It has been brought to my attention that for the average person whose first language is English, the idea of “case”, to which I frequently refer in word studies which deal with nouns, makes no sense whatever.
The English language has no such phenomena in its use of nouns: our nouns do not appear in different forms. Pronouns do, in a limited way: the subject of a sentence employs “I, you, he, she, it; we, you, they”; a possessive is expressed by “my, your, his, her, its; our, your, their”; and an object – direct or indirect – by “me, you, him, her, it; us, you, them”. Even these, however, are often scrambled in common usage. So there really are no English equivalents of “case”, and to translate them requires a degree of circumlocution.
I have dealt with this issue in some detail in the Appendix to my Translation Notes, but since it is such an important key to understanding and evaluating the legitimacy (or not!) of the translation of a text, I have decided to offer a grossly over-simplified introduction. Please feel free to raise any questions that might clarify this subject for persons unacquainted with languages that include “case” with nouns. If you want a more comprehensive treatment, the grammar by A.T. Robertson will take you all the way back to Sanskrit, but this is an attempt at a simplified explanation.
The term “case” refers to the grammatical form of a noun, which is identified by the ending affixed to the “stem” of the word. The “stem” is the part that carries the “lexical meaning” (dictionary definition) of a word. The ending, or “case”, reveals nuances of its meaning and its use in the sentence. Nouns are also identified by “number” (singular or plural) and “gender” ( which has no connection to actual fact). By way of illustration, the Greek words for “hand, head, voice, or heart” all have feminine form; those referring to “foot, mouth, or mind” are masculine; and “breath, or body” are neuter – all completely regardless of the physical gender of their “possessors”. The “gender” of a word is an artifact of the language, and nothing more.
There are four “cases” (some grammarians divide them further, into six), in New Testament Greek. A beginning student will identify them most readily by using an Analytical Lexicon, which provides precise identification of every word-form exactly as it appears in the New Testament text, and includes a reference to the nominative singular form, the one in which a more comprehensive lexicon would list it.
The nominative case is the one used for the subject of a sentence, or, in the event of an intransitive verb, the predicate nominative. A variant form, sometimes classified as a separate “case”, is the vocative, which is used for direct address (the person or persons to whom one is speaking), in the absence of the second-person pronoun, “you”. It is often accompanied with a prefixed omega, which is translated simply “O”. The distinction may be rather ordinary; but may be quite significant. Vocative forms appear in Mt.15:28 and 17:17, Ac.1:1, Rom.2:1 and 9:20, James 2:20, and elsewhere. Significantly, it is not used in Heb.10:7, (a fact ignored by translators), implying that ho theos belongs to the subject of the verb, and is not a vocative address, which would have required a different form and an introductory omega, if the popular rendering were correct. The use of the nominative case clearly intends self-identification of the speaker, the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
The genitive case, most commonly indicating possession (“belonging to”), is used just about anywhere that an English speaker would use a phrase introduced by “of”. These uses would include:
*source: as in “Jesus of Nazareth”, or “John Smith of New York”
*price, or value: Ac.19:19 – the valueof the books burned by folks who renounced their sorcery
*material or content: Col.1:5 – “the word of truth”
*comparison: Lk.7:26 – “ more than a prophet”
*partitive: Jn.12:4 – “one of the disciples
*separation: Mt.13:49 – “out of the midst of the just ones [righteous]”
*measure of space or time: Eph.1:10 – “the fullness of time”
All of these are in addition to the most common possessive, often represented by (‘s) as well as “of” – “Son of God” and “God‘s Son” are equivalent.
The genitive case is also required for the objects of prepositions referring to any of these ideas, especially source, separation, or departure from. Please see the treatment of prepositions in the Translation Notes.
The dative case, usually including what was classically labeled “locative” (for location in place or time), is used to express an indirect object ; for example, a letter sent to someone, or something provided for someone. Example: I (subject: nominative) gave him (indirect object: dative) a letter (direct object: accusative). In Eph.1:1, it refers to the recipients of the letter.
The dative case has other uses, including:
*agency: Eph.1:13 – “by the Holy Spirit” (the one who “labels” the faithful as his own)
*manner: Ac.7:60 – “ with a loud voice”
*means: Eph.2:8 – “by his graciousness”, 2:7 – “by his kindness
*cause or results: Eph.2:1 – (death caused) “by deliberate transgressions and failures”
*location in time: Lk.24:1 – “on the first day; Ac.10:9 – “on the next day”
or place: Jn.19:2 – “on his head”
*degree of difference: Heb.1:4 – “by so much more”
*association: friendly – Ac.10:23 – brethren from Joppa went with Peter
or hostile – Ac.6:9 – (arguing ) with Stephen
Please note that the use of cause or result refers to consequences, but not purpose. That requires the accusative case.
The dative case is also seen in the objects of prepositions referring to location, (over, under, beside, in, near, with), but lacks any sense of motion, direction, or purpose. It is primarily static.
The accusative case, on the other hand, is the most active of the cases.
Besides indicating the direct object of a sentence, (Eph.1:13 – “you heard the word”, it may appear as
*the subject of an infinitive in indirect discourse: (where it also serves as a direct object of the primary verb): Mt.28:20 – “teaching them to follow….”
*the subject of an infinitive in purpose clauses: Eph.1:4: “so that we might be …”
*extent of space or distance: Lk.24:40 : “a journey of”
*duration of time: Mt.12:40: “for three days and three nights”
(Notice that these latter two are different from similar items on the genitive list, which are only measures.)
It is also used for objects of prepositions denoting purpose, direction (toward or into), or motion.
These distinctions are basic to accurate translation and understanding of the intended message. Please see Word Study #182, “Of eis and en” for a more detailed illustration.
Careful perusal of the meticulous compilation of the Greek text from literally hundreds of manuscript fragments reveals a few variations in case endings for nouns, but there are very few, and they are faithfully footnoted, even when thought to be possible copyist’s errors.
Unfortunately, once a “verse” (an artifact added many centuries after the original writing) has been chosen to support a recognized “doctrinal” issue, the accuracy of its translation is no longer open to scrutiny from either lexical or grammatical perspectives. I will conclude by highlighting just one illustration of such an unwarranted manipulation of the text.
One example, among many, of the misunderstanding caused by ignoring (whether deliberately or inadvertently is not mine to judge) issues of grammatical case and lexical accuracy is blatantly obvious in “proof-text” passages like Gal.2:16.
Interestingly, this is a place where the traditional KJV is actually more accurate than modern “evangelical” counterparts, although understanding has been seriously skewed by eager interpreters. The passage in question reads (KJV): “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believedIN Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ ….”
Both the NASV and the NIV translators (unaware that “of” indicated possession?) changed both occurrences of “of “ to “in”, conforming it to evangelical dogma, but completely ignoring grammatical accuracy. In both places, there is no preposition, and the older version at least correctly translated the genitive case. There is simply NO construction in which “in” is a legitimate rendering of a genitive case.
The phrase (in all three) “believed IN” is likewise incorrect, since the text uses eis with its required accusative object (see W.S.#182). Giving the translators the benefit of any possible doubt, one may assume this was because they could find no convenient way to express the proper use of the accusative case while maintaining their (also incorrect) translation of pistis as “faith” and pisteuo” as “believe”. (Please see Word Study #1). In neither instance has the erroneous translation of pistis or pisteuo been addressed. A more “literal” rendering of the prepositional phrases would be “became loyal / faithful to / toward Jesus Christ”, with the genitive (possessive) cases correctly acknowledging our dependence upon the Lord’s faithfulness, rather than the achievement of some sort of “spiritual gymnastics” erroneously labeled “faith” on our part.
Romans 3:22 contains the identical error, in both “evangelical” versions, even though their revered KJV maintained the correct genitive possessive translation there as well.
There are many such passages. Please understand: this is not a sales pitch for the KJV. It has other problems. ALL translations need to be subject to scrutiny!
The dilemma, of course, is how to help an earnest student who has not had the privilege to study the Greek language, to discern and correct such errors.
First of all, it should be incumbent upon anyone who presumes to teach, to become knowledgeable about the language, in order to be aware that there actually are problems to be addressed.
As noted in several of my word studies (notably 142 and 182), using an interlinear Greek text with an analytical lexicon can be enormously helpful while acquiring that ability, once a student has a basic understanding of the value of grammar in accurate communication.
It would also be helpful if works of “scholarship” were vetted for linguistic integrity at least as carefully as they are for “doctrinal” acceptability. Ideally, of course, the latter should be contingent upon the former – but try getting that past institutional adjudicators!
Unless/until serious seekers after faithfulness demand this integrity of their gatekeepers, we who consider it important to ask “But what does the text say?” will remain lonely voices in the wilderness.
May we help each other into faithfulness!
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