The Genitive Case: Definition and Uses

1. THE GENITIVE CASEhttp://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/classify-genitive.htm Their Syntactical Classification

2. The Genitive Casehttp://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/nouns1.htm#GENITIVE • Generally, it defines and describes. • It is the case of quality, attribute, description, or kind. • It limits the meaning of a substantive. • It tends to be adjectival in nature and mainly answers "What kind?"

3. Genitive – Definition (a)http://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/nouns1.htm#GENITIVE • For the most part, the genitive is often viewed as the case of possession. In more technical terms one noun in the genitive case helps to qualify another noun by showing its "class" or "kind". The genitive case has more uses than most other cases, but in general a noun in the genitive case helps to limit the scope of another noun by indicating its "kind" or "class". It is generally translated into English with a prepositional phrase starting with the word "of". • The most common use of the genitive is to show possession (although it does not necessarily indicate actual, literal ownership).

4. Genitive – Definition (b)http://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/nouns1.htm#GENITIVE • For instance: "the servant of the high priest" (Mark 14:47). The words "of the high priest" are in the genitive case in Greek and modify the word "servant". (In Greek the word "of" is not present, but it is supplied in English in the translation of the genitive case). Here the genitive helps to qualify "which" servant the writer is referring to. It is helping to limit the sphere of all servants to a particular one. • And: "But you have received a spirit of sonship..." (Rom 8:15). Again the word "sonship" is in the genitive case, telling what kind of spirit we have received. (Please be sure to see the list of 'Reference Sheets' where the genitive and other uses and classifications can be printed out for quick reference.)

5. Classes of Genitiveshttp://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/nouns1.htm#GENITIVE • A. Genitive after certain prepositions • B. Genitive of direct object • C. Possessive genitive • D. Genitive of relationship • E. Partitive genitive • F. Attributive genitive • G. Genitive with nouns of action • H. Genitive of time • I. Genitive of comparison • J. Genitive of source • K. Genitive of apposition • L. Genitive absolute

6. A. Genitive after certain prepositions • As discussed in the section dealing with prepositions, the noun governed by each preposition will be in a certain case form or forms.  Some prepositions require that the noun be in the genitive case.

7. B. Genitive of direct object • Genitive of direct object is found after certain verbs. • Many verbs, such as those of the five physical senses and of emotion, etc., require that their direct object be in the genitive case (as opposed to the accusative case which is normally expected). • Example: John 5:25: “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.” • “The voice” is in the genitive; “of the Son of God” is also in the genitive.

8. C. Possessive Genitive • Possessive Genitive shows ideas of ownership or possession. To see if it is the Genitive of Possession, try substituting the word ‘of’ with ‘belonging to’ or ‘possessed by’.  • However, this use does not have to indicate actual, physical ownership of some property. It may be a broadly defined type of ownership. This is a very common use of the genitive. A possessive pronoun will often be used in the genitive case to show possession. • Examples: Hebrews 11;25, “people of God” or people belonging to God. • John 1:29, “Lamb of God,” “sin of the world.”

9. D. Genitive of Relationship • Genitive of Relationship is a subset of the Possessive Genitive. It indicates familial relationship. The article modifying the word in the genitive case is usually present, but not always. The actual word showing the relationship may be omitted (except for the definite article) when it is clearly known by context or by general knowledge. The genitive noun is often a proper noun. It is a relatively rare use of the genitive. • Matthew 20:20, “mother of the sons” • Acts 13:22, “David, the [son] of Jesse”

10. E. Partitive Genitive • Partitive Genitive ("Wholative") - The genitive substantive (preceded by the article) can indicate the whole of which the head noun is a part. The word ‘of’ can be substituted the words ‘which is a part of’. This use of the genitive requires the head noun to in some way imply or indicate ‘portion’. E.g ‘piece of pie’, ‘some of you’, ‘a tenth of something’, etc.  It will often be found with the Greek words ti", e{kasto", and ei|". This is a fairly common use of the genitive in the New Testament. • Luke 19:8, “half my possessions”

11. F. Attributive Genitive • This is sometimes called the Descriptive Genitive.The word in the genitive case is being used as an adjective, describing an attribute or quality to the head noun.  It can be thought of as a simple adjective modifying the head noun, but with stronger force and emphasis.  If it can be turned into an attributive adjective, then it is probably this use of the genitive. It is very common in the New Testament. • Luke 16:9, “the mammon of unrighteousness”

12. G. Genitive with Nouns of Action • Genitive with Nouns of Action. Many nouns have an implicit verbal idea (indicating action). For instance the noun ‘love’ implies that someone is loving. The participle ‘coming’ when used as a substantive, clearly has an implicit verbal, action idea. When a ‘noun of action’ acts as a head noun modified by noun in the genitive case, it could indicate one of the following three uses.

13. G. Genitive with Nouns of Action-1 • When a ‘noun of action’ acts as a head noun modified by noun in the genitive case, it could indicate one of the following three uses. • (1) Subjective Genitive. The genitive substantive functions semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun. To substantiate this thought, try to turn it into a sentence with the noun in the genitive as the subject. See these examples: • Romans 8:35 • Matthew 24:27 • Acts 12:11 • 2 Corinthians 7:15  

14. G. Genitive with Nouns of Action-2 • When a ‘noun of action’ acts as a head noun modified by noun in the genitive case, it could indicate one of the following three uses. • (2) Objective Genitive. The genitive substantive functions semantically as the direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun. (Again, to substantiate, try to turn it into a sentence.) Examples: • Luke 11:42 • Matthew 12:31 • Romans 3:25

15. G. Genitive with Nouns of Action-3 • Plenary Genitive - Indicating both Subjective and Objective Genitives simultaneously. This is a case in which a writer can use an intentional ambiguity to convey a deeper meaning. Examples: • Revelation 1:1 • 2 Corinthians 5:14

16. H. Genitive of Time • Genitive of Time (kind of time) - In keeping with the basic meaning of the genitive, the genitive with words of time indicate the kind of time in which something occurs. That is, it indicates the time within which an event occurs (i.e. at nighttime as opposed to in the daytime). The normally inserted word ‘of’ for the genitive, could instead be translated ‘during’, ‘at’, or ‘within’. Examples: • John 3:2 • 1 Thessalonians 2:9

17. I. Genitive of Comparison • Genitive of Comparison - This use of the genitive almost always comes after an comparative adjective (like ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘greater’, etc.). The customarily used ‘of’ translated with the genitive should instead be translated ‘than’. It is a relatively common use of the genitive case. • Matthew 3:1 • Matthew 6:25

18. J. Genitive of Source • Genitive of Source - Sometimes the genitive case indicates the source from which the head noun is derived or depends.  The word ‘of’ could instead be translated ‘out of’, ‘derived from’, or ‘dependent on’. This use is relatively rare; rather source is often shown with the preposition ejk used with the genitive case. • Romans 15:4

19. K. Genitive of Apposition • Genitive of Apposition - The word in the genitive case refers to the same thing as the word it modifies.  To see if this is the use, try substituting the words which show this kind of equality, "which is", "namely", or "who is", instead of the word "of". As seen below, there are two different possibilities for a genitive case in apposition. • The genitive of apposition is of two kinds:

20. K. Genitive of Apposition-1 • The genitive of apposition is of two kinds: • (1) Simple Apposition - If the head noun is in the genitive case, due to other relationships within the sentence, then the noun in apposition is also required to be in the genitive case. Notice that in this case, the word ‘of’ could not be used in translation to show the relationship between the two nouns.  One of the words (phrases) showing equality must be used. • Colossians 1:18, “head of the body, the church.” Cannot be translated: “head of the body, of the church.”

21. K. Genitive of Apposition-1 • The genitive of apposition is of two kinds: • (2) Epexigetical Genitive - This use of the genitive helps to define an ambiguous or metaphorical head noun, or gives a specific example of the larger category named by the head noun. It also requires the words of equality for proper understanding, but the word ‘of’ can be used (unlike the case with Simple Apposition). • Romans 4:11, the sign of circumcision. • 2 Corinthians 5:5, the down payment, which is the Spirit

22. L. Genitive Absolute • Genitive Absolute .The genitive absolute construction is a clause that is formed with the following components: • It will always have an anarthrousparticiple in the genitive case. There will usually be a accompanying substantive in the genitive case. These words will most often be at the beginning of the sentence. • The noun in the genitive case will act as the subject of the participle. This subject will be different from the subject of the main part of the sentence (main clause) to which this clause is attached. In this way, the genitive absolute clause has only a loose syntactical connection to the rest of the sentence. • Acts 13:2