GRAMMAR OF SEPTUAGINT GREEK

ACCIDENCE

NOUNS, 1-14

1. Disuse of the Dual. The Greek of the LXX has two numbers, the singular and the plural. The dual, which was already falling into disuse in the time of Homer, and which is seldom adhered to systematically in classical writers, has disappeared altogether.

Gen. 40² ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶν εὐνούχοις αὐτοῦ. Ex. 4⁹ τοῖς δυσὶ σημείοις τούτοις.

Contrast with the above —

. Plat. Rep. 470 B ἐπὶ δυοῖν τινοῖν διαφοραῖν. Isocr. Paneg. 55 c περὶ τοῖν πολέοιν τούτοιν.

2. Εἶς as Article. Under the influence of Hebrew idiom we find the numeral εἶς turning into an indefinite pronoun in the Greek of the LXX, as in Gen. 42^s7 λύσας δὲ εἶς τὸν μάρσιππον αὐτοῦ, and then subsiding into a mere article, as —

Jdg. 13² ἀνὴρ εἶς, 9⁵³ γυνὴ μία. ii K. 2¹⁸ ὡσεὶ μία δορκὰς ἐν ἀγρῷ. ii Esd. 4⁸ ἔγραψαν ἐπιστολὴν μίαν. Ezk. 4⁹ ἄγγος ἓν ὀστράκινον.

There are instances of the same usage in the two most Hebraistic books of the Ν.T.

Mt. 8¹⁹ εἷς γραμματεύς, 9¹⁸ ἄρχων εἷς, 21¹⁹ συκῆν μίαν, 26⁶⁹ μία παιδίσκη. Rev. 8¹³ ἑνὸς ἀετοῦ, 9¹³ φωνὴν μίαν, 18²¹ εἷς ἄγγελος, 19¹⁷ ἕνα ἄγγελον.

Our own indefinite article ' a' or ' an' (Scotch ane) is originally the same as 'one.' We can also see the beginning of the French article in the colloquial language of the Latin comedians.

Ter. And. 118 forte unam aspicio adulescentulam. Plaut. Most. 990 unum vidi mortuum efferri foras.

Apart from the influence of Hebrew, εἷς is occasionally found in good Greek on the way to becoming an article. See L. & S. under

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εἱς 4. In German the indefinite article and the first of the numerals coincide, and so a German, in beginning to speak English, frequently puts 'one' for 'a.' In the same way a Hebrew learning to speak Greek said εἱς ἀετός and so on.

3. First Declension. In classical Greek there is a tendency for proper names, especially those of foreign origin, which end in the nominative in -α preceded by a consonant other than ρ, to retain the -α in the genitive, e.g. Λήδας, ᾽ΑFνδρομέδας, Κομλέγας (name of a Spanish town, App. VI De Reb. Hisp. 43). In pursuance of this analogy we have such, genitives as Βαλλας and ΖέΦας (Gen. 37²), Σονσάννας (Sus. O³⁰).

On the other hand, nouns in -α pure, or -α preceded by ρ, are in a few instances found in the LXX to take the Ionic form of the genitive and dative in -ης and -ῃ.

Ex. 8²¹ κυνόμυιαν . . . κυνομυίης, 15⁹ and Gen. 27⁴⁰ τῃ̑ μαχαίρῃ.

i K. 25²⁰ αὐτη̑ς ἐπιβεβηκυίης ἐπὶ τῂν ὄνον. ii Mac. 8²³, 12²² σπείρης

It is said that in the Papyri σπείρης is always used, never σπείρας.

The plural of γη̑ is found in the LXX.

Acc. γα̑ς iv K. 18³⁵. Gen. γαιω̑ν iv K. 18³⁵: Ps. 48¹¹: Ezk. 36²⁴: ii Esd. 9¹ and three other passages. Dat. γαι̑ς iv K. 19¹¹. γαίαις Dan. 0' 11⁴².

4. Second Declension. θεός has a vocative θεέ. Dt. 3²⁴: Jdg. 21³, 16²⁸: Wisd. 9¹. Usually, however, the nominative is employed for the vocative, as in--

Ps. 21¹ ῾Ο Θεὸς ὁ Θεός μου πρόοχες μοι ‧ ἱνατί ἐγκατέλιές με;

But in Matthew 27⁴⁶ this passage assumes the form--

Θεέ μου, Θεέ μου, ινατί με ἐγκατέλιπες;

The Attic form of this declension is of rare occurrence in the LXX. λαός and ναός are the regular forms. λέώς does not occur at all, and λέώς only in Second Maccabees. ἅλως is common: but for that there is no non-Attic form, as it does not arise, like the others, on the principle of transposition of quantity.

5. Third Declension. The word σκνίψ (Ex. 8¹⁶) is interesting, as adding another instance of a noun-stem in -Φ to the rare word κατη̑λιψ and νίΦα, which occurs only in the accusative in Hes. Op. 533. Σκνίψ is also found in the LXX with stem σκνιπ-.