31.230 Exercises

1. ὁ λαβὼν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου μείζων ἐστὶν τοῦ ἑστηκότος ἔμπροσθεν ἀρχόντων.

Note the braided adjectival phrase τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου. The word μείζων is a comparative adjective (irregular comparative form of the adjective μέγας) with the genitive of comparison: τοῦ ἑστηκότος. The participle ἑστηκότος is perfect active, masculine genitive singular.

2. ἐὰν γὰρ μόνον ἀγαπήσητε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, τίνα δόξαν δέξεσθε; οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ποιοῦσιν τοῦτο;

The postpositive particle γὰρ comes in second position, indicating the beginning of a new statement. The word μόνον is used adverbially, "only." The word ἐὰν introduces a conditional ("if"), with the subjunctive verb ἀγαπήσητε. The word τίνα is an interrogative adjective with δόξαν, used to ask a question ("what glory?"). The word οὐχὶ is an emphatic form of οὐ and is used to introduce a yes-or-no question that expects the answer "yes." The word καὶ is being used adverbially ("don't even the sinners...?").

3. εἰ ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐκείνου ἦν μακάριος, οὐκ ἂν ἀπῆλθεν ἵνα ζητήσῃ κρείττονα ζωήν.

The use of the word εἰ with the imperfect past tense indicates a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence ("if he had been..." - but he was not), with the word ἂν in the "then" clause, together with an aorist verb, indicating a past contrary-to-fact ("he would not have gone away" - but he did go away). The word ἵνα plus the subjunctive verb ζητήσῃ introduces a purpose clause. The word κρείττονα is a comparative adjective (irregular comparative form of the adjective ἀγαθός).

4. ποῦ εἰσὶν τὰ βιβλία μου; τέκνα, μὴ ἐβάλετε τὰ βιβλία μου εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν;

The word ποῦ introduces a question. The nominative subject βιβλία follows its verb, εἰσὶν. The word τέκνα is in the vocative (form is identical to the nominative). The word μὴ is used to introduce a yes-or-no question which anticipates the answer "no."

5. ὁ υἱὸς ἔφη, Πάλιν ἥμαρτον εἰς οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐνώπιόν σου. διό εἰμι πονηρότερος πάντων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου.

The word πονηρότερος is a comparative adjective, from πονηρός, with the genitive of comparison: ἀδελφῶν.

6. καλόν ἐστιν διὰ δικαιοσύνην διωχθῆναι ἢ μαρτυρεῖν μηδὲν καὶ δέξασθαι δῶρα.

The positive degree adjective καλόν is being substituted here for the comparative, as indicated by comparative phrase introduced by the word ἢ ("it is better to ... than to ...").

7. ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν ἐστι ἡ μικρότερα πασῶν τῶν πόλεων ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἀλλ' ἐγεννήσαμεν ἱερεῖς καὶ προφήτας πλείονας ἢ αὐτῶν.

The comparative degree adjective μικρότερα is being substituted for the superlative degree, as indicated by the use of the definite article ( ἡ μικρότερα, "the smallest"), with a genitive of comparison: πόλεων. The comparative adjective πλείονας (irregular comparative for the adjective πολύς) can be understood with both ἱερεῖς and προφήτας,

8. λέγεις ὅτι ἔχεις πλείονα παιδία τοῦ μεγίστου βασιλέως. μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τῆς μητρὸς ἡμῶν, ἥτις ἔχει δώδεκα παιδία;

The word πλείονα is a comparative adjective (irregular comparative for the adjective πολύς), used with the genitive of comparison: βασιλέως. The word μὴ introduces a yes-or-no question which anticipates the answer "no." The nominative pronoun σὺ is emphatic, since the subject is already clear from the form of the verb (εἶ is 2nd person singular). The word μείζων is a comparative adjective (irregular comparative form of the adjective μέγας) with the genitive of comparison: μητρὸς. The word ἥτις functions is a relative pronoun, feminine singular (agreeing with its antecedent, μητρὸς), and in the nominative case because it is the subject of the verb in the relative clause, ἔχει.

9. προσκυνήσωμεν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ θρόνου τῶν βασιλέων.

The subjunctive προσκυνήσωμεν is a hortatory subjunctive ("let's....!"). The word μᾶλλον is a comparative adverb ("rather than...").

10. εἰ ἐποίεις σημεῖα πλείονα καὶ μείζονα τῶν σημείων τοῦ διδασκάλου ἡμῶν, ἠκολουθοῦμεν ἄν σοι.

The word εἰ "if" is used here with an imperfect past tense ἐποίεις to indicate a present contrary-to-fact condition ("if you were creating..." - but you are not), with the imperfect "then" clause and the particle ἄν also indicating present contrary-to-fact ("we would be following..." - but we are not). The words πλείονα and μείζονα are comparative adjectives, with the genitive of comparison: σημείων.

11. αἱ χεῖρές μου ἀσθενέστεραι ἢ οἱ πόδες μου. διὸ δύναμαι περιπατεῖν μετὰ σοῦ ἀλλ' οὐ δύναμαι φέρειν πλεῖον ἢ ἕνα λίθον.

The word ἀσθενέστεραι is a comparative adjective. The verb δύναμαι takes a complementary infinitive, περιπατεῖν and likewise φέρειν. The word πλεῖον is a comparative (irregular comparative form of πολύς).

12. μαράριοι οἱ ἰσχυροὶ ἐν πίστει. οὐχὶ συναχθήσονται ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ εὑρήσουσι χάριν;

Note that in the first sentence, the form of the verb "to be" has been omitted, as often in Greek. The word οὐχὶ is an emphatic form of οὐ, used here to introduce a yes-or-no question which anticipates the answer "yes." The verb συναχθήσονται is future passive, 3rd person plural, while εὑρήσουσι is future active.

13. μόνος οὐκ εἰμί, οἱ γὰρ ἄγγελοι τοῦ πατρός μού εἰσιν ὧδε καὶ ἔχουσι δύναμιν πλείονα τῶν ἐξουσίων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου.

The word μόνος is a predicative nominative, agreeing with the unexpressed subject of εἰμί. Notice how the postpositive particle γὰρ comes in second position, and is used to coordinate the two statements. The word πλείονα is a comparative adjective (irregular comparative form of πολύς), with the genitive of comparison: ἐξουσίων. Note the demonstrative noun phrase τοῦ κόσμου τούτου.

14. εἰ ἔδωκας ἡμῖν ἐπαγγελίαν κρείττονα καὶ ἐλπίδα ἰσχυρότεραν, οὐκ ἂν ἐγενόμεθα μαθηταὶ τοῦ κηρύξαντος εἰρήνην.

The word εἰ "if" used with the aorist past verb indicates a past contrary-to-fact condition ("if you had given..." - but you did not), with the particle ἂν and the aorist past tense in the "then" clause also indicating a past contrary-to-fact situation ("we would not have become..." - but we did). The word κρείττονα is a comparative adjective (irregular comparative form of the adjective ἀγαθός), as is the word ἰσχυρότεραν. The word μαθηταὶ is a predicate nominative, with the verb ἐγενόμεθα. Notice that the participle κηρύξαντος is being used substantively ("the one heralding..." = "the herald").