constructio ad sensum

[Steven Avery]

NOTES:

Check work done on this on 1 Timothy 3:16 (done, it is mostly a different study, although it would be nice to keep them in the same mix)

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constructio ad sensum
constructio ad synesis
constructio kata synesins
sense figure
sense construction
„Konstruktion auf den Sinn hin“, auch Constructio kata synesin, Synesis oder Synese are terms occasionally used instead of constructio ad sensum.

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Daniel Wallace Summary - context - Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit

Since the purpose here was specialized, not to look at grammar in general and not to defend the CT, Wallace accidentally makes incredibly important arguments for the pure Bible text. We acknowledge that Daniel Wallace does a fine job showing that an attempt used by even dozens of writers (including a couple of grammarians) does not work. This can also be seen as a warning about modern grammarians and interpreters, since almost all the problems began around 1870.

The masculine grammar of the short earthly witnesses text can not be attributed to the "spirit" being seen as masculine. There are two stumbles in the Wallace attempt, the lesser one is the ultra-minority variant that has a foul spirit as personalized. The greater one is that he really does not have an answer for the earthly witnesses short text.

After disarming the traditional attempt, Daniel Wallace shows us the oddball theory now in the lead, about a metaphor involving witnessing:

it is possible that the masculine was used, almost subconsciously, because the only legitimate witnesses in Jewish courts would be male. (p. 119)

the metaphor .. is thus driving the gender shift (p. 120)

Wallace is clearly not going to hitch his grammatical star on this:

Whatever the reason for the masculine participle in v. 7, it is evident that the grammaticization of the Spirit's personality is not the only, nor even the most plausible, explanation. p. 120

Then he takes a "who knows" approach:

Since this text also involves serious exegetical problems (i.e., a variety of reasons as to why the masculine participle is used), it cannot be marshaled as unambiguous syntactical proof of the Spirit's personality. (p. 120)

Wallace never gets around to telling his readers the one consistent, sensible and likely reason, given by the far more fluent Eugenius Bulgaris:

"some violence of language ... a most manifest grammatical solecism"

Caused by a false alteration, and the earthly witnesses do not stand grammatically without the heavenly preceding.

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Georg Benedikt Winer on constructio ad sensum - "some animate object is denoted by a Neuter or an abstract Feminine noun"

Grammar of the New Testament Diction (1860)
Georg Benedikt Winer (6th ed German, 1855, translated by Edward Masson)
http://books.google.com/books?id=YQoOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA153

Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Sprachidioms: Als sichere Grundlage der neutestamentlichen Exegese - 6th ed.
https://archive.org/details/grammatikdesneu00lngoog

Pronouns, whether personal, demonstrative, or relative, not unfrequently take a different gender from the nouns to which they refer. This is called constructio ad sensum, the meaning, and not the grammatical gender of the word, being mainly considered. It is used particularly when some animate object is denoted by a Neuter or an abstract Feminine noun. The pronoun is then made to agree grammatically with the object in question ...

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My comment - http://forums.carm.org/vbb/showthre...io-ad-Sensum&p=5772223&viewfull=1#post5772223
And yes, constructio ad sensum is unremarkable for animate objects, things that have life, see Georg Benedikt Winer (1789-1858). Clearly, synesis can be seen as a grammatical construction used for people and groups of people. And I would be interested in any examples you have that do not relate to people (omitting any that are based on an ultra-minority Greek corruption text, as you often find in the CTs from Hort to NA-28. Also possibly in editions from Griesbach to Tischendorf.)

Moses Stuart on constructio ad sensum - "the real gender or number"

Moses Stuart (1780-1852) was a top grammar writer in the mid-1800s.

A Grammar of the New Testament Dialect (1841)
Moses Stuart
https://books.google.com/books?id=qD4AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158

Note. Whenever constructio ad sensum takes place, the gender or number of the word employed is overlooked, and the verb, adjective, etc., accords with the real gender or number of the thing or person intended to be expressed; thus τὰ παιδικά ἐστι καλός _________________

Notice that there is nothing there about the metaphor. hmmmm

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New

Uses same example

A Grammar of the Greek Language
Vol. II - Syntax (1866)
William Edward Jeff
https://books.google.com/books?id=odAIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA37
https://archive.org/details/agrammargreekla04jelfgoog/page/37/mode/1up

6. Gender and number of adjective, participle, and pronoun— a masculine or feminine adjective, agreeing with a noun neuter in form, but masculine or feminine (and sometimes also plural) in sense :

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Raphael Kühner on constructio ad sensum

Stuart also has a reference to see Raphael Kuhner (1802-1878) ?418a,b for many constructio in the classics.

German section

Ausführliche grammatik der griechischen sprache, Volume 2, Part 1
Raphael Kühner,
https://books.google.com/books?id=CGBXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA371
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0020:smythp=418

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Gildersleeve on constructio ad sensum

After noting how difficult it was to find masculine grammar with neuter nouns in a couple of other sources, Wallace had mentioned Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve (1831-1924) in Personality

7. Turner calls the incongruence of gender or number that is due to constructio ad sensum"good Greek" (Nigel Turner,Syntax, vol. 3 of J. H. Moulton et al.,A Grammar of New Testament Greek [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1963], 311). BDF, well known as a grammar of exceptions, does not even list the use of masculine for neuter, presumably because it is so common. They do list, however, feminine for neuter, masculine for feminine, and neuter for persons, "if it is not the individuals but a general quality that is to be emphasized" (pp. 76-77 [?138]). This lacuna has not been filled with BDR (p. 115 [?138]). This instance of constructio ad sensum is also common enough in Classical Greek (cf. B. L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes [New York: American Book, 1900-1911], 2.204-7 [??499-502] for numerous examples of various kinds of pronominal incongruence).

Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes (1900)
Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve
https://books.google.com/books?id=XEItAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA204
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0074:section=18:subsection=2:smythp=498
http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/navigate.pl?NewPerseusMonographs.4
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106019440707;view=1up;seq=31

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Daniel Wallace Summary - straight grammar sections, two books - (1 John 5:7-8 not an example)

Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (2009)
Daniel B. Wallace
https://books.google.com/books?id=XlqoTVsk2wcC&pg=PA330

Acts 8:10
To whom they all gave heed,
from the least to the greatest, saying,
This man is the great power of God.

Romans 2:14
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,
do by nature the things contained in the law,
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

1 Corinthians 6:10-11 - masculine nouns, neuter demonstrative

Acts 9:15 - Philippians 3:7 1 Peter 2:19 Jude 1:12

The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar (2009)
Daniel B. Wallace
https://books.google.com/books?id=LtRYzGnRvdMC&pg=PT187

These look uneven, however due to the relative clarity in explanation they really can help us to understand whatever is closest to the claims on the earthly witnesses.

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Robertson on constructio ad sensum

Archibald Thomas Robertson (1863-1934)

Grammar of the Greek New Testament (3rd ed 1919, orig 1914)
Archibald Thomas Robertson
https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/new_testament_greek/text/robertson-greekgrammar.pdf

p. 683-684 looks related, in the context of personal pronouns
The three prefaces are interesting, however separately from the outside, you can study the politicization of NT grammar that had occurred in the 1800s around Winer's edition.

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Additional Resources

A brief Greek syntax and hints on Greek accidence (1867)
Frederic William Ferrar
https://books.google.com/books?id=GooCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA59
The Sense-Construction

Search term
https://www.google.com/search?q="sense+figure"+"new+testament"&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#tbs=bkv&tbm=bks&q="constructio+ad+sensum"+"new+testament"

CARM
Constructio ad Sensum 2013-07
http://forums.carm.org/vbb/showthread.php?154639-Constructio-ad-Sensum

Constructio ad Sensum in the prologue of John
b-greek - June 2012 - 5 pages - John Milton
http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1314

 

[Steven Avery]

CARM - 2015-08-08
how do the grammars address constructio ad sensum?
http://forums.carm.org/vbb/showthread.php?228338-1-John-5-7&p=7013313&viewfull=1#post7013313

The key question in all this is whether an idea like a constructio ad sensum for the metaphor of witnessing is a real feature of the Greek language. Or whether it is just offered as a type of special pleading hopeful monster. Part of a circular argumentation construct.

Here is a sample that is directly about constructio ad sensum from Moses Stuart (emphasis added):

A Grammar of the New Testament Dialect (1841)
Moses Stuart
https://books.google.com/books?id=qD4AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158

Note. Whenever constructio ad sensum takes place, the gender or number of the word employed is overlooked, and the verb, adjective, etc., accords with the real gender or number of the thing or person intended to be expressed

To help, we could also look at the actual cases proposed of constructio ad sensum in the New Testament. (Some of them may be simply based on an implied subject, which is barely relevant to our considerations.) Notice that Stewart says constructio applies in reference to the real gender or number, not any metaphorical gender. Are there any counter-examples? I have not seen one.

I'm not sure what you're asking. This is something that would need to be established with examples from Greek literature, and I don't have the proper computer programs to do the searches.

Ok. Although it is unclear how we would search to find such examples of gender discord. If the search is logically doable, I may be able to get assistance with Perseus and get a spreadsheet with some results.

All we can do is go by what the grammars say.

The grammars are definitely a starting point. Wallace has a little on constructio ad sensum. And he recommends Gildersleeve, which is online. Stuart is above. I think it would be a great exercise to see what we can pull out of the grammars, one or two at a time. You give Smyth here, although the context is not really constructio, it is more mixed gender nouns in a series of nouns.

In this case, we may find some relevance in this portion of Smyth's grammar (?1058a):1058. When the substantives denote both persons and things, a predicate adjective is—a. plural, and follows the gender of the person, if the person is more important, or if the thing is treated as a person: γρᾴδια καὶ γερόντια καὶ πρόβατα ὀλίγα καὶ βοῦς καταλελειμμένους old women and old men and a few sheep and oxen that had been left behind X. A. 6.3.22....

Taking this first and closer example, the first thing to note is that this looks like Smyth is talking about a mixed grammatical gender group of nouns, the cattle are masculine gender. (Note ?1054 and ?1056 which are specific to like gender nouns) Not a group of neuter nouns. However, even the use of old men and old woman (a neuter noun taking masculine or feminine grammar) in a constructio ad sensum would be precisely as given by Moses Stuart, the real gender or subject.

Could μαρτυροῦντες here be masculine because the three things are being anthropomorphized? Blood and water are said to be giving testimony, which is a strictly human ability. Similarly, if we take the spirit as a non-person, at least here it is being anthropomorphized along with the other two. Do you see this as likely?

So far, no. I don't see any examples in the grammar, or given from Greek literature, that support these ideas:

it is possible that the masculine was used, almost subconsciously, because the only legitimate witnesses in Jewish courts would be male. (Wallace p. 119)
the metaphor .. is thus driving the gender shift (p. 120)

Wallace himself seems to sense that this is very difficult, because even after he gives his proposal, he opens up the door to unstated other possibilities:

Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit (2003)
Daniel Wallace
https://www.ibr-bbr.org/files/bbr/BBR_2003a_05_Wallace_HolySpirit.pdf

Whatever the reason for the masculine participle in v. 7, it is evident that the grammaticization of the Spirit's personality is not the only, nor even the most plausible, explanation. p. 120

This is true, but so far I do not see any plausible explanation having been given. If we take an Ockham approach, so far the most plausible is simply that the heavenly witnesses dropped out of the text, leaving:

"some violence of language ... a most manifest grammatical solecism"

as stated by Eugenius Bulgaris, who was totally familiar with the Greek literature.
Wallace continued:

Since this text also involves serious exegetical problems (i.e., a variety of reasons as to why the masculine participle is used), it cannot be marshaled as unambiguous syntactical proof of the Spirit's personality. (p. 120)

Well, it could never be used as an unambiguous syntactical proof because the short text is very possibly a corrupted text missing the heavenly witnesses.

However, it is quite unclear whether the metaphor of witnessing could supply any sort of reasonable alternative to explain the grammar in the short text.

Thanks for actually getting involved constructively, Jameson.

btw, it was pointed out that Robert Gundry discusses the verse. In his 2010 Commentary on the New Testament. And while saying the "water and blood came out of Jesus' side" Gundry says that John "personifies the witnesses alongside the Spirit". This is a hybrid attempt, perhaps partially influenced by Wallace, and again there is no analogy given in Greek literature for such a gender shift by personification of neuter nouns. And it is not very harmonious with the Wallace quite solid argument that the Spirit is not personified in 1 John 5:7-8. Gundry is implying that the personalization of the Spirit is leading the masculine crew.

Gundry was discussed in a different context, being mangled by Jim's theories contra the grammarians. All well documented now anyway with Jim writing against the standard grammars. So the significance of the 1 Corinthians discussion with Gundry, where Jim tried to correct Gundry based on his own quirky natural gender (in any multiple nouns situation) theories that are not in harmony with the grammar books, is lessened.

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This section is WIP - as we look over p. 98.

Another point, Jameson. Wallace seems to indicate that he interprets BDF as if there are likely lots of masculine-for-neuter constructio ad sensum cases in the Greek literature (Note 7, p. 99) . Please read the note. This would be critical to our study. And I found the Wallace interpretation of BDF puzzling, even questionable.

7. Turner calls the incongruence of gender or number that is due to constructio ad sensum"good Greek" (Nigel Turner,Syntax, vol. 3 of J. H. Moulton et al.,A Grammar of New Testament Greek [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1963], 311). BDF, well known as a grammar of exceptions, does not even list the use of masculine for neuter, presumably because it is so common. They do list, however, feminine for neuter, masculine for feminine, and neuter for persons, "if it is not the individuals but a general quality that is to be emphasized" (pp. 76-77 [?138]). This lacuna has not been filled with BDR (p. 115 [?138]). This instance of constructio ad sensum is also common enough in Classical Greek (cf. B. L. Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes [New York: American Book, 1900-1911], 2.204-7 [??499-502] for numerous examples of various kinds of pronominal incongruence).

Wallace is saying that BDF does not give a masculine-for-neuter constructio. (Per Eugenius Bulgaris these would be rare.) "Presumably because it is so common." Hmmm ... If it is so common, can we see a few? The next is BDR, and the "lacuna" so-called again seems to reference masculine-for-neuter. Oops. Missing again. Do any of the Gildersleeve examples cut the masculine-for-neuter mustard? Wallace does not say.

Steven Avery

 

[Steven Avery]

natural gender - Colossians 2:19

On p. 98 Wallace discusses some examples, beginning with:

A word should be mentioned first about the use of natural grammar in the NT.

Many examples are simply pronouns matching the natural gender. Yet even looking at those is interesting. Let us take the first one:

Colossians 2:19 (AV)
And not holding the Head,
from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together,
increaseth with the increase of God.

2:19 καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ

Wallace has "the head (f) .. from whom (m)". Yet also But in the context, κεφαλήν refers to Christ (see Col 1:18; 2:10).

A Greek grammar, and Greek and English scripture lexicon (1812)
Greville Ewing
https://books.google.com/books?id=RKkGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA67
(4.) Relatives, like adjectives, often agree, not with the antecedent expressed, but with one implied and understood

says that the antecedent is an implied subject, Χριστός, which is like saying the antecedent is in Colossians 2:17:

Colossians 2:17
Which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body is of Christ.

Colossians 2:10
And ye are complete in him,
which is the head of all principality and power:

Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things he might have the preeminence.

With such a simple grammatical connection, do we call this implied subject a constructio ad sensum natural gender?

HTML

Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit - Textkit Greek and Latin Forums

A word should be mentioned first about the use of natural grammar in the NT. All exegetes recognize that natural gender is sometimes used in the place of grammatical gender in Greek. Robertson notes that "substantives have two sorts of gender, natural and grammatical. The two do not always agree. The apparent violations of the rules of gender can generally be explained by the conflict in these two points of view."2 For example, in Col 2:19 we see the construction th_n kefalh/n . . . e)c ou{ ("the head . . . from whom"): the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is a feminine noun. But in the context, kefalh/ refers to Christ (see Col 1:18; 2:10).

The genitive οὗ can be masculine or neuter, but not feminine.
https://probible.net/1-timothy-316/

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Added June 1. 2022
And Carl Conrad also questions this constructio claim.
https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/2006-June/038939.html

Except that (I think) hOU is more likely neuter than masculine. And I
don't think I'd even say that KEFALHN is personalized

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George F. Somsel
KAI OU KRATWN THN KEFALHN, EC hOU PAN TO SWMA DIA TWN AFWN KAI . . .
No. KEFALHN is fem and therefore already is "personalized." That the masc would be used rather than the fem is, however, interesting.

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Steven Avery

 

[Steven Avery]

NETBible use of masculine pronouns

moved to
www.purebibleforum.com/index.php/threads/a.71/post-192

 

[Steven Avery]

additional constructio ad sensum related resources

Additional resources

Dana and Mantey. A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. p. 126.

"Other irregularities occasionally presented in the agreement of the relative [pronoun] are its assimilation to the gender of a predicate substantive when the predicate substantive "is viewed as the principal subject" (Winer. 166; cf. Mk. 15:16), or to the natural gender of the antecedent (Ac. 15:17), or to the neuter gender under the influence of an abstract idea implied in the entire statement (Jn. 2:8; cf. Robertson. 712f.).Frequently the antecedent is incorporated in the relative clause, both appearing in the same case (Jn. 6:14).

David Palmer
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NTTextualCriticism/permalink/2107916699295319/?comment_id=2123139414439714&comment_tracking=%7B"tn"%3A"R"%7D

BDF §136(3) on Incongruencies (Solecisms): "(3) The masculine is often substituted for the feminine or neuter: Rev. 11:4 αἱ δύο λυχνίαι αἱ…ἑστῶτες. Examples from late Greek in Jannaris §1181b."

"An Historical Greek Grammar, Chiefly of the Attic Dialect as Written and Spoken from Classical Antiquity Down to the Present Time, Founded Upon the Ancient Texts, Inscriptions, Papyri and Present Popular Greek" – Antonius Nicholas Jannaris (London, 1897).
§1181. "An adjective or participle, whether serving as an attribute or predicate (1159. 1236), must conform to its substantive in gender, number, and case: ―
§1181b. But when the imparisyllabic declension began to retreat from popular speech (338. 1208. 2166-70), a confusion inevitably followed during the period of the struggle, as : Acta Tho. 8, II αἱ δύο χεῖρες σημαίνουσι κηρύσσοντες (PQ). 41, 39 πάντων τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν (P). 48, 19 ἐχόντων ψυχῶν. 52, 28 γυναῖκες ἀναπέμποντες. 66, 17 πάντων γυναικῶν. 70, 30 πάντων τῶν ἡδονῶν. 72, 15 Μυγδονία ἀναστάς. 75, 19 αὐτὴν ἐπανιόντα. (Cp. Acta Xanth. 84, 14 εὕρομεν τὰς παρθένους σὺν τῷ νεανίσκῳ ζητοῦντας πλοῖον.) Theophyl. 215, 15 πλήθη συρρευσάντων δυνάμεων. 338, 11 ἐπ’ ὄψεσι πάντων εἶναι δοκουντων τῶν βασιλικῶν συμφορῶν.

 

[Steven Avery]

Luke 19:37

Azim
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NTTextualCriticism/permalink/2107916699295319/?comment_id=2122804204473235&comment_tracking={tn:R#22}
(new pic available on PureBible thread)

Pure Bible - grammar thread specially inviting Azim and Ilias
https://www.facebook.com/groups/purebible/permalink/1852972874794593/

Azim Mamanov
Ilias Theodosis, the next case from Hofstetter is Luke 19:37 …ηρξαντο απαν το πληθος των μαθητων χαιροντες αινειν τον θεον φωνη μεγαλη περι πασων ων ειδον δυναμεων… – “the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen…” Here πλῆθος (plethos) is neuter singular and is referred to by χαίροντες (chairontes, rejoicing) a masculine plural participle, so once again a neuter substantive is referenced by a masculine (plural) participle. (This is one example which helpfully illustrates the point – one among many that could be given. I didn't mention τῶν μαθητῶν (of the disciples) for the same reason that I didn't mention τὸν θεόν (God): it doesn't affect the grammatical point.) ... "multitude" is neuter and singular, but "rejoicing" is masculine and plural.... but "multitude" of whom? Of disciples, masculine and plural. Could it be that "rejoicing" may be tied rather to "disciples" than to "multitude"? They are both masculine and plural. ... It looks like "multitude" relates to "to praise" (αἰνεῖν, neuter) ... Here is the literal translation from YLT: "the whole multitude of the disciples began rejoicing to praise God with a great voice for all the mighty works they had seen". I see some difference from the translation provided by Hofstetter: “the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise..." The difference is "rejoicing to praise" and "to rejoice and praise". ... So, it looks like χαίροντες (rejoicing, Present Participle Active verb) relates not to the "multitude" but to the "disciples", and there's a perfect match between the two: both are plural and masculine. If I am correct, then the problem is solved. I'm done. ... I think Hofstetter was wrong matching χαίροντες with "multitude". Instead, it matches with "disciples", and it's a perfect match. ...and it means there's no gender nor any other anomaly here.

Kirk confirms that disciples should be the normative grammar match.

James Snapp
...basically, the subject is "crowd," and "of disciples" is just a descriptive phrase. "Rejoicing" is something done by the crowd. The gender of "disciples" is incidental.

.

John Parkhurst explains the basics very simply including Luke 19:37:

A Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament: In which the Words and Phrases Occurring in Those Sacred Books are Distinctly Explained ; and the Meanings Assigned to Each Authorized by References to Passages of Scripture, and Frequently Illustrated and Confirmed by Citations from the Old Testament and from the Greek Writers ; to this Work is Prefixed, A Plain and Easy Greek Grammar (1804)
https://books.google.com/books?id=GGMZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA61

Similar is Thomas Sheldon Green
https://books.google.com/books?id=hBZgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA283

Here you can see how complicated this can be to the modern writers, while you always get the Hofstetter spin as well.

Jan Lambrecht
https://books.google.com/books?id=ofDTAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153

In the early days some material was placed on CARM, eg:|
https://forums.carm.org/vb5/index.p...resented-on-behalf-of-eugenius-bulgaris/page5

 

[Steven Avery]

Here is the page used by Grantley McDonald in Ghost of Arius (he references the 1979 edition, this is 1975)

Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch
by Friedrich Blass, Albert Debrunner, Friedrich Rehkopf
https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdTwCRjKRjIC&pg=PA111

John 6:2 (AV)
And a great multitude followed him,
because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

Luke 2:13 (AV)
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Matthew 21:8 (AV)
And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way;
others cut down branches from the trees,
and strawed them in the way.

Galatians 1:23 (AV)
But they had heard only,
That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

This last one looks like an Alexandrian ultra-minority corruption.
This is often mixed with Mark 9:25-26

Mark 9:20 (AV)
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him,
straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground,
and wallowed foaming.

RGA - p. 21 (not in BCEME)
In a forensic interpretation of this passage, we see that the twin testimonies of blood and water, and the divine testimony of the Spirit, are personified as witnesses appearing before the tribunal of our belief. It is thus not at all strange that they should be qualified by a masculine plural participle, even if the words themselves are grammatically neuter. It is a simple case of constructio ad sensum.17 As Erasmus remarks in his Annotationes: “The Apostle pays more regard to the sense than to the words, and for three witnesses, as if they were three people, he substitutes three things: Spirit, water and blood. You use the same construction if you say: ‘The building is a witness to the kind of builder you are.’”18

 

[Steven Avery]

Matthew 28:19 (AV)
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost:

George Benedikt Winer
https://archive.org/stream/grammarofnewtest00wine#page/152/mode/2up

PBF
Daniel Wallace makes constructio ad sensum theory out of CT corruptions, often ultra-minority
reviewing five constructio ad sensum examples from Daniel Wallace
Daniel Wallace
https://www.purebibleforum.com/inde...corruptions-often-ultra-minority.71/#post-183
πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος

Daniel Wallace
In Matt 28:19 the Lord instructs the eleven to "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them" (μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς): although "nations" is neuter, the pronoun "them" is masculine because people are in view.

A Greek grammar, and Greek and English scripture lexicon (1812)
Greville Ewing
https://books.google.com/books?id=RKkGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA62

(2.) An adjective sometimes agrees in gender and number, not with the substantive immediately expressed, but with another implied in that one, and understood; ... In such instances, ανθρώπους or some similar word is understood.

Carl Conrad on b-greek wrote similarly, although he does call it constructio ad sensum.

(2) I don't think the shift to AUTOUS, the masculine plural pronoun, bears any relation to expectations of success or failure; I think it's simply a matter of CONSTRUCTIO AD SENSUM, inasmuch as "discipling" involves individual persons, turning them individually into MAQHTAS, rather than turning an EQNOS into a MAQHTHS.


The Greatness of the Great Commission
Kenneth Gentry

http://www.garynorth.com/freebooks/docs/pdf/the_great_commission.pdf

Richard Ingham
https://books.google.com/books?id=I_o2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA612

Lard's Quarterly
https://books.google.com/books?id=DYcfAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165

CARM

 

[Steven Avery]

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Steven Avery

Seth Knorr - specifically, why do you think Acts 5:16 is analogous ?
https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/act/5/1/t_conc_1023016

Acts 5:16 (AV)
There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem,
bringing sick folks,
and them which were vexed with unclean spirits:
and they were healed every one.

A. T Robinson cites but without comment - natural and grammatical gender

came
bringing

(Kirk confirms this may be legit constructio ad sensum.)

This was gone over by a native Greek named Ilias Theodosis.

Seth Knorr
Those that claim this is bad grammar please explain this:

Acts 5:16a
συνήρχετο δὲ καὶ τὸ πλῆθος (neuter, “multitude”) τῶν πέριξ πόλεων (feminine “cities”)
εἴς Ἰερουσαλήμ φέροντες (masculine participle, “bringing”) ἀσθενεῖς (Stephanus TR)

KJV Translation
“There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks,”

Robinson - “cf. Lu 19:37” - ( Ac. 5:16 )

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Moses Stuart on constructio ad sensum - "the real gender or number"

Moses Stuart (1780-1852) was a top grammar writer in the mid-1800s.

A Grammar of the New Testament Dialect (1841)
Moses Stuart
https://books.google.com/books?id=qD4AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158

Note. Whenever constructio ad sensum takes place, the gender or number of the word employed is overlooked, and the verb, adjective, etc., accords with the real gender or number of the thing or person intended to be expressed; thus τὰ παιδικά ἐστι καλός _________________

Notice that there is nothing there about the metaphor. hmmmm

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A Grammar of the Greek Language
Vol. II - Syntax (1866)
William Edward Jeff
https://books.google.com/books?id=odAIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA37
https://archive.org/details/agrammargreekla04jelfgoog/page/37/mode/1up

6. Gender and number of adjective, participle, and pronoun— a masculine or feminine adjective, agreeing with a noun neuter in form, but masculine or feminine (and sometimes also plural) in sense :

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Two additional spots where Acts 5:16 was discussed

proposed analogy verses that are simply the contstructio ad sensum special case

proposed analogy verses that are simply the contstructio ad sensum special case

WIP March 2020 - more faux analogy verses from James Snapp ================================= Barry Hofstetter actually shows they are not applicable. https://www.thetextofthegospels.com/2018/08/the-comma-johanneum-and-greek-grammar.html They are simply constructio ad sensum. And this was...

www.purebibleforum.com

● Acts 5:16 συνηρχετο δε και το πληθος των περιξ πολεων εις ιερουσαλημ φεροντες ασθενεις... – “There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks.”

Here crowd is modified by the masculine plural participle φέροντες, bringing. The qualifying genitive phrase “out of the cities round about Jerusalem,” is actually feminine, since “cities,” πόλεων, is a grammatically feminine word.

(same)
private - Hofstetter blog and collage from James Snapp

https://www.purebibleforum.com/index.php?threads/private-hofstetter-blog-and-collage-from-james-snapp.776/

Barry Hofstetter - USA Greek-Latin scholar challenges Eugenius Bulgaris - Greek fluent Bible believer from Athens weighs in

On this current August 2018 Facebook thread: Facebook - James Snapp NT Textual Criticism - Aug 2018 https://www.facebook.com/groups/NTTextualCriticism/permalink/2107916699295319/ Hofstetter on the Comma Johanneum, Greek Grammar, and Eugenius Bulgaris (6 pages) - A brief refutation of the...

purebibleforum.com

Blue Letter Bible

Acts 5 :: King James Version (KJV)

Acts 5 - But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

www.blueletterbible.org

Barry Hofstetter - USA Greek-Latin scholar challenges Eugenius Bulgaris - Greek fluent Bible believer from Athens weighs in

The Comma Johanneum and Greek Grammar

www.thetextofthegospels.com

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Facebook - King James Bible Debate

Steven Avery

re: Matthew 25:32 and three other verses from James Snapp - Luke 19:37 Acts 5:16 Romans 2:14 ======= All these verses, as Barry points out, and also discussed by Ilias Theodosis on Facebook, are...

www.facebook.com

re: Matthew 25:32 and three other verses from James Snapp - Luke 19:37 Acts 5:16 Romans 2:14
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All these verses, as Barry points out, and also discussed by Ilias Theodosis on Facebook, are the special case of constructio ad sensum. Where a group of people is masculine grammar to reflect the individuals rather than the neuter Greek word for the group (e.g. nations, disciples, multitude).
Clearly, these cases can not have any connection to the heavenly witnesses grammar .. unless you think that spirit, water and blood are groups of people.

The fact that Eugenius Voulgaris did not bother spelling out the well-known exception that allows for the masculine (or feminine) discordance with a neuter noun (generally one noun only) should not be surprising.
None of these four verses should ever be compared to the grammar of the earthly witnesses without the heavenly .
And the piddle criticism of Eugenius is a nothing.

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Dec 2024

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