A linguistic analysis of the articular infinitive in New Testament Greek

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to ask and answer the following question. What is the semantic and/or syntactic value of the articular infinitive in New Testament Greek? It is argued that the article primarily serves as a function word when used with the infinitive. That is, when the article appears in conjunction with the infinitive, it expresses a grammatical-structural relation that may not otherwise be apparent. The article does not determine the infinitive as definite. Therefore, it is not correct to say (as many do) that the article can have the same significance with the verbal noun as it does with any other noun (e.g. anaphora, marker of definiteness, substantivizer, etc.). Nor is it correct to say that the article adds no meaning at all to the infinitive. On the contrary, the structural significance of the article is prominent when the articular infinitive appears in the New Testament.

Chapter one introduces this thesis as well as setting forth the history of research and my methodology. Chapter two demonstrates that the Greek article differs from the other kinds of determiners in that it often is used without its semantic weight as a determiner. In such cases the article appears as a pure function word. Chapters three and four demonstrate how this thesis arises from an inductive study of the articular infinitive in New Testament Greek. The inductive study is broken down by the major formal characteristic that divides articular infinitives: those governed by prepositions (chapter 4) versus those that are not governed by prepositions (chapter 3). Chapter five compares and contrasts New Testament usage with analogous constructions in the LXX to see if the thesis is consistent with this body of literature. Chapter six summarizes the implications that the thesis has for New Testament Greek grammar and for exegesis in the New Testament.