14b - "...and I know the(-creatures; neuter plural of NT3588) my own, and the(-creatures; neuter plural of NT3588) my own know Me."
John 10:14b (KJV) - "...and I know my sheep, and am known of mine."
Revelation 5:11a - "And I looked and heard [a] sound from many angels around the throne [deistic: of-YHWH], and from the living(-creatures) (neuter plural of NT3588) [of-YHWH], and from the elders [deistic: before-YHWH];..."
Revelation 5:11a (KJV) - "And I beheld , and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: ..."
_____________________________
4. Spirit(s):
1John 4:3b - "...And this is the [-spirit; neut. sing. of 'the' -NT3588] of the antichrist [counterfeit anointed-one], which**[-spirit; neut. sing. of NT3739**] that you heard is coming and now is already in the world."
**a relative or demonstrative pronoun functioning as a category article
1John 4:3b (KJV) - "...and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in the world."
1John 5:6b - "...and the Spirit [of-YHWH] is the(-spirit; neut. sing. of NT3588) testifying, because the Spirit [of-YHWH] is the truth [from-YHWH].
1John 5:6b (KJV) - ... And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth."
As we have seen in the explanatory "A Mystery" page, there are many uses of the Greek article. These are partly listed in the TENT Lexicon entry for NT3588, and others can also be seen in the TENT Commentary on the Greek article (NT3588). This page is specifically about the "category article" as a further interesting function of the Greek article when it sometimes occurs in its neuter form but without a referent.
Without it referring to any following noun, that is, when a following noun or gerund (verbal noun) is absent, the neuter article can be used all by itself to indicate something in the category of 'creature', 'spirit', 'thing', or 'place'. Which category it is, should be obvious from its context.
So sometimes biblical Greek, without stating specifically whether creature, spirit, thing, or place is meant, can do just that by using the neuter article alone. This Greek idiomatic use can occur in either singular or plural forms of the article. Translating these into literal English often results in awkward phrasing, but at times they can clarify certain things which seem to have been obscured in traditional translations.
Listed below are examples for each of the four categories: things, places, creatures and spirits. For each category the first quote will be a literal English translation of a NT Greek verse and below that will be the same verse as found in the King James Version. The categories appear below, numbered from one to four. The category articles and demonstrative or relative pronouns will be underlined.
1. Thing(s):
An example of the category article as "the thing" occurs two times in Luke 20:17b, first below is a wonky literal English translation from the literal NT Greek:
"...He said, 'What then is the(-thing; neut. sing. of NT3588), that(-thing; neuter sing. of NT3778**) having been written, that, "[a] stone, this one which the ones building rejected, came to be for [a] cornerstone's authority/headship?"'"
[** denotes a Greek relative pronoun like 'who/which/whose', or a demonstrative pronoun like 'this/that' or 'these/those' which can also function as category articles, as also in #4 at bottom]
Here it is in the KJV: "What is this then that is written, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner'?"
For those unfamiliar with ancient building practices, the first stone for any large building must be laid perfectly. Since all the folllowing stones had to be aligned with it, it was important to get it right or the results might be costly to fix. This cornerstone must give the correct alignment in three directions, so "the cornerstone" was usually the very-carefully-laid first stone.
In this instance, the 17th century KJV translation chooses a word, "head", which 21st century readers might not understand in this context. The KJV uses "head" instead of "headship" or figuratively, "authority" to indicate the stone's use. In English the word "head" can also figuratively indicate an example used for the following of guidelines. The metaphor of Yeshua being the "head" of His body of believers is now connected with this idea of alignment. He is the "head" by which His children strive spiritually to live in perfect alignment with Him.
We see in the above example that a neuter Greek article or neuter relative or demonstrative pronoun can be used to mean, "the-thing(s)/". In the following three examples we will see how the neuter article might also mean "the place(s)", "the creature(s)", or "the spirit(s)".
_____________________________
2. Place(s):
Luke 2:49b (lit. Eng.) - "Why [is it] that you were searching for Me? You knew not that it is necessary for Me to be in the(-places; neuter plural of NT3588) of/for My Father?"
Luke 2:49b (KJV) - "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"
Yeshua spoke this to His parents in the Temple precincts. The fact that the neuter article used here is in the plural may mean that it is referring to the various courts of the Temple precinct. Much of the High Priest's ministry involved rituals performed among these three "places". Yeshua is our High Priest. He was right at home among the sacred spaces found at the center of Hebraic worship.
Jude 7a (lit. Eng.) - "As Sodom(-places neuter plural of NT4670) and Gomorrah (feminine singular) and the cities (feminine plural) around them,..."
Jude 7a (KJV) - "... Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them..."
____________________________
3. Creature(s):
John 10:14b - "...and I know the(-creatures; neuter plural of NT3588) my own, and the(-creatures; neuter plural of NT3588) my own know Me."
John 10:14b (KJV) - "...and I know my sheep, and am known of mine."
Revelation 5:11a - "And I looked and heard [a] sound from many angels around the throne [deistic: of-YHWH], and from the living(-creatures) (neuter plural of NT3588) [of-YHWH], and from the elders [deistic: before-YHWH];..."
Revelation 5:11a (KJV) - "And I beheld , and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: ..."
_____________________________
4. Spirit(s):
1John 4:3b - "...And this is the [-spirit; neut. sing. of 'the' -NT3588] of the antichrist [counterfeit anointed-one], which**[-spirit; neut. sing. of NT3739**] that you heard is coming and now is already in the world."
**a relative or demonstrative pronoun functioning as a category article
1John 4:3b (KJV) - "...and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in the world."
1John 5:6b - "...and the Spirit [of-YHWH] is the(-spirit; neut. sing. of NT3588) testifying, because the Spirit [of-YHWH] is the truth [from-YHWH].
1John 5:6b (KJV) - ... And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth."