24.173 Exercises

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. σὺ μὲν λέγεις, Οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἐργάζεσθαι ἐν σαββάτῳ οὐδὲ θεραπεῦσαι, ἡμεῖς δὲ θέλομεν ἀνοῖξαι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν τυφλῶν.

The postpositive particles μὲν and δὲ go in second position, balancing these two statements. Normally the nominative pronouns are not used in Greek since you can tell the subject from the verb (λέγεις is second person singular, θέλομεν is first person plural ), but they are used here for emphasis. The verb ἔξεστιν takes complementary infinitives, ἐργάζεσθαι (present infinitive) and θεραπεῦσαι (aorist infinitive) and the verb θέλομεν takes a complementary infinitive, ἀνοῖξαι (aorist infinitive).

2. ὁ ἄρχων ἐκέλευσε τὸν δοῦλον τὸν ἀγαπητὸν δέξασθαι τὰ καλὰ ἱμάτια ὡς δῶρα.

The verb ἐκέλευσε takes a complementary infinitive, δέξασθαι (aorist infinitive).

3. πρὸ τοῦ θεωρεῖν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ δεῖ περιπατεῖν ἄνθρωπον ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ.

Note the use of the infinitive θεωρεῖν with the preposition πρὸ ("before seeing..."). The verb δεῖ takes an accusative, ἄνθρωπον ("it is necessary for a man...") and a complementary infinitive, περιπατεῖν. Note the demonstrative noun phrase, τούτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ.

4. κακόν ἐστιν λαβεῖν παιδίον ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ.

The adjective κακόν is a predicate nominative with a form of the verb "to be, " ἐστιν. The subject of the verb is the aorist infinitive, λαβεῖν, which is regarded as a neuter noun. The infinitive in turn takes an object, παιδίον.

5. διὰ τὸ μὴ λελυκέναι τὸν κύριον τὴν γλῶσσαν τοῦ ἀνδρός, οὐκ ἐδύνατο μαρτυρεῖν περὶ χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ.

Note the use of the perfect infinitive λελυκέναι with the preposition διὰ (meaning "because"). The subject of the infinitive is in the accusative, κύριον, and the object is also in the accusative, γλῶσσαν. The verb ἐδύνατο takes a complementary infinitive, μαρτυρεῖν.

6. ἐλάλησε παραβολὴν κατ' αὐτῶν ὥστε ἆραι αὐτοὺς λίθους βαλεῖν ἐπ' αὐτόν.

Remember that the preposition κατὰ plus the genitive means "against" (in the sense of attacking, denouncing, etc.). The aorist infinitive ἆραι is used with ὥστε to express a result. The pronoun αὐτοὺς is the accusative subject of the infinitive, and λίθους is the object of the infinitive. The aorist infinitive βαλεῖν is used to express purpose ("so that they picked up stones to throw...").

7. ἐν τῷ ἀποθνῄσκειν τὸν διδάσκαλον, εἶπεν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἔχει τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ διδάξει ἐν τῷ τόπῳ αὐτοῦ.

Note the use of the infinitive ἀποθνῄσκειν with the preposition ἐν (meaning "while"). The infinitive has an accusative subject, διδάσκαλον. The subject υἱὸς comes after its verb, εἶπεν. Notice that the son uses both a present tense verb, ἔχει, and a future tense verb, διδάξει.

8. ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς σοφίας ἐστὶν τὸ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον καὶ προσκυνῆσαι αὐτῷ.

The infinitives φοβεῖσθαι and προσκυνῆσαι used as the nominative predicate with a form of the verb "to be," ἐστὶν (the article τὸ shows that the infinitive is treated as a neuter noun).

9. μετὰ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι τὴν παραβολὴν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ᾐτήσαντο τοὺς μαθητὰς ἀπελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς κώμης αὐτῶν.

Note the use of the infinitive ἀκοῦσαι with the preposition μετὰ (meaning "after"). The verb ᾐτήσαντο takes an accusative, μαθητὰς, and aorist infinitive, ἀπελθεῖν.

10. εἰ ἡ γλῶσσα βούλεται ἄρχειν ὅλου τοῦ σώματος, ἡ κεφαλὴ ὀφείλει κελεύειν τὸ στόμα μὴ ἀνοῖξαι.

The verb βούλεται takes a complementary infinitive, ἄρχειν (and remember that this verb takes a genitive object, ὅλου τοῦ σώματος). The verb ὀφείλει also takes a complementary infinitive, κελεύειν, which in turns takes an accusative, στόμα, and aorist infinitive, ἀνοῖξαι.

11. ἐληλύθαμεν ἰδεῖν τῆν ἀρχὴν τῶν ἐσχάτων ἡμερῶν πρὸ τοῦ ὀφθῆναι τὸν τοῦ θανάτου ἄγγελον.

The verb ἐληλύθαμεν is a perfect, first person plural, of the verb ἔρχομαι. The aorist infinitive ἰδεῖν is used to express purpose. Note the use of the aorist passive infinitive, ὀφθῆναι, with the preposition πρὸ (meaning "before"). The definite article τὸν goes with the noun ἄγγελον, so this is a single noun phrase, modified by a genitive: τὸν τοῦ θανάτου ἄγγελον.

12. ἔξεστιν οὕτως κράζειν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ὥστε λυθῆναι τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν λαὸν ἀκοῦσαι τὰς γραφάς;

The verb ἔξεστιν takes a complementary infinitive, κράζειν. The infinitives λυθῆναι and δύνασθαι are used with ὥστε to express result. The accusative εἰρήνην is the subject of the aorist passive infinitive ("the peace is destroyed"). The accusative λαὸν is the subject of the infinitive δύνασθαι which in turn takes a complementary infinitive, ἀκοῦσαι.

13. κακοὶ ἄνθρωποι ἐμαρτύρησαν κατὰ τοῦ ἀποστόλου εἰς τὸ κριθῆναι αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκβληθῆναι ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς.

Note how the aorist passive infinitives κριθῆναι and ἐκβληθῆναι are used with the preposition εἰς (this is another way to express purpose). The pronoun αὐτὸν is the accusative subject of the passive infinitives ("for him to be judged and thrown out").

14. ἐν τῷ θεωρεῖν ὑμᾶς τὸ παιδίον τὸ ἀγαπητὸν παρεγένοντο πᾶσαι αἱ ἅγιαι γυναῖκες λέγουσαι, Δεῖ βαπτισθῆναι αὐτήν.

Note the use of the infinitive θεωρεῖν with the preposition ἐν (meaning "during"). The pronoun ὑμᾶς is the accusative subject of the infinitive, and παιδίον is the object. The verb δεῖ takes a complementary infinitive, βαπτισθῆναι. The accusative αὐτήν is the subject of this aorist passive infinitive ("for her to be baptized"). Even though the gender of the noun παιδίον is neuter, the child is a female person, and so ends up as a feminine pronoun. (You have seen something similar where the singular noun λαός sometimes takes a plural pronoun, even though that is not grammatically correct, strictly speaking).

15. ἐγινώσκετε τὸν πορφήτην μὴ εἶναι πιστόν· εἴπετε οὖν ὅτι οὐκ ἀκολουθήσετε αυτῷ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, ἀλλὰ φεύξεσθε αὐτόν.

This sentence contains an example of indirect discourse, introduced by the verb ἐγινώσκετε ("you knew that..."). The indirect discourse consists of an infinitive, εἶναι, with an accusative subject, πορφήτην. The adjective πιστόν is the predicative, and agrees with the subject in gender, number, and case. Notice how the postpositive particle οὖν appears in second position, and coordinates these two statements.