Apollonius' Corollary in the Gospel of Mark

7/30/2019 Apollonius' Corollary in the Gospel of Mark

1/21

ANARTHROUS HEAD NOUN MODIFIED BY AN ANARTHROUS GENITIVE NOUNIN THE GOSPEL OF MARK

by

Dominic P. Venuso

Box [email protected]

A PAPER

Submitted to Dr. D. A. Carsonin partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the course NT 8721Advanced Greek Grammar

at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Deerfield, IllinoisApril 2013


2/21

1

Introduction

Does refer to an angel of the Lord or to the angel of the

Lord? In Mark 15:39, what did the Centurion mean when he confessed:

? These are some of the exegetical questions that highlight the

potential importance of Apollonius Corollary. In this paper, I will be doing an inductive

grammatical study to determine the validity of Apollonius Corollary in the Gospel of Mark. 1

First, we will define the rule, then we will walk through the various kinds of texts where the

rule could potentially apply, and finally, we will draw some conclusions.

The Rule

In general, both of the rules tied to Apollonius name recognize a close

relationship between a noun and the genitive noun that qualifies it .2 Apollonius Canon holds

that the head noun and the genitive noun will generally either be both articular or both

anarthrous. 3 Apollonius Corollary holds that when both nouns are anarthrous, both will

1 Hedges did his major work in the Pauline literature. According to DanielWallace, unpublished research has also been done on the Petrine epistles and in somenarrative material. These studies confirmed Hedges original work. To continue this research,in this paper, I will be investigating the rule in the Gospel of Mark (a corpus that, to myknowledge, has not been done yet).

2

Different grammarians label the relationship different ways. When referringto the whole structure, the nouns are said to be in regimen. The noun is variously called: thehead noun, the governing noun, or nomen regens . The genitive is called: the genitive noun,the governed noun, or nomen rectum .

3 A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Researc h (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), 780782. For exceptions, seeSanford D. Hull, Exceptions to Apollonius Canon in the New Testament: A Grammatical


3/21

usually have the same semantic force. 4 The semantic force may be definite, qualitative, or

indefinite. David Hedges work concluded that Apollonius Corollary, though not an

absolute rule, had general validity.5

Specifically, he found:

On the average, absolute agreement was observed in 74% of the cases, while20% of the pairs differed by only one semantic step [e.g., Q-D] and only 6%differed by two steps. It was further determined that in general if theconstruction involved , the nouns were probably both definite (68%), if the construction involved only a preposition, they were probably bothqualitative (52%), and if the construction involved neither proper nouns, ,

prepositions, nor equative verbs, then the nouns, though agreeing, had aboutan equal chance of being any of the three definiteness classes. 6

The Texts

An Accordance search was run to collect all of the instances of an anarthrous

head noun modified by an anarthrous genitive noun in the Gospel of Mark .7 This search

rendered 47 hits in 40 verses. 8 As I work through the texts inductively in this paper, I will

first eliminate the false positives. Then, I will group the texts according to Hedges various

Study, Trinity Journa l 7, no. 1 (Spr 1986): 316.4 Daniel B. Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax an Intermediate

Greek Gramma r (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 250.5 David William Hedges, Apollonius Canon and Anarthrous Constructions

in Pauline Literature: An Hypothesis, 1983.

6 Ibid., 6667.7 See Appendix 1 for a diagram of the construct search. It is theoretically

possible that this search could have missed a couple of extremely rare cases of nouns inregimen that are greatly spread apart, which could only be found by many years of readingthrough Mark.

8 See Appendix 2 for a complete list of the results.2


4/21

structural categories. 9 Under each heading, I generally will order them first by definiteness

and then canonically.

False Positives

Cases of apposition were not counted, thus removing three hits (Mark 1:1;

Mark 2:26). 10 Mark 1:30 had an article that was far enough out of range to not be detected by

my parameters. I am also excluding genitives that modify words that follow them (Mark

6:43). With these false positives excluded, this leaves us with 42 hits in 37 verses to

investigate.

Texts Containing Proper Nouns Or K

There are three occurrences of this category in three verses. Because proper

names are always definite, and because the genitive nouns in all three of these instances are

proper nouns, the genitive nouns in these passages are all definite. The only question is: what

is the definiteness of the head nouns? In Mark 6:3, we find the question,

, ;.

Here the people are specifically identifying Jesus as (the brother of

James)the head noun is definite. In Mark 10:47-48, we find two occurrences of the same

phrase: . In this phrase, the head noun is in the vocative, specifically imploring

9 Hedges, Apollonius Canon and Anarthrous Constructions in PaulineLiterature.

10 Accordance counts Mark 1:1 as 3 hits, even though only one hit ( ) needs to be explained for our purposes.

3


5/21

Jesus by addressing him as, son of David. They also are both definite. Therefore, all three

of these instances are definite-definite.

Texts Containing 11

There are two instances of this category in Mark. In Mark 1:1 (in some

manuscripts) Jesus is given the Messianic title, . The monadic nature of this title

means that it is definite-definite. In Mark 11:22 , we find the abstract (and therefore

qualitative-definite) head noun . 12 Both of these cases are similar to the previous

category in that they essentially use as God the Fathers proper name. This means that

the genitive nouns are also definite.

Texts Where The Head Noun Is An Object Of A Preposition

There are five cases where it is so clear that they are definite-definite I will

not provide arguments, but simply list them. Mark 10:6 appeals to the pattern that God

established ( from the beginning of the creation). In Mark 12:10,

the prophecy is cited which says that Jesus has become (the chief

cornerstone). The phrase, in Mark 13:19 (like 10:6), refers to the

definite starting point of the creation. Mark 13:27 contains two constructions of nouns in

11 If one was especially interested in this category, it would certainly be

necessary to consider a larger corpus since the only instances of texts containing in Mark are referring to God.12 Technically, the abstract noun could be counted either as definite or

qualitative, but there is probably no meaningful difference between the two choices;Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Researc h, 794;Basil L Gildersleeve and Charles William Emil Miller, Syntax of Classical Greek from

Homer to Demosthenes .. . (New York: American Book Company, 1900), 259.4


6/21

regimen which depict a definite span: (from the

ends of the earth to the ends of heaven).

Beyond these clear cases, I had some difficulty in deciding between

qualitative and either definite or indefinite. In Mark 1:4, (for the

forgiveness of sins) seems best to be understood as definite-definite, since on the whole it is

referring to a definite purpose for the baptism of repentance (although, again, the abstract

element certainly admits the qualitative option). The phrase,

, in Mark 12:14 is an idiom for you are not swayed by appearances, and should

probably be taken as definite-definite (the face of men). While it could be definite-definite,

in Mark 9:31 is probably qualitative-qualitative, referring not

literally to the hands of men but to human captivity or bondage, emphasizing the quality of

each of the nouns. In Mark 5:25, seems most likely to be indefinite-

qualitative: a discharge of blood.

This section showed greater diversity than the previous two structural

categories. There were seven that were definite-definite, one qualitative-qualitative, and one

indefinite-qualitative.

Texts Where The Head Noun Is The Subject Or Object Of An Equative Verb

One instance here is definite-definite (Mark 3:17): Jesus gave James and John

the new nickname, (Sons of Thunder). One is qualitative-qualitative (Mark 1:17) : Jesus uses the metaphor,

(I will make you to become fishers of men). One is

indefinite-qualitative (Mark 4:37): (a great windstorm). 5


7/21

Texts With Combined Categories

One (a case of a preposition and ) is clearly definite-definite (Mark

11:9): (in the name of the Lord). Though Harner has disputed it, I also think that in Mark 12:35 is definite-definite (this is a combination of

equative verb and proper noun). Harner argues for a qualitative force to the head noun

because of the contextual emphasis on Davidic decadency. 13 However, this emphasis is

maintained even if we take the head noun as definite. Because of the idea of a monadic son

of David, it is best to take it as a definite.

In Mark 15:39, we come to the most exegetically significant instance of an

anarthrous head noun modified by an anarthrous genitive noun in Mark. This one is a

combined category of equative verb and . The centurion, upon seeing how Jesus died,

confesses, (Truly this man was the son of

God). I agree with those who argue that there is one meaning for the centurion and one for

Mark. 14 There is a great deal of debate about what the centurion would have meant, though

he probably means it in an indefinite or qualitative sense. When one considers the flow of

Marks gospel, it is clear that Mark uses it as definite-definite, since it is the climactic

Christological confession in his book. 15 Note that, assuming the inclusion of in

13 Philip B. Harner, Qualitative anarthrous predicate nouns : Mark 15:39 andJohn 1:1, Journal of Biblical Literatur e 92, no. 1 (Mr 1973): 79.

14 Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark: The Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Indexe s (London: Macmillan, 1952), 597.

15 R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Tex t (The New international Greek Testament commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 659 660; Philip G. Davis, Marks Christological Paradox, Journal for the Study of the NewTestamen t, no. 35 (1989): 1112.

6


8/21

1:1, Mark starts his gospel by ascribing two titles to Jesus: Christ and Son of God. The

book is then divided into two halves where each title is developed. Each half comes to a

climax with a human confession (Mark 8:29; 15:39). There is room in either case for the

human speakers to not be speaking with the full understanding of their confession (this is

clearly what is going in Peters case, Mark 8:3133), while Mark still means the confessions

in their fullest sense.

Texts Containing No Special Structural Features

Of the texts that have no special structural features, eight are definite-definite.

The first is Mark 1:6, where we learn that John the Baptist was clothed with a specific kind

of garment: (the hair of the camel). In Mark 4:31, Jesus speaks of

(a grain of mustard seed). While the English gloss requires an

indefinite article, the construction is definite-definite because the first noun is a generic noun

and the second denotes a particular plant. Mark 7:4 mentions a specific tradition,

(the washing of the cups). Mark 7:7 condemns teaching as

doctrine, (the commandments of men). While this might seem

like a rare occurrence of a move from definite to more indefinite (i.e. definite-qualitative),

verse 8 reinforces the idea that it is definite-definite, by having the parallel idea of

. After the feeding of the four thousand, Mark 8:8 reports that

after everyone ate their full, they still took up (the leftover fragments), which amounted to seven basketfuls. Similarly, Mark 8:19-20 twice refers back

to these baskets of fragments as, (the baskets full of the

7


9/21

fragments). Finally, Mark 13:8 warns that the signs of verses 6-8 are only

(the beginning of the birth pains).

There are a number of instances where at least one of the nouns is qualitative.

Only one instance in this category is qualitative-qualitative. 16 Mark 4:5 warns that the seed

sown on the rocky ground sprang up because it had no (depth of soil). Seven

instances are indefinite-qualitative. In Mark 1:4, John the Baptist preaches

(a baptism of repentance). The genitive noun in this instance is abstract, and

functions as an attributive genitive, and so, in terms of definiteness, is qualitative. 17 Mark

10:4 alludes to Moses permission of (a certificate of divorce).

Mark 11:17 contains two: (a house of prayer) and

(a den of robbers). 18 In Mark 14:3, we read of (an alabaster jar of

ointment).

A number of the hits in this paragraph could potentially be understood as

indefinite-qualitative (the genitives of content and material, for example, were tempting to

handle this way). Ultimately, I decided to count these as indefinite-indefinite thinking of

them as basically meaning a cup of some water or a herd of some pigs for example. 19

16 I should say, one clear case. One could argue that some of these indefinite-qualitative constructions are better taken as qualitative on the whole. As I will note later, thisis one of the most challenging areas to make a distinction.

17 The approach taken in determining the definiteness of the genitive in thiscase is paradigmatic of how I have handled the genitives in many of the examples in thiscategory. To save space, I have decided not to rehash it all in every instance.

18 One could conceivably identify these as qualitative-qualitative, emphasizingthe character of a house or a den, respectively. I went with the more straightforwardindefinite. Cf. Harner, Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns, 78.

19 There is a danger in depending too heavily on glosses, however, some8


10/21

Mark 2:21 mentions (a piece of cloth). In Mark 5:11, we read of

(a herd of pigs) into which the demons wish to be cast. Mark 9:41 talks of

(a cup of water). Mark 13:7 prophecies of (rumorsof wars). In Mark 14:13, Jesus tells the disciples to look for a man carrying

(a jar of water). Finally, in Mark 15:36, someone fills (a

sponge with sour wine).

This category showed the greatest diversity. I counted eight that were definite-

definite, one that was qualitative-qualitative, seven that were indefinite-qualitative, and six

that were indefinite-indefinite.

proved to be a helpful gloss for me in working through so many examples to test whether or not an indefinite understanding made sense, not only here, but elsewhere in the paper.

9


11/21

Conclusions

The following table shows the number of hits each level of definiteness

received according to the structural categories outlined above:

D-D Q-Q I-I One-step Two-stepsProper Noun 3 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 0 0Preposition 7 1 0 1 0

Equative Verb 1 1 0 1 0Combo 3 0 0 0 0 None 8 1 6 7 0Total 24 3 6 9 0

An inductive study of the construction in Mark confirms Hedges original

assessment that though the rule is not absolute, it is generally valid. I found that it held true

about 79% of the time (versus Hedges 74%).

There are three relatively minor differences between what Hedges found in

the Pauline literature and what I have found in the Gospel of Mark. They are easily

explainable by small differences in judgment or by the difference in the size of the samples.

First, I did not find any examples of two-step difference in definiteness (e.g. definite-

indefinite). The choice was always within a one step difference. Second, I found no clear

cases where the genitive noun was less definite than the head noun. The only potential ones

would be instances where the first is definite and the second could be taken as qualitative

(e.g. Mark 7:7). Third, the rule held true in 100% of the cases containing a proper noun or

10


12/21

where or essentially functioned as a proper noun (including when additional

structural features were present). For Hedges, there were more exceptions.

The most notable difference from Hedges is that I found far fewer qualitative-

qualitative constructions than Hedges. For example, Hedges found that in the case of

constructions with no special structural distinctions, the definiteness was usually shared but

had about an equal chance of being any of the three classes. In my results, there was only one

instance of qualitative-qualitative in that category. There was a roughly equal chance of

definite-definite, indefinite-indefinite, and a one step difference. Why such a different result?

Honestly, this may be due to my lack of clarity regarding the qualitative class (something I

have mentioned before, and that relates to my final point). Another possibility is that it may

instead be a result of the different genres. This is something that might be good to do further

research on. It is conceivable that in heavily theological discourse you will find more

qualitative constructions than in historical narrative.

What is the significance of this papers findings? In a traditional or strict

understanding of the rule, the exceptions are frequent enough that one must consider deictic

and lexical clues to decide the definiteness of either of the nouns in regimen. So, the rule as

traditionally stated offers little in terms of exegetical help. Practically, Apollonius corollary

is helpful mainly as a working hypothesis for the cases where all else is equal. However, if

we broaden our understanding of the rule to distinguish only between two optionsthe two

ends of the spectrum (indefinite-qualitative and qualitative-definite)then the rule is helpful.

In every example we have surveyed in Mark, the nouns were always within a one step

difference of definiteness. In Mark, even the most questionable constructions were always a

11


13/21

decision between one-step differences. It is in these instances of potentially two-step

differences that exegetically significant questions arise (e.g. the meaning of

) . In this broader understanding of the rule, one should only be willing to understandany given instance of the construction as having a two-step difference in definiteness if there

are strong reasons to do so.

Finally, building on the last point, I want to point out that one of the

challenges I often came up against in working through the texts was making a distinction

between qualitative and indefinite, and between qualitative and definite. When Wallace

defines the three, he rightly points out that there is some overlap in the categories. 20 The

category of qualitative, in particular, ranges along the spectrum of indefinite to definite. In

reading through Harner, I noticed that he would often treat the qualitative as something

almost in a different category altogether from the definite and indefinite. 21 To illustrate the

problems with the qualitative class, note that there are genitives that would seem to be

placing the emphasis on the quality of a thing (attributive genitives, genitives of material and

content) that in fact can take the article, and so are formally definite (e.g. Jhn 21:8; Col 1:22;

2:3, 9, 11). Furthermore, traditionally, abstract nouns are understood to be qualitative, but

they may also take the article and therefore be technically definite (e.g. Acts 11:23). In Mark,

the clearest example I found of this sort of thing was in Mark 7:7-8, with

and . So, in general, I think more work could

be done on investigating how to understand the categories of definite, qualitative, and

20 Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax an Intermediate Greek Gramma r, 243244.

21 Harner, Qualitative anarthrous predicate nouns, 79.12


14/21

indefinite. Especially, more work could be done on understanding the qualitative category

and how it relates to genitive constructions.

13


15/21

APPENDIX 1

ACCORDANCE CONSTRUCT WINDOW FOR APOLLONIUS COROLLARY

14


16/21

15


17/21

APPENDIX 2

ANARTHROUS HEAD NOUNS MODIFIED BY ANARTHROUS GENITIVE NOUNS

IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK

Mark 1:1 [ ].

Mark 1:4 [ ] .

Mark 1:6 .

Mark 1:17 , .

Mark 1:30 , .

Mark 2:21 , .

Mark 2:26 , , ;

Mark 3:17 [] ,

16


18/21

Mark 4:5 ,

Mark 4:31 , ,

,

Mark 4:37 , .

Mark 5:11

Mark 5:25

Mark 6:3 ,

; ; .

Mark 6:43 .

Mark 7:4 , , [ ] _

Mark 7:7 .

Mark 8:8 , .

Mark 8:19 ,

; . 20 , ; [ ] .

Mark 9:31

17


19/21

, ,

.

Mark 9:41 , .

Mark 10:4 .

Mark 10:6

Mark 10:47

, . 48 , .

Mark 11:9

Mark 11:17 ; .

Mark 11:22 .

Mark 12:10 ,

Mark 12:14 , , ; ;

Mark 12:35

;

Mark 13:7

18


20/21

, , . 8 , , .

Mark 13:19 .

Mark 13:27 [ ] .

Mark 14:3 ,

,

. Mark 14:13 ,

Mark 15:36 [ ]

.

Mark 15:39 .

19


21/21

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Davis, Philip G. Marks Christological Paradox. Journal for the Study of the NewTestament , no. 35 (1989): 318.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text . The Newinternational Greek Testament commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002.

Gildersleeve, Basil L, and Charles William Emil Miller. Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes ... New York: American Book Company, 1900.

Harner, Philip B. Qualitative anarthrous predicate nouns : Mark 15:39 and John 1:1. Journal of Biblical Literature 92, no. 1 (Mr 1973): 7587.

Hedges, David William. Apollonius Canon and Anarthrous Constructions in PaulineLiterature: An Hypothesis, 1983.

Hull, Sanford D. Exceptions to Apollonius Canon in the New Testament: A GrammaticalStudy. Trinity Journal 7, no. 1 (Spr 1986): 316.

Robertson, A. T. A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research . Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934.

Taylor, Vincent. The Gospel According to St. Mark: The Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Indexes . London: Macmillan, 1952.

Wallace, Daniel B. The Basics of New Testament Syntax an Intermediate Greek Grammar .Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.

20

Documents

Apollonius' Corollary in the Gospel of Mark