Greek I; Lesson 4

εἰς μαρτυρίαν

This is a prepositional phrase.

• What is the preposition?εις
• What is the OP?μαρτυριαν
• Is it adverbial or adjectival?It is adverbial answering the why? question.

Translation so far…

ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ

ινα is a DMW. Since it is a DMW, we know it marks the beginning of a dependent clause.
In English, there are two kinds of DMWs, subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns. In Greek, things are roughly similar. ινα is a subordinating conjunction.

Since the DMW is a subordinating conjunction, we know the clause is adverbial. Once we know it is adverbial, it is then simply necessary to find the verb that this clause is modifying.This clause is modifying the previous verb ηλθεν.

Every clause has a subject and verb. Here μαρτυρηση is the verb and the subject of this clause is the implied subject of μαρτυρηση (cf. principle 3). Hence, the dependent clause is ινα μαρτυρηση.
Furthermore, we know that dependent clauses function just like other words; they can be adverbial, adjectival, or substantives. To find out the function of this clause, use the questions you learned. This clause is modifying ηλθεν and is answering the why? question. Hence, in your English translation, you will translate ινα as “in order that”.

μαρτυρήσῃ

Keeping principle 27 in mind, we know to expect a subjunctive verb. Because it is subjunctive, we will use the helping verb “might” in our translation. Subjunctives are generally easy to find because of principle 27. The distinguishing factor of a verb in the subjunctive mood is the lengthened connecting vowel.

Note the evolution of μαρτυρήσῃ:

μαρτυρε-                     stem
μαρτυρεσε                    add the tense formative
μαρτυρησε                     principle 12
μαρτυρησεη                    add the connecting vowel; Note: the connecting vowel here is lengthened because this verb is in the subjunctive mood.
μαρτυρηση                      contraction (cf. MBG 2.1)
μαρτυρησηι                      add the verb ending
μαρτυρήσῃ                        the iota subscripts

περὶ τοῦ φωτός,

This is a prepositional phrase.

• What is the preposition?περι
• What is the OP?φωτος

φωτος is a noun in the genitive case. The lexical form is φως. Check the index in the very back of MBG for the code. You will see the code given this word is n3c(6c). Turning to that paradigm (p. 198), you can see the different forms.

ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσιν δι’ αὐτοῦ.

• How does a clause differ from a phrase?A clause has a subject & object; a phrase does not. Which is this?This is a clause.
• Assuming this is a clause, what is the DMW?The DMW of this dependent clause is ἵνα.
• Why is παντες nominative (principle 1)?παντες is nominative because it is the subject of this clause. The subject of a clause is always in the nominative case.
• Check the adverbial questions. Which one does this clause answer?This clause is adverbial in function and answers the why? question.
• Which verb does it modify?ηλθεν
• How does principle 27 apply?Because πιστεύσωσιν is in the subjunctive mood which is what we expect after ινα.
• Why is it significant that the OP of δια is genitive? See here.Because the meaning of δια changes depending on the case of its OP.

πιστεύσωσιν

πιστευ-                   stem
πιστευσα                 add the tense formative
πιστευσαω                 add the lengthened connecting vowel (because it is subjunctive mood, BBG 31.9)
πιστευσω                      contraction
πιστευσωσι                      add the verb ending
πιστευσωσιν                      movable nu

Translation so far…

John 1:8

οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς

ουκ is the same adverb we had before (ου) but the kappa is added here because the next word begins with a vowel.

ἐκεῖνος

There are two demonstrative pronouns in Greek, εκεινος and ουτος.

• εκεινος generally refers to a more remote object and is translated “that” or “those”.
• ουτος refers to a nearer object and is translated “this” or “these”.

Notice that the gender of εκεινος (masculine) does not agree with that of φῶς (neuter). Hence, this cannot be “He was that light.” Remember principle 7. Therefore, we conclude that εκεινος is the subject of ην and φως is the PN.

Translation so far…

ἀλλ’ ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός.

αλλ is the conjunction αλλα, but the final alpha is cut off by elision, because the next word begins with a vowel. Recall the same thing happening to δια above (δι αυτου).
αλλα is a FANBOYS. It is a strong contrastive. Much more so than δε (GGBB p. 671).

ἵνα

ινα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός

This is a dependent clause (ινα is the DMW). This clause modifies ηλθεν from the beginning of verse 7. Can you pick out the adverbial question being answered?This clause is answering the why? question. Notice that inside this dependent clause there is a prepositional phrase περι του φωτος. This phrase answers the how? question, and it modifies μαρτυρηση.

• What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?A phrase will never have a subject and verb; a clause always has its own subject and verb.
• Principle 7 teaches us that an article must always agree with its noun. Does του agree with φωτος?Yes, they are both in the genitive case and singular. Why do they look so different?The answer is that φωτος is a third declension noun while this article is second declension. Different declensions take different case endings. Study this.

Translation so far…