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Greek Lessons
- NT Greek Quiz for Beginners: Vocabulary, Parsing & Grammar
- How Greek Uses Repeated Participles to Create a Living Vision
- How Greek Expands the Meaning of the Church Through Layered Apposition
- How Greek Suspends the Decision Between Life and Desire
- How Greek Uses Simple Movement to Expand the Journey
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Category
Tag Archives: Matthew 2:19
How Greek Uses the Genitive Absolute to Set the Scene
Matthew 2:19
Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἡρῴδου ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου φαίνεται κατ’ ὄναρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ
The Story Opens With a Background EventThis verse begins quietly with an event already completed:
“After Herod died…”
Only after that background information does the main action appear:
“behold, an angel appears…”
Greek often places setting information first so the reader understands the circumstances before the main event begins.
TransliterationTeleutēsantos de tou Hērōdou idou angelos Kyriou phainetai kat’ onar tō Iōsēph en Aigyptō
Literal Translation“And after Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.”… Learn Koine Greek
