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house and sat down by the sea. And so great a multitude gathered around Him that He went
into a ship and sat down, and all the multitude stood on the shore. And He spoke many things
to them in parables, saying, ‘Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he was sowing,
some of the seed fell by the way; and the birds came and devoured them. And some fell upon
the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up because
the soil was not deep enough; but after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they
did not have roots, they dried up. And some of the seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns
grew up and choked them. And some fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit—some a
hundredfold, and some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. The one who has ears to hear, let him
hear.’ And His disciples came to Him and asked, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’
And He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has understanding,
to him more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have
understanding, even what he has shall be taken away from him. For this reason I speak to
them in parables, because seeing, they see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they
understand’ ” (Matt. 13:1-13).
The phrase “as he was sowing” contains an articular infinitive. This expression
in the Greek is . When the articular infinitive is used with the
preposition en, the definite article is dative, which means that the time at which
something occurs is being expressed. Thus George Ricker Berry in his Greek Interlinear
translates it “And as he sowed.”
Another illustration of the precision and high level of Matthew’s Greek is found
in the very next verse, Matthew 13:5. Matthew now uses the articular infinitive with the
preposition dia, however. Verse 5 reads, “and immediately they sprang up because the
soil was not deep enough; but after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they
did not have roots, they dried up.”
The expression “because the soil was not deep enough” also contains an
articular infinitive. The Greek is which begins with dia.
When an infinitive is used with the preposition dia, the definite article is accusative
with cause; i.e., “for” or “because of.” Thus Berry translates this phrase “because of not
having depth of earth.”
More examples of Matthew’s use of the articular infinitive could be given. These
examples, however, are sufficient to demonstrate his mastery of literary Greek. His
usage of the articular infinitive illustrates the fact that Matthew not only grew up
speaking Greek but that he also had formal training in Greek rhetoric.
Matthew’s Use of the Genitive Absolute
The Greek genitive case primarily signifies motion from a person, place or thing.
The genitive absolute is a genitive noun that occurs in a subordinate sentence without
immediate dependence on any other words; i.e., it occurs absolutely. As Green stated,
“The noun, in these cases, is to be translated first, without a preposition, then the
participle. In idiomatic English, a conjunction must often be supplied, either temporal
(when), causal (since), or concessive (although). It will be observed that the genitive in
this construction must refer to some other than the subject of the principal sentence.
Equivalent idioms are in English the nominative absolute, in Latin the ablative
absolute....The genitive absolute, says Dr. Donaldson, is originally causal, in conformity
with the primary notion of the case. Hence arise, by way of analogy, its other uses as
denoting accessories of time, manner, or circumstance. The tense of the participle greatly
determines the force of the phrase” (Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament,
pp. 221-222). Green amplified the importance of the participle in genitive absolute
constructions. He wrote, “When a participle has a subject of its own in a separate clause,