Nouns, Articles, and Cases

Nouns, Articles, and Case Endings

Case is determined by function, not form

In the Greek language, it is important to understand that the relationship of the noun to the other words in the sentence always governs the case. Hence, although Genitive and Ablative share the same endings, they are clearly distinguished within the context and function of the sentence. There are eight cases in the Greek language: Nominative, Genitive, Ablative, Dative, Locative, Instrumental, Accusative, and Vocative.

Vocative Case

The case of direct address.

The Nominative Case

The case of specific designation, the naming case.

The Genitive Case

The case of definition or description.

The Dative Case

The case of personal interest. It expresses the indirect object.

The Locative Case

The case of position or location.

The Instrumental Case

The case of means or association.

The Accusative Case

The case of limitation or extension.

© 2017 Luther Walker | All Rights Reserved | ISBN-10: 0-9993211-0-2, ISBN-13: 978-0-9993211-0-2 | This book or any potion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

Nouns, Articles, and CasesLuther Walker2023-12-11T12:23:52-08:00

The Substantial Value of the Blood of Christ Seen through the Different Cases and Prepositions used with the Blood

PDF Version |

Understanding the cases and how they relate to the sentence is extremely important to fully understanding what is being expressed by the author. Since in the Greek language, case is governed by function, not by form, it is important to also look at other aspects of the sentence to determine which case the noun is being used in and then in what way that case is being expressed. Prepositions are also a very significant part of the sentence and often limit the nouns to a specific case because of the function of the preposition. When it comes to the blood of Christ there are many different views; however, the more predominate ones are whether it is figurative or literal. Did Jesus shed His blood on the cross for all mankind or is the blood only being used figuratively of the work of Christ on the cross? In order to understand if a concept is figurative or literal we need to understand how it is being used in the sentence and whether the function is restricted to either figurative or literal all the time. If it is not restricted to one concept or the other, we then need to look at the meaning of the case and the context to determine if it is figurative or literal in application. As we study Scripture it becomes very clear that the blood of Christ is literal and was shed for the sins of mankind. We see this through the different cases and preposition that are used with the blood of Christ. Each case has its own sphere of understanding and expressed a completely different concept that often times must […]

The Substantial Value of the Blood of Christ Seen through the Different Cases and Prepositions used with the BloodLuther Walker2018-10-28T06:03:04-07:00

The Sovereignty of God and Election

The Sovereignty of God– PDF Version

In Greek Class on Thursdays – there is room to join online if you cannot make it to the church – we were discussing Romans 9:22. This quick comment is based upon our development of this passage through examining the Greek grammar and words to determine its meaning and proper application.

God elected some to salvation; does He also elect some to condemnation? Why is that God has chosen to harden some, rather than show mercy to them? Can a just God harden a man’s heart and then judge him for rejecting God?

In the book of Romans, Paul discusses the choices that God has when dealing with mankind. Since God is sovereign, He can do as He pleases with men without taking away the responsibility of man to obey His Word[1] or the liability when he does not obey. In chapter nine of Romans, Paul repeats what was stated to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion”[2]. Whether or not God shows mercy to a person is not dependent upon if a man desires mercy or works for mercy, it is solely based upon God’s choice[3]. He is not obligated to save anyone. When God chose to call the seed of Abraham through Isaac, to show that His choice was not based upon actions of the person, but rather according to His own desires, it was told to Rebecca before the children were even born that the older would serve the younger [4]. This does not mean that man is not responsible for His actions. One cannot […]

The Sovereignty of God and ElectionLuther Walker2016-10-12T06:02:44-07:00

Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 10

Class Notes

First Declension Nouns

The First Declension

The first declension encompasses primarily feminine nouns because they are characterized by certain endings and follow a specific pattern in their cases.

First Declension Endings:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	α / η	αι
Genitive/Ablative	ας / ης	ῶν
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	ᾳ / ῃ	αις
Accusative	αν / ην	ας
Vocative	α / η	αι

Nominative Singular: Ends in α or η. The naming case, typically used for the subject.

Genitive/Ablative Singular: ας or ης. Genitive expresses limitation. Ablative emphasizes source or separation.

Dative/Locative/Instrumental Singular: ᾳ or ῃ, used for indirect objects. It is the case of personal association.

Accusative Singular: αν or ην, the direct object form.

Vocative Singular: Usually identical to the nominative and used for direct address.

Plural Forms: The nominative and vocative plural end is αι, genitive/ablative is ῶν, dative/locative/instrumental is αις (for indirect objects), and accusative plural is ας.

The Article Agreement

Nouns take articles and adjectives that agree in gender, number, and case. Feminine nouns take the feminine forms of articles and adjectives, and masculine nouns take masculine forms.

Feminine Definite Article Forms:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ἡ	αἱ
Genitive/Ablative	τῆς	τῶν
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	τῇ	ταῖς
Accusative	τήν	τάς

Masculine Definite Article Forms:

Although the First Declension is primarily feminine, a few masculine nouns belong to this declension (e.g., μαθητής, “disciple”; νεανίας, “young man”).

The masculine article forms applied to First Declension nouns are as follows:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ	οἱ
Genitive/Ablative	τοῦ	τῶν
Dative/Locative/Instrumental	τῷ	τοῖς
Accusative	τόν	τούς

Examples of the article with First Declension Nouns:

Feminine First Declension Example (χώρα – “country”):
- Singular:
  - Nominative: ἡ χώρα – “the country”
  - Genitive/Ablative: τῆς χώρας – “of/from the country”
  - Dative/Locative/Instrumental: τῇ χώρᾳ – ” for/with/by the country”
  - Accusative: τήν χώραν – “the country” (direct object)
- Plural:
  - Nominative: αἱ χῶραι – “the countries”
  - Genitive/Ablative: τῶν χωρῶν – ” of/from the countries”
  - Dative/Locative/Instrumental: ταῖς χώραις – ” for/with/by the countries”

Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 10Luther Walker2024-11-10T07:07:03-08:00

Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 8

Class Notes

Prepositions

Prepositions are adverbs specialized to define more clearly the meaning of case, many of which came to be used in composition with verbs. When the word functions as an adverb it does not need an object; however, when serving as a preposition it required an object.

Some words can function as either prepositions or adverbs, depending on whether they have an object:

Preposition: “She walked across the bridge.” (“Across” is a preposition because it relates to “the bridge.”)

Adverb: “She walked across.” (“Across” functions as an adverb because it has no object and modifies the verb “walked.”)

The Greek preposition is used to better define the idea of case. They assist the cases by aiding in clarifying the meaning of the case. The case governs the meaning of the preposition. Therefore, the preposition does not give the meaning to the case, for they do not govern the case.

As an example for how the meaning of the preposition is governed by the case it is used with we can examine the different meanings of παρά (para) based upon what case the noun is expressing. παρά (para) primarily means “beside,” “alongside,” or “near. The English word parallel is derived from παράλληλος (parallēlos), which is a compound of two parts: παρά (para): Meaning “beside” or “alongside.” ἀλληλος (allēlos): Meaning “one another.”

Ablative: from the side of.

Locative: by the side of.

Accusative: beside, beyond, against (contrary to).

By the nature of the Nominative and Vocative cases, they do not use prepositions. Therefore, the cases that use prepositions are the genitive, ablative, dative, locative, instrumental, and accusative.

When used in compound with the verbs the prepositions have two common uses.

The preposition is merely local. I throw out combines ἐκ […]

Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 8Luther Walker2024-10-25T14:28:29-07:00

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Nouns, Articles, and Case Endings

The First Declension