[B-Greek] Verbal Genitive 1 Peter 1:2

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Dec 4 06:44:37 EST 2008


On Dec 4, 2008, at 6:21 AM, Norman Wood wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In 1 Peter 1:2 the phrase EN hAGIASMWi PNEUMATOS is described by J.  
> Ramsey Michaels as a subjective genitive (WBC pg 11). However he  
> renders it 'consecrated by the Spirit'. This makes ' by the Spirit'  
> an adverbial phrase and the Spirit is then not the subject of the  
> verb consecrate. Am I right in thinking that 'what the spirit  
> consecrates' is how a subjective genitive in this case might be  
> rendered?
>
> Also how does one determine the tense of the verb in a verbal  
> genitive? In the rendering 'consecrated by the Spirit' hAGIAZW has  
> been rendered as a past tense, however the examples in Wallace GGBB  
> pg 114 translate as both past and present . Are there any guidelines  
> for this?

It seems to me that you're confusing the English grammar of the phrase  
as translated ("consecrated by the Spirit") with the Greek grammar of  
the phrase in the reek text (EN hAGIASMWi PNEUMATOS). This English  
phrase consists of a passive participle followed by a prepositional  
phrase indicating the agent performing the consecration.  I think that  
What Michaels probably means is that hAGIASMOS is a verbal noun and  
that the genitive PNEUMATOS indicates the performer of the action  
referred to by the verbal noun.

The way the term "subjective genitive" has more or less traditionally  
been understood is that a genitive substantive indicates the performer  
of the action referred to by the verbal noun, while an "objective  
genitive" indicates the recipient of that action. If PNEUMATOS in the  
above phrase were to be understood as an "OBJECTIVE genitive," the  
sense would in that case be that the Spirit is what is being or has  
been consecrated.

In fact there is no single right way to English the Greek phrase; one  
might just as well have Englished it as "by consecration by the  
Spirit" or "by the Spirit's consecration."

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)





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